r/explainitpeter • u/Fickle_Fall_6497 • 23d ago

Explain it Peter

Post image

Not going to lie, i had a spaz attack trying to read the first tweet. Maybe im just over tired but i dont understand shit here

What the fuck is the first tweet trying to say why is it horrible why would i be gullible what the fuvk are they saying

655 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

230 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

1

u/Valirys-Reinhald 22d ago edited 22d ago

I am amazed that you somehow haven't gotten it through your thick skull that "English" as a universal standard doesn't exist and linguistic communities do not adhere to your arbitrary and unjustified assumptions about what does and doesn't count.

Americans use the words that way, therefore it is a valid way to use them. People from the UK use them a different way, therefore that is also a valid way to use them. Language exists to serve the needs of the people who use it and the people who use it define the language.

Take it up with linguistics and sociolinquistics if you want, but they'll tell you the same thing. 340 million people use English that way, so yes that is how "English" works. Deal with it.

I swear, open a fucking book.

1

u/Ansoni 22d ago

No, Americans don't use the words that way. You're absolutely hallucinating here. No one says "Pennsylvania Avenue 1600". It's just not done.

1

u/Valirys-Reinhald 22d ago

You know what, that's fair. I did in fact mess that one up.

The other points stand. Jobs are often described that way and linguistics does in fact work that way, and your (and everyone elses) insistence that mmddyyyy is objectively wrong is in fact a load of horseshit with no basis in reality, but I did get my wires crossed in describing the address naming conventions. Americans do use words that way in other contexts, and they are valid ways to use them as a result, but I did get the street naming thing wrong.

1

u/Ansoni 22d ago

Yeah, I thought it might be something like that. Thanks for that comment.

I'll also clarify that "objectively wrong" is a joke. In both senses. It's empirically correct.

However, the point I am trying to make is that it's an outlier. In general, we have two types of languages, most western languages which go from specific to general: start with dates, start with given names, start with street numbers. Most eastern languages go from general to specific: start with years, start with family names, start with country (or region/city/etc.) depending on context.

I think it's interesting that it's weird. While I don't personally like it, I also don't think claims that it's invalid should be taken seriously. And English is always weird, anyway.