LANGUAGE IN WAR TIMES

27/01/2015

 

‘Cracks me up’ – We would think that this phrase has become apparent in the 21^st century, commonly used by the younger generation. However, this slang phrase was used in the 1940s war time, therefore, the meaning remains the same.

Cheesy – This is yet another word that has managed to stay in contemporary vernacular. Back in the 1940s it meant cheap. However, now it means embarrassing, too affectionate and considered over-exaggerated so there has been a semantic shift. ‘Cheesy’ has undergone amelioration in the way that the term ‘cheap’ seems slightly harsher in comparison to the meaning that I am familiar with now.

Dope – back in the 1940s it meant information, however today it is another word for drugs and some American rappers have used it to describe something as being ‘good’. This has undergone synchronous language change as it meant something completely different in the 1940s war period in comparison to now. However, the word has also undergone diachronic language change due to the technology (radios, the media, magazines and iPods accessing us to music) we are disclosed to language used by Americans e.g. ‘dope’ which allows us to adapt to using this language. The word ‘dope’ has been broadened and acquires additional meanings but has also undergone pejoration as it is used to be another term for drugs whereas before it was used as another term for information which is seen as a positive source.

The language used during the late 1800s and early 1900s categorized individuals based on their presumed degree of disability. Many of the terms commonly used came from the eugenics movement, a scientific and moral ideology that was prevalent throughout the world at that time.

"Feeble-minded" was sometimes used as a general term to describe a person with a developmental disability. Most of the time, however, "feeble-minded" meant a person with a very mild intellectual impairment - individuals who today would not be considered to have a developmental disability.

People with increasingly severe developmental disabilities were classified as "morons", "imbeciles", and "idiots". The word "idiot" referred to people with the most severe intellectual impairments.

Other terms commonly used at the time were "mentally defective" and "subnormals". "High grades" and "low grades" were used to denote a person's ability.