Monday 14 September 2009

language experts and language users

When I roam around the internet, I come across blogs where the writers are experts on language. I also enjoy looking at ones like mine, where the writers are simply interested amateurs.

But I think I enjoy most of all coming across sites where an expert has used language to achieve an effect. By this type of expert, I mean, advertising executives.

For instance, here is an interesting discussion of the usage of the expression yeah-no - which, by the way, like a typical Australian, I find myself saying all the time.

But there's enormous pleasure in seeing yeah-no used to such effect in this advertisement from New Zealand. (I followed a link from Language Log to the advertisement.)

2 comments:

Mary said...

This reminds me of the time I had a car mechanic work on my air conditioning for about 15 minutes (because it wasn't cooling the car in the 40 degree hear) before I remembered that I had the heating on with it (the evening before had been cool). I just quietly said, "Oh, don't worry. Thank you." and left!

parlance said...

Thank goodness they didn't call out the emergency services to cool your car!