research project report standard english

8/3/2019 Research Project Report Standard English

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Robert Bialecki

Prof. Hanson

ENGL-340, Structure of English

15 December 2009

Introduction

In their textbook, How English Works, Anne Curzan and Michael Adams state that

the consumerism that has driven advertising has created a commercial written English that sits

on a middle ground between the way people speak and the rules of standard written English

(Curzan and Adams 486). The branch of linguistics my research project focuses on is the

textbooks Chapter 14, The History of English: Modern and Future English. My research

question is: In what ways do signs, newspaper headlines, and television commercials break the

rules of Standard English?

Methods

For my research project, I collected 15 examples of signs, newspaper headlines, and

television commercials that break the rules of Standard English. I found five examples of each

medium. I found the five examples of signs at local stores and restaurants. I found the five

examples of newspaper headlines in my local newspaper, the La Crosse Tribune. I found the five

examples of television commercials by browsing YouTube. Finding examples of commercials

was by far the most difficult part of my data collection, since I had to rely on my memory in

order to come up with examples of television commercials that break the rules of Standard

English. To analyze these data, I determined how each example breaks the rules of Standard

English. Lastly, I summarized the data into tables.


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Results

Signs

Sign Where it was foundHow it Breaks the Rules of

Standard English

Now thru November 29, 2009 KohlsThey shortened through to

thru.

BOGO Shoes Payless ShoesThey used an acronym instead

of Buy one, get one.

2-4-1 Burgers American LegionThey used all numbers instead

of two for one or even 2-for-1.

BBQ Ribs Famous Daves They used the acronym forbarbecue.

All-U-Can-Eat Seven Bridges RestaurantThey used U instead of

you.

Newspaper HeadlinesHeadline How it Breaks the Rules of Standard English

4 police officers shot dead at coffeehouseThey began the headline with the number 4

instead of spelling it out as Four.

Antarctic icebergs float toward N. ZealandThey have abbreviated New Zealand. N. is

typically used to mean North, as in N.Korea.

Packers sign former Broncos CB Bell They abbreviated cornerback as CB.

Hormel 4Q profit rises 50 percent, but sales slip They abbreviated fourth quarter as 4Q.

Collector sells stamps, $3.2M, to helpSmithsonian

They omitted the word for and abbreviatedmillion as M.


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Commercials

Commercial How it Breaks the Rules of Standard English

This is a commercial for Cingular/AT&T:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySR3hpieiQc They speak in texting language: idk, myob, bff,etc.

This is a commercial for the TV show, Glee:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN--3_NkVmI

They use the made up word, Gleek (used to

describe a person who is a fan of the show).

This is a commercial for Culvers:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drWnaIUOP8U They use the made up word, Culverized.

This is a commercial for McDonalds lattes:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1cXI1CXpS8

They intentionally mispronounce words so thatthey end with the same sound as the word,

latte.

This is a commercial for Butterfinger:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6A3SAjkNOM

They use the made up words, crispety andcrunchety.

Discussion

In all of the examples of signs and newspaper headlines I found, they have used

shortening techniques, such as using abbreviations, shortening individual words, and using

numerical figures where Standard English would say to spell the numbers out as words.

According to Curzan and Adams, Although much newspaper text conforms to the prescriptive

rules of Standard English, headlines are a linguistic wildcard . . . Like advertising, adept

headlining requires enthusiasm for brevity . . . given the extra space headlines take by virtue of

their size, only a few words will fit into one (Curzan and Adams 486-487).

This could explain why the signs and headlines I found have broken the rules of Standard

English. Although these signs and headlines do break the rules of Standard English, most people

would still be able to understand their meanings. However, this may influence language change.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySR3hpieiQchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySR3hpieiQchttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN--3_NkVmIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN--3_NkVmIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drWnaIUOP8Uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drWnaIUOP8Uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1cXI1CXpS8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1cXI1CXpS8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6A3SAjkNOMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6A3SAjkNOMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6A3SAjkNOMhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W1cXI1CXpS8http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drWnaIUOP8Uhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sN--3_NkVmIhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ySR3hpieiQc


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Perhaps in the future, acronyms like BBQ and BOGO as well as shortened words such as

U for you and thru for through will become more acceptable alternatives.

Curzan and Adams state that All of our experience of conversation indicates that we can

make up words on the spot, and that we dont always (or even usually) speak in complete,

prescriptively grammatical sentences. Natural speech is often elliptical and suggestive instead.

Because advertising befriends potential buyers and rarely depends on logical argument for

commercial results, it talks the purchasers talk (Curzan and Adams 486).

This could explain why most of the television commercials I found have used made up

words. The Cingular/AT&T commercial most likely used texting language because many people

who use cell phones are fluent in texting language and would understand acronyms such as

idk, myob, and bff. The commercials for Glee and Culvers have made creative use of

the blending technique to give us the made up words, Gleek (Glee + geek) and Culverized

(Culvers + pulverized). They may have done this because blending is such a popular way of

making up new words, and many such words are still with us today. In the McDonalds latte

commercial where they mispronounce words so that they end in the same sound as latte does,

they may have done this so that when customers come across a noun that ends in e, theyll be

reminded of the commercial. The Butterfinger commercial most likely used the made up words,

crispety and crunchety, because not only do they do a good job describing the candy bar, but

they also sound like real words.

But what do these made up words mean for the future of English? If they catch on, you

may start seeing and hearing them more in everyday English.


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Works Cited

Curzan, Anne, and Michael Adams.How English Works. 2nd ed. Pearson, 2009.

research project report standard english

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