VocabAhead was created because we feel that the English language deserves more love than it gets! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our team includes writers, teachers, authors, editors, and other language lovers \u2013 each with a passion for the weird and wonderful words, rules, and development of English.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The English language changes at an amazing pace. Five years ago, \u201cdoomscrolling\u201d would have meant nothing (no matter how much time you spend on Instagram!) \u2013 and 15 years ago, no one would have had a clue what you meant if you\u2019d read \u201ca tweet\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Although these are modern examples, the same kinds of changes have been happening for over 1,000 years. There was a time when there was no English word for banana \u2013 but, as the world becomes a more connected place, the language changes and adapts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We all know someone who likes to look smart by correcting the way we use words \u2013 but these people don\u2019t realize that the language doesn\u2019t care what they think! The way we use words changes. Today, when someone says they \u201cliterally died\u201d \u2013 we know it doesn\u2019t mean they\u2019re dead \u2013 instead, it means they\u2019re embarrassed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These kinds of changes are referred to as \u2018semantic shifts\u2019 \u2013 and they\u2019ve been happening since English was first spoken. You might not realize it, but language is a real reflection of changes in society too. It\u2019s very rarely people in power or positions of authority who play with language. Instead, it\u2019s the most forward-thinking people in society \u2013 artists, musicians, minority groups, and young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At VocabAhead, we\u2019re celebrating the innovators and we\u2019re celebrating the twists and turns that the English language has taken to get us to where we are right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Some of those changes happened when Shakespeare sat down with his notepad \u2013 but others have come from rap music and social media use. They all count \u2013 and they\u2019re all important milestones in the development of the most commonly used language on the face of the Earth!<\/p>\n\n\n\n