[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:10.71,0:00:13.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The English language begins with the phrase ‘Up Yours Caesar!’
Dialogue: 0,0:00:13.34,0:00:16.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as the Romans leave Britain and a lot of Germanic tribes start flooding in,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:16.84,0:00:20.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tribes such as the Angles and the Saxons – who together gave us the term Anglo-Saxon
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.58,0:00:22.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the Jutes – who didn’t.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:22.11,0:00:24.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Romans left some very straight roads behind,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:24.48,0:00:26.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but not much of their Latin language.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:26.46,0:00:29.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Anglo-Saxon vocab was much more useful
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.40,0:00:31.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as it was mainly words for simple everyday\Nthings like
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.80,0:00:34.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘house’, ‘woman’, ‘loaf’ and ‘werewolf’.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.77,0:00:38.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Four of our days of the week were named in honour of Anglo-Saxon gods,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:38.56,0:00:40.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they didn’t bother with Saturday, Sunday and Monday
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.35,0:00:41.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as they had all gone off for a long weekend.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:41.99,0:00:45.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While they were away, Christian missionaries stole in
Dialogue: 0,0:00:45.00,0:00:47.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bringing with them leaflets about jumble\Nsales and more Latin.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:47.91,0:00:49.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Christianity was a hit with the locals
Dialogue: 0,0:00:49.78,0:00:53.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and made them much happier to take on funky new words from Latin like
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.50,0:00:55.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘martyr’, ‘bishop’ and ‘font’.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:55.36,0:00:58.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Along came the Vikings, with their action-man words like
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.70,0:01:01.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘drag’, ‘ransack’, ‘thrust’ and ‘die’.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.22,0:01:04.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They may have raped and pillaged but there were also into ‘give’ and ‘take’
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.84,0:01:07.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– two of around 2000 words that they gave English,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.45,0:01:11.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as the phrase ‘watch out for that man with the enormous axe.’
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.12,0:01:20.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,True to his name, William the Conqueror invades England,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:20.80,0:01:24.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bringing new concepts from across the channel like the French language,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.53,0:01:27.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Doomsday book and the duty free Galois’s multipack.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:27.44,0:01:29.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,French was de rigeur for all official business,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:29.73,0:01:32.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with words like ‘judge’, ‘jury’,‘evidence’ and ‘justice’
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.36,0:01:35.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,coming in and giving John Grisham’s career a kick-start.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.23,0:01:39.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Latin was still used ad nauseam in Church, but the common man spoke English
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.40,0:01:43.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,able to communicate only by speaking more slowly and loudly until the others understood him.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:43.99,0:01:47.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Words like ‘cow’, ‘sheep’ and ‘swine’ come from the English-speaking farmers,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:47.69,0:01:50.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while the a la carte versions - ‘beef’, ‘mutton’ and ‘pork'
Dialogue: 0,0:01:50.69,0:01:52.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- come from the French-speaking toffs
Dialogue: 0,0:01:52.66,0:01:56.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– beginning a long running trend for restaurants having completely indecipherable menus.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.86,0:02:00.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All in all the English absorbed about 2000 new words from the Normans
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.23,0:02:02.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but they still couldn't grasp the rules of cheek kissing.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:02.79,0:02:08.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The bonhomie all ended when the English nation took their new warlike lingo of ‘armies’,‘navies’ and ‘soldiers’
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.17,0:02:11.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and began the Hundred Years War against France.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.02,0:02:15.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It actually lasted 116 years, but by that point no one could count any higher in French
Dialogue: 0,0:02:15.07,0:02:18.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and English took over as the language of power.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.33,0:02:24.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As the dictionary tells us,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.71,0:02:28.77,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about 2000 new words and phrases were invented by William Shakespeare
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.77,0:02:31.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He gave us handy words like ‘eyeball’, ‘puppy-dog’ and ‘anchovy’
Dialogue: 0,0:02:31.99,0:02:35.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- and more show-offy words like ‘dauntless’, ‘besmirch’ and ‘lacklustre’.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.52,0:02:39.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He came up with the word ‘alligator’, soon after he ran out of things to rhyme with ‘crocodile’.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:39.46,0:02:44.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And a nation of tea-drinkers finally took him to their hearts when he invented the ‘hobnob’.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.10,0:02:47.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shakespeare knew the power of catchphrases as well as biscuits.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:47.61,0:02:51.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Without him we wouldnever eat our ‘flesh and blood’ ‘out of house and home’
Dialogue: 0,0:02:51.72,0:02:53.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– we’d have to say ‘good riddance’ to\N‘the green-eyed monster’
Dialogue: 0,0:02:53.93,0:02:56.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ‘breaking the ice’ would be ‘as dead as a doornail’.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:56.70,0:02:59.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you tried to get your ‘money’s worth’you’d be given ‘short shrift’
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.50,0:03:02.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and anyone who ‘laid it on with a\Ntrowel’ could be ‘hoist with his own petard’.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:02.69,0:03:05.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course it’s possible other people used these words first,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.68,0:03:08.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but the dictionary writers liked\Nlooking them up in Shakespeare
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.37,0:03:11.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because there was more cross-dressing and people poking each other’s eyes out.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:11.85,0:03:15.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Shakespeare’s poetry showed the world that English was a language as rich vibrant language
Dialogue: 0,0:03:15.85,0:03:18.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with limitless expressive and emotional power.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.57,0:03:20.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he still had time to open all those\Ntearooms in Stratford.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.43,0:03:32.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1611 ‘the powers that be’ ‘turned the world upside down’ with a ‘labour of love’
Dialogue: 0,0:03:32.66,0:03:34.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– a new translation of the bible.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.37,0:03:36.66,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A team of scribes with the ‘wisdom of Solomon’
Dialogue: 0,0:03:36.66,0:03:41.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- ‘went the extra mile’ to make King James’s translation ‘all things to all men’,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:41.02,0:03:45.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether from their ‘heart’s desire’ ‘to\Nfight the good fight’ or just for the ‘filthy lucre’.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.55,0:03:48.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This sexy new Bible went ‘from strength to strength’,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:48.08,0:03:52.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,getting to ‘the root of the matter’ in a language even ‘the salt of the earth’ could understand.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:52.51,0:03:54.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘The writing wasn’t on the wall’,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:54.26,0:03:58.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it was in handy little books and with ‘fire and brimstone’ preachers reading from it in every church,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:58.40,0:04:01.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,its words and phrases ‘took root’ ‘to the ends of the earth’
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.67,0:04:03.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– well at least the ends of Britain.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.21,0:04:07.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The King James Bible is the book that taught us that ‘a leopard can’t change its spots’,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:07.40,0:04:09.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that ‘a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush’,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:09.45,0:04:13.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that ‘a wolf in sheep’s clothing’ is harder to spot than you would imagine,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.02,0:04:15.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and how annoying it is to have ‘a fly in your ointment’.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:15.91,0:04:19.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, just as ‘Jonathan begat Meribbaal; and Meribbaal begat Micah
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.65,0:04:23.87,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the King James Bible begat a whole glossary of metaphor and morality
Dialogue: 0,0:04:23.87,0:04:27.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that still shapes the way English is spoken today. Amen.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:33.78,0:04:36.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before the 17th Century scientists weren’t really recognised
Dialogue: 0,0:04:36.58,0:04:38.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– possibly because lab-coats had\Nyet to catch on.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.96,0:04:42.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But suddenly Britain was full of physicists – there was Robert Hooke, Robert Boyle
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.75,0:04:45.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– and even some people not called Robert, like Isaac Newton.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:45.32,0:04:48.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Royal Society was formed out of\Nthe Invisible College
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.37,0:04:50.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– after they put it down somewhere and couldn’t find it again.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:50.95,0:04:52.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At first they worked in Latin.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:52.62,0:04:54.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After sitting through Newton’s story about the ‘pomum’
Dialogue: 0,0:04:54.73,0:04:58.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,falling to the ‘terra’ from the ‘arbor’ for the umpteenth time,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.69,0:05:00.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the bright sparks realised they all spoke\NEnglish
Dialogue: 0,0:05:00.94,0:05:03.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and could transform our understanding of the universe much quicker
Dialogue: 0,0:05:03.71,0:05:05.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by talking in their own language.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.56,0:05:08.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But science was discovering things faster than they could name them.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.96,0:05:12.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Words like ‘acid’,‘gravity’, ‘electricity and ‘pendulum’
Dialogue: 0,0:05:12.78,0:05:16.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,had to be invented just to stop their meetings turning into an endless game of charades.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.71,0:05:20.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Like teenage boys, the scientists suddenly became aware of the human body
Dialogue: 0,0:05:20.73,0:05:25.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– coining new words like ‘cardiac’ and ‘tonsil’, ‘ovary’, and ‘sternum’
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.29,0:05:28.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the invention of ‘penis’ (1693),\N‘vagina’ (1682)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.04,0:05:30.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,made sex education classes a bit easier to follow.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:30.72,0:05:33.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though and ‘clitoris’ was\Nstill a source of confusion.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:41.61,0:05:43.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With English making its name as the language of science,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.88,0:05:47.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Bible and Shakespeare, Britain\Ndecided to take it on tour.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:47.44,0:05:50.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Asking only for land, wealth, natural resources,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.27,0:05:53.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,total obedience to the crown and a few local words in return.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.88,0:05:56.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They went to the Caribbean looking for gold and a chance to really unwind
Dialogue: 0,0:05:56.97,0:06:00.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– discovering the ‘barbeque’, the ‘canoe’ and a pretty good recipe for rum punch.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.39,0:06:03.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They also brought back the word ‘cannibal’ to make their trip sound more exciting.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:03.86,0:06:05.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In India there was something for everyone.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:05.83,0:06:09.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘Yoga’ – to help you stay in shape, while\Npretending to be spiritual.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.10,0:06:12.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If that didn’t work there was the ‘cummerbund’ to hide a paunch and
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.22,0:06:16.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- if you couldn’t even make it up the stairs without turning ‘crimson’ – they had the ‘bungalow’.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:16.02,0:06:19.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Meanwhile in Africa they picked up words like ‘voodoo’ and ‘zombie’
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.18,0:06:21.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– kicking off the teen horror film.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:21.22,0:06:25.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From Australia, English took the words ‘nugget’, ‘boomerang’ and ‘walkabout’
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.04,0:06:27.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in fact the whole concept of chain pubs.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.57,0:06:30.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All in all, between toppling Napoleon (1815) and the first World War (1914),
Dialogue: 0,0:06:30.89,0:06:34.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the British Empire gobbled up around 10 millions square miles,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.26,0:06:38.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,400 million people and nearly a hundred thousand gin and tonics,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:38.09,0:06:42.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,leaving new varieties of English to develop all over the globe.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:50.43,0:06:55.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,With English expanding in all directions, along came a new breed of men called lexicographers,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:55.12,0:06:56.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who wanted to put an end to this anarchy
Dialogue: 0,0:06:56.95,0:07:01.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a word they defined as ‘what happens when people spell words slightly differently from each other’.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:01.70,0:07:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the greatest was Doctor Johnson,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:03.47,0:07:06.67,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whose ‘Dictionary of the English Language’ which took him 9 years to write.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:06.67,0:07:11.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was 18 inches tall and 20 inches wide – and contained 42,773 entries
Dialogue: 0,0:07:11.18,0:07:15.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,meaning that even if you couldn’t read, it was still pretty useful if you wanted to reach a high shelf.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:15.86,0:07:20.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For the first time, when people were calling you ‘a pickle herring’, a ‘jobbernowl or a ‘fopdoodle’
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.19,0:07:22.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– you could understand exactly what they meant –
Dialogue: 0,0:07:22.22,0:07:25.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you’d have the consolation of knowing they all used the standard spelling.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:25.57,0:07:28.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Try as he might to stop them, words kept being invented
Dialogue: 0,0:07:28.69,0:07:33.17,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and in 1857 a new book was started which would become the Oxford English Dictionary.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:33.17,0:07:37.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It took another 70 years to be finished\Nafter the first editor resigned to be an Archbishop,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:37.10,0:07:38.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the second died of TB
Dialogue: 0,0:07:38.31,0:07:43.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the third was so boring that half his volunteers quit and one of the ended up in an Asylum
Dialogue: 0,0:07:43.09,0:07:46.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It eventually appeared in 1928 and has continued to be revised ever since
Dialogue: 0,0:07:46.30,0:07:50.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– proving the whole idea that you can stop people making up words is complete snuffbumble.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:59.26,0:08:03.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From the moment Brits landed in America they needed names for all the plants and animals
Dialogue: 0,0:08:03.85,0:08:07.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so they borrowed words like ‘raccoon’, ‘squash’ and ‘moose’ from the Native Americans,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:07.89,0:08:09.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as well as most of their territory.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:09.19,0:08:11.83,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Waves of immigrants fed America’s hunger for words.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.83,0:08:14.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Dutch came sharing ‘coleslaw’ and\N‘cookies’
Dialogue: 0,0:08:14.32,0:08:16.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– probably as a result of their relaxed attitude to drugs.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:16.99,0:08:20.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Later, the Germans arrived selling ‘pretzels’ from ‘delicatessens’
Dialogue: 0,0:08:20.15,0:08:25.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and the Italians arrived with their ‘pizza’, their ‘pasta’ and their ‘mafia’, just like mamma used to make.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:25.28,0:08:28.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,America spread a new language of capitalism
Dialogue: 0,0:08:28.06,0:08:30.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– getting everyone worried about the\N‘breakeven’ and ‘the bottom line’,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.72,0:08:32.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether they were ‘blue chip’ or ‘white collar’.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:32.56,0:08:36.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The commuter needed a whole new system of ‘freeways’, ‘subways’ and ‘parking lots’
Dialogue: 0,0:08:36.27,0:08:40.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– and quickly, before words like ‘merger’ and ‘downsizing’ could be invented.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:40.53,0:08:43.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,American English drifted back across the pond
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.40,0:08:47.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as Brits ‘got the hang of’ their ‘cool movies’, and their ‘groovy’ ‘jazz’.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:47.31,0:08:50.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There were even some old forgotten English words that lived on in America.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.24,0:08:54.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So they carried on using ‘fall’. ‘faucets’, ‘diapers’ and ‘candy’,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:54.11,0:09:00.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while the Brits moved on to ‘autumn’, ‘taps’, ‘nappies’ and NHS dental care.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:05.89,0:09:09.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In 1972 the first email was sent
Dialogue: 0,0:09:09.04,0:09:10.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Soon the Internet arrived
Dialogue: 0,0:09:10.29,0:09:15.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a free global space to share information, ideas and amusing pictures of cats.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:15.13,0:09:17.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Before then English changed through people speaking it
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.58,0:09:19.59,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– but the net brought typing back\Ninto fashion
Dialogue: 0,0:09:19.59,0:09:22.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and hundreds of cases of repetitive strain injury.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:22.54,0:09:26.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nobody had ever had to ‘download’ anything before, let alone use a ‘toolbar’ -
Dialogue: 0,0:09:26.65,0:09:28.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the only time someone set up a ‘firewall’,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:28.82,0:09:32.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it ended with a massive insurance claim and a huge pile of charred wallpaper.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:32.29,0:09:35.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Conversations were getting shorter than the average attention span
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.52,0:09:37.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,– why bother writing a sentence when an abbreviation would do
Dialogue: 0,0:09:37.88,0:09:42.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and leave you more time to ‘blog’, ‘poke’ and ‘reboot’ when your ‘hard drive’ crashed?
Dialogue: 0,0:09:42.88,0:09:45.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘In my humble opinion’ became ‘IMHO,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:45.88,0:09:48.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,‘by the way’ became ‘BTW
Dialogue: 0,0:09:48.08,0:09:52.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and ‘if we’re honest that life-threatening accident was pretty hilarious!’ simply became ‘fail’.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:52.88,0:09:55.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some changes even passed into spoken English.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:55.32,0:09:58.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For your information people frequently\Nasked questions
Dialogue: 0,0:09:58.41,0:10:02.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like “how can ‘LOL’ mean ‘laugh out loud’ and ‘lots of love’?
Dialogue: 0,0:10:02.19,0:10:06.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if you’re going to complain about that then UG2BK.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:13.28,0:10:15.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1500 years since the Roman’s left Britain,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:15.80,0:10:20.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,English has shown an unique ability to\Nabsorb, evolve, invade and, if we’re honest, steal.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:20.49,0:10:22.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After foreign settlers got it started,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.32,0:10:24.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it grew into a fully-fledged language all of its own,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:24.85,0:10:26.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,before leaving home and travelling the world,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:26.65,0:10:30.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,first via the high seas, then via the high speed broadband connection,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:30.76,0:10:36.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,pilfering words from over 350 languages and establishing itself as a global institution.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:36.11,0:10:39.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All this despite a written alphabet\Nthat bears no correlation to how it sounds
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.89,0:10:43.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and a system of spelling that even Dan Brown couldn’t decipher.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.65,0:10:47.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Right now around 1.5 billion people now speak English.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:47.00,0:10:49.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of these about a quarter are native speakers,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:49.64,0:10:51.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a quarter speak it as their second language,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.32,0:10:53.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and half are able to ask for directions\Nto a swimming pool.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.98,0:10:56.31,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s Hinglish – which is Hindi-English,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:56.31,0:10:58.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Chinglish – which is Chinese-English
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.56,0:11:03.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Singlish – which is Singaporean English – and not that bit when they speak in musicals.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:03.44,0:11:06.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So in conclusion, the language has got so little to do with England these days
Dialogue: 0,0:11:06.38,0:11:09.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it may well be time to stop calling it ‘English’.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.12,0:11:13.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But if someone does think up a new name for it, it should probably be in Chinese.