14 May

Watching old movies makes me think about how much language has lost power. Paradoxically the proof is in how accepted and even ignored swearing is today - 100 years ago telling somebody you found their behaviour unacceptable would have been a forceful act, now swearing at somebody barely raises an eyebrow. Language has lots its power. I reckon this has happened because social life itself has lost a lot of its sophistication. Language has power when ‘manners’ - social habits - are in place; the manners give you a foundation for the words, just like a Stop sign only works when you’ve already built up driving habits in drivers. Without manners, language has to get stronger and stronger to have the same effect, because you’re working off a zero base of behaviour.