As I study another spreadsheet of SEO keywords that I need to embroider into my copy, I wonder whether we are stifling the beauty and complexity of the English language.
Is our versatile and varied language becoming homogenised as the algorithms push us to tap into the lowest common denominator?
The joy of English is the breadth, depth and variety of words that have wormed their way into our language. Words from across the world, from different times and cultures. Think of running amok (from Malay/Indonesian), or the charming Australian word for being sick – chunder (a shortening of ‘watch-out-under’, the cry that echoed round the decks on the long voyage over to the new world). There are simply too many to even start to do justice to here.
The richness of our language is in the fact we have five words to describe the same thing, but with subtle differences in meaning that even native speakers can’t quite put their finger on!
Don’t get me wrong, I am not stuck in the Stone Age, believing language should stop developing. The whole reason we have such a rich language is because it is constantly changing. Language is evolving and alive – and it needs to be. My concern is that as we struggle to get the most hits on our websites, are we subtly changing the way the synapses in our brains work and stifling the creativity and elasticity of the English language?
Now, where’s that emoji for shut up and get on with your work……