[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.37,0:00:01.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm a lexicographer.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:01.93,0:00:03.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I make dictionaries.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:03.68,0:00:05.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And my job as a lexicographer
Dialogue: 0,0:00:05.12,0:00:08.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to try to put all the words possible \Ninto the dictionary.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:08.84,0:00:14.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,My job is not to decide what a word is;\Nthat is your job.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:14.92,0:00:17.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Everybody who speaks English \Ndecides together
Dialogue: 0,0:00:17.82,0:00:20.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what's a word and what's not a word.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:20.15,0:00:25.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Every language is just a group of people\Nwho agree to understand each other.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:25.30,0:00:29.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, sometimes when people are trying \Nto decide whether a word is good or bad,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:29.91,0:00:31.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they don't really have a good reason.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:31.68,0:00:34.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So they say something like,\N"Because grammar!"
Dialogue: 0,0:00:34.49,0:00:36.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:00:36.86,0:00:40.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don't actually really care about grammar\Ntoo much -- don't tell anybody.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:40.42,0:00:43.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the word "grammar," actually,\Nthere are two kinds of grammar.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:43.56,0:00:46.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's the kind of grammar\Nthat lives inside your brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:46.43,0:00:48.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and if you're a native \Nspeaker of a language
Dialogue: 0,0:00:48.54,0:00:50.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or a good speaker of a language,
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.13,0:00:53.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it's the unconscious rules that you follow\Nwhen you speak that language.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:53.53,0:00:56.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is what you learn when\Nyou learn a language as a child.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:56.55,0:00:58.19,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And here's an example:
Dialogue: 0,0:00:58.19,0:00:59.71,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is a wug, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:00:59.71,0:01:01.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's a wug.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:01.78,0:01:03.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now there is another one.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:03.47,0:01:04.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are two of these.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.63,0:01:05.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There are two ...
Dialogue: 0,0:01:05.92,0:01:07.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Audience: Wugs.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:07.11,0:01:10.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Erin McKean: Exactly! You know \Nhow to make the plural of wug.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:10.82,0:01:12.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That rule lives in your brain.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.30,0:01:15.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You never had to be taught this rule, \Nyou just understand it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:15.25,0:01:18.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is an experiment that was invented\Nby a professor at [Boston University]
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.88,0:01:22.02,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,named Jean Berko Gleason back in 1958.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:22.02,0:01:25.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So we've been talking about this \Nfor a long time.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:25.05,0:01:28.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, these kinds of natural rules \Nthat exist in your brain,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.56,0:01:32.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they're not like traffic laws,\Nthey're more like laws of nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:32.78,0:01:36.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And nobody has to remind you to obey \Na law of nature, right?
Dialogue: 0,0:01:36.14,0:01:39.09,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you leave the house in the morning, \Nyour mom doesn't say,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:39.09,0:01:41.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Hey, honey, I think\Nit's going to be cold, take a hoodie,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.97,0:01:44.44,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,don't forget to obey the law of gravity."
Dialogue: 0,0:01:44.44,0:01:46.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Nobody says this.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.32,0:01:53.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, there are other rules that are more\Nabout manners than they are about nature.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:53.18,0:01:56.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So you can think of a word as like a hat.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:56.05,0:01:58.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once you know how hats work,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:58.30,0:02:01.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nobody has to tell you, \N"Don't wear hats on your feet."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:01.16,0:02:04.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What they have to tell you is, \N"Can you wear hats inside?\N
Dialogue: 0,0:02:04.51,0:02:06.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who gets to wear a hat?
Dialogue: 0,0:02:06.26,0:02:09.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What are the kinds of hats\Nyou get to wear?"
Dialogue: 0,0:02:09.40,0:02:11.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those are more of the second kind \Nof grammar,\N
Dialogue: 0,0:02:11.82,0:02:16.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which linguists often call usage, \Nas opposed to grammar.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:16.12,0:02:20.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, sometimes people use this kind of \Nrules-based grammar
Dialogue: 0,0:02:20.26,0:02:23.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to discourage people from making up words.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:23.04,0:02:25.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I think that is, well, stupid.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:25.73,0:02:28.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, for example, \Npeople are always telling you,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:28.99,0:02:34.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Be creative, make new music, do art, \Ninvent things, science and technology."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:34.23,0:02:36.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But when it comes to \Nwords, they're like,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:36.27,0:02:40.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Don't! No. Creativity stops right here,\Nwhippersnappers. Give it a rest."
Dialogue: 0,0:02:41.00,0:02:42.42,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.42,0:02:44.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But that makes no sense to me.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:44.14,0:02:46.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Words are great.\NWe should have more of them.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:46.47,0:02:50.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I want you to make\Nas many new words as possible.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:50.53,0:02:55.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And I'm going to tell you six ways that\Nyou can use to make new words in English.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:55.55,0:02:57.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The first way is the simplest way.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:57.64,0:02:59.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Basically, steal them from other \Nlanguages.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.86,0:03:02.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,["Go rob other people"]\N(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:03.94,0:03:05.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Linguists call this borrowing,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:05.76,0:03:08.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we never give the words back ,\Nso I'm just going to be honest
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.82,0:03:10.78,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and call it stealing.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:10.78,0:03:14.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We usually take words for things \Nthat we like, like delicious food.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:14.15,0:03:17.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We took "kumquat" from Chinese,\Nwe took "caramel" from French.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:17.94,0:03:20.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We also take words \Nfor cool things like "ninja," right?
Dialogue: 0,0:03:20.85,0:03:22.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We took that from Japanese,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.30,0:03:25.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is kind of a cool trick because \Nninjas are hard to steal from.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:25.57,0:03:27.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:27.68,0:03:30.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So another way that you \Ncan make words in English
Dialogue: 0,0:03:30.94,0:03:33.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is by squishing two \Nother English words together.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:33.88,0:03:35.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is called compounding.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:35.57,0:03:37.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Words in English are like Lego:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:37.08,0:03:40.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you use enough force, \Nyou can put any two of them together.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.45,0:03:42.11,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:42.83,0:03:44.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We do this all the time in English:
Dialogue: 0,0:03:44.63,0:03:50.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Words like "heartbroken," "bookworm," \N"sandcastle" all are compounds.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:50.10,0:03:53.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So go ahead and make words like\N"duckface," just don't make duckface.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.61,0:03:55.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:03:55.84,0:03:59.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another way that you can make words \Nin English is kind of like compounding,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:59.85,0:04:04.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but instead you use so much force\Nwhen you squish the words together
Dialogue: 0,0:04:04.90,0:04:06.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that some parts fall off.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:06.53,0:04:08.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So these are blend words, \N
Dialogue: 0,0:04:08.22,0:04:12.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like "brunch" is a blend \Nof "breakfast" and "lunch."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:12.06,0:04:14.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Motel" is a blend of "motor" and "hotel."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:14.80,0:04:17.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who here knew that "motel" \Nwas a blend word?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:17.74,0:04:19.58,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Yeah, that word is so old in English
Dialogue: 0,0:04:19.58,0:04:22.69,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that lots of people don't know that \Nthere are parts missing.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:22.69,0:04:26.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Edutainment" is a blend \Nof "education" and "entertainment."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:26.99,0:04:32.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And of course, "electrocute" is a\Nblend of "electric" and "execute."
Dialogue: 0,0:04:32.20,0:04:34.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.01,0:04:37.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can also make words\Nby changing how they operate.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.33,0:04:38.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,This is called functional shift.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:38.94,0:04:41.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You take a word that acts \Nas one part of speech,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:41.24,0:04:43.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you change it into another \Npart of speech.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:43.52,0:04:47.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, who here knew that "friend"\Nhasn't always been a verb?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:48.88,0:04:53.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Friend" used to be noun \Nand then we verbed it.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:53.08,0:04:56.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Almost any word in English can be verbed.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:56.34,0:04:58.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can also take adjectives \Nand make them into nouns.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:58.98,0:05:02.70,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Commercial" used to be an adjective \Nand now it's a noun.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:02.70,0:05:05.15,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And of course, you can "green" things.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.15,0:05:08.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another way to make words\Nin English is back-formation.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:08.49,0:05:11.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can take a word and you can\Nkind of squish it down a little bit.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:11.75,0:05:16.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So for example, in English we had the word\N"editor" before we had the word "edit."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:16.57,0:05:18.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Edit" was formed from "editor."
Dialogue: 0,0:05:18.32,0:05:21.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes these back-formations \Nsound a little silly:
Dialogue: 0,0:05:21.06,0:05:25.45,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Bulldozers bulldoze, butlers butle \Nand burglers burgle.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:25.45,0:05:27.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Laughter)
Dialogue: 0,0:05:27.28,0:05:29.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Another way to make words in English
Dialogue: 0,0:05:29.05,0:05:32.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is to take the first letters of something\Nand squish them together.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:32.22,0:05:35.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So National Aeronautics and Space \NAdministration becomes NASA.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:35.25,0:05:38.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And of course you can do this \Nwith anything, OMG!
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.96,0:05:44.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So it doesn't matter how silly \Nthe words are.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:44.60,0:05:46.61,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They can be really good words of English.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:46.61,0:05:50.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Absquatulate" is a perfectly \Ngood word of English.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:50.63,0:05:53.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Mugwump" is a perfectly \Ngood word of English.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:53.49,0:05:58.07,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the words don't have have to sound \Nnormal, they can sound really silly.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:58.07,0:06:00.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Why should you make words?
Dialogue: 0,0:06:00.26,0:06:02.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You should make words because every word
Dialogue: 0,0:06:02.40,0:06:06.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is a chance to express your idea and get \Nyour meaning across.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:06.92,0:06:09.51,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And new words grab people's attention.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:09.51,0:06:12.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They get people to focus on what \Nyou're saying
Dialogue: 0,0:06:12.16,0:06:15.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and that gives you a better chance to get \Nyour meaning across.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:15.43,0:06:18.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A lot of people \Non this stage today have said,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:18.38,0:06:19.94,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"In the future, you can do this,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:19.94,0:06:23.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can help with this, you can \Nhelp us explore, you can help us invent."
Dialogue: 0,0:06:23.47,0:06:25.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can make a new word right now.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:25.10,0:06:27.43,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,English has no age limit.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:27.43,0:06:29.86,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Go ahead, start making words today,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:29.86,0:06:33.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,send them to me, and I will put them \Nin my online dictionary, Wordnik.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.55,0:06:34.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thank you so much.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:34.84,0:06:39.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Applause)