1
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I'm a lexicographer.

2
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
I make dictionaries.

3
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
And my job as a lexicographer

4
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
is to try to put all the words

5
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
possible into the dictionary

6
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
My job is not to decide what a word is

7
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that is your job

8
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
everybody who speaks english

9
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
decides together what's a word and 
what's not a word

10
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
every language is just a group of people

11
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who agree to understand each other

12
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
now sometimes when people

13
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
are trying to decide if a word is good
or bad

14
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they don't really have a good reason

15
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they say something like,

16
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"because, grammar!"

17
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(Laughter).

18
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and i don't actually care 
about grammar too much

19
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
don't tell anyone

20
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but the word grammar--

21
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
actually, there are two kinds of grammar

22
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there's the kind of grammar that kind of lives 
inside your brain

23
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
if you're a native speaker of a language or a good speaker of a language

24
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
it's the unconscious rules that you follow

25
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when you speak that language

26
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and this is what you learn

27
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when you learn an language as a child

28
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
here's an example

29
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this is a wog

30
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
right, it's a wug

31
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
Now there is another one

32
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there are two of these

33
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there are two

34
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
(audience): wugs

35
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
exactly!
you know how to make

36
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
the plural of wug

37
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that rule lives in your brain

38
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you never had to be taught this rule

39
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
you just understand it

40
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this is a experiment that was invented

41
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
by a professor

42
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
at boston college

43
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
named jean burco0gleesin

44
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
back in 1958

45
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so we've been talking about this for a long time

46
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
now these kinds of natural

47
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
rules that exist in your brain

48
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there's not like traffic laws

49
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
there more like laws of nature

50
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and nobody has to remind you to obey 


51
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a law of nature, right?

52
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
when you leave the house in the morning

53
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
your mom doesn't say,

54
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"hey honey, it's going to be cold

55
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
take a hoodie, don't forget
to obey the law of gravity"

56
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
no body says this

57
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
laughter

58
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
now there are other rules

59
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that are more about manners than they are about nature

60
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so you can think of like

61
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
a word is like a hat

62
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
once you know how hats work

63
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
nobody has to tell you

64
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
don't wear hats on your feet

65
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what they have to tell you is

66
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
can you wear hats inside

67
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
who gets to wear a hat

68
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
what are the kinds of hats you get to wear

69
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
those are more of the second kind of grammar

70
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
that linguists often call usage

71
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
as opposed togrammar

72
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
now, sometimes people use

73
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
this kind of rules-based grammar

74
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
to discourage people from

75
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
making up words

76
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
and i think that is, well, stupid

77
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
so for example,

78
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
people are always telling you,

79
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"be creative, make music

80
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
do art, invent things

81
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
science and technology"

82
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
but when it comes to words,

83
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
they're like

84
99:59:59,999 --> 99:59:59,999
"don't!"