OUTSIDE INFORMATION

How We Speak
by Justin Johnson

The Oxford University Press is the definitive source for the English language. Compiling over one billion words, the Press has a system of word roots and extensions, called "lemmas." The example they present is: "...climbs, climbing, and climbed are counted as examples of the lemma climb." They also note that 10 of the lemmas they record also account for 25% of the words used in the English language. If this is so, then there must be a huge number of words that are unrelated to those ten, correct?

Not quite. Oxford lists the 100 most commonly used words in the English language, and, not surprisingly, many of them tie into those 10 lemmas. This revelation is easy to grasp, due to the fact that a quarter of our words are related to those lemmas. But there are some other conclusions that can be drawn.

(1) the / (2) be / (3) to / (4) of / (5) and
(6) a / (7) in / (8) that / (9) have / (10) I
The top 10 most commonly used words in the English language are, naturally, the 10 basic lemmas previously mentioned. Just to reiterate, 25% of the over one billion words are built from these 10 words. That's roughly 250,000,000 words.

(8) that / (21) this
It's interesting to consider the fact that that is located in the top 10, while this sits at 21. The human experience requires a certain attention to self, including the need for protection. Man is programmed to attempt to survive, and this point is illustrated in the relationship between that and this. Using this requires the speaker to take accountability (i.e. "I did this"), while that is a way of passing off blame (as in "that's not my fault."). Also, that allows us a certain freedom that this forfeits. This is a specific object; that is vague, and has no specific purpose unless that identifies a noun. We are not required to know all of the information if we are allowed a window of error.

(5) and / (22) but / (31) or
"Conjunction Junction" taught of the three basic conjunctions and, but, and or. These related words are used to join statements together, either in a unifying or dividing manner. And provides a backup to the previous statement, but offers a difference, and or leaves another option. Each are useful, but as Americans, are we creating a system in which more is better? But seems to be the nagging in the back of the mind ("I should do this, but..."), and or is an escape route ("I could do this, or..."). However, and creates a double-up situation, where one decision is increased ("I could get this, and..."). It's "Have your cake and eat it too" all over again, where a person gets rewarded for making a decision. Fast-food upsizing, two-for-one sales, and infomercial free gifts all follow the principles of and. And is a consumer-based economy's best friend, which is probably why it's so much higher than its conjoining brethren.

(7) in / (43) out
In a society constantly obsessed with what's currently popular or trending, it's only natural that in would occur more often than out. Nobody wants to be on the outside. The odd thing is that what was recently out is currently in. Goth fashion, the emo haircut, gamers, these were all shunned in normal society until recently. In fact, the gay lifestyle has also been accepted, and this was considered the most out of the out; it's even called out. So, in thinking this way, it's really somewhat shocking that in and out aren't closer together on the list. Out still isn't in.

(14) on / (XX) off
We live in a powerful world. Everything is always on. Cities never sleep. We constantly need stimulation. We always have a connection through some means of electronic signal. If we're not on, we're not efficient. If we're off, we waste our potential, and the more on we are, the better. Online, on our game, on point, on task, on a roll. There is no off.

(16) he / (23) his / (29) her / (30) she
America has been fighting this battle for some time now, especially since the Suffrage movement. A society dominated by males has slowly been working toward a more evenly matched dichotomy, but the vocabulary is still centered on masculinity. He is the 16th most-used word, while she falls in at 29, more than twice the distance away. Possessively, the balance is close, but the man is still higher. Could this still be a system where the male is given priority due to history? It is widely said that the Founding Fathers were the reason for America's prosperity, but there is no way that women played no role above sewing the flag.

(38) there / (39) their
Two of the most unfortunate words in the existence of language are two of the most sporadically used, randomly interchanged words that really have nothing to do with each other. An easy illustration of the breakdown of modern language, there and their are so often misused that they've begun to lose all meaning whatsoever, mere pieces of their original meanings (one a direction, one a possession). Netspeak can be partially to blame for this, as carelessness is almost encouraged online, but it really says more about us as a people when two words are allowed a free pass just because they sound alike. It's also suspicious that their positions are adjacent, as one is used (and misused) as often as the other.

(42) up / (XX) down
During a recession, things can center on the negative. When the dollar is down, so are spirits. Naturally, talk seems to either be why things are bad, or when things will improve. Here is where up comes into play. Anytime the market is down, the only (realistic) way for it to go is up. Knowing this, we begin to think in terms of up, and wonder when things will improve. We are almost forced into positive thinking, because that's how our human nature works. We have to think about up, because that's the only way we'll stay afloat. Down isn't an option.

(46) who / (40) what / (XX) where
(51) when / (XX) why / (85) how
In journalism, there is a standard. It was once the 5 W's of getting answers, asking the questions, who, what, where, when, and why. How was later included. We are supposed to ask all six of these questions to form the full story. Odd, then, that they're not all on the list. Where and why have taken a backseat to the others. It seems that in our world of immediate availability, some details get left out, as if they're not as important. The who, what, when, and how give us immediate details that we can process quickly and move forward. Where and why don't seem to be quite as important when broken down in this manner. The motive and location mean less to us than what happened to who.

(47) get / (54) like / (60) take / (65) good / (83) use
(88) first / (92) new / (93) want / (99) most
We have an obsession with having the biggest and best; the newer an item, the better it is. So that makes the inclusion of these nine words no surprise. All related to products and quality, it's obvious what's important to a consumer-based society.

(64) your / (XX) you're
(71) than / (72) then
Two interchangeable mysteries. Your and you're have forever been swapped in and out, due to the homophone syndrome (see there/their for more). They were once frequently switched, due to either carelessness or ignorance, but you're is not in the top 100. This can be attributed to texting and online language, as your has become the steady replacement. Your is used so often that you're is beginning to not exist, even outside of the internet. Proper usage of words is falling at a rapid rate, as evidenced in the relationship between these two words. However, a more alarming situation is occurring. Somehow, than and then are being interchanged, even though they are not homophones. They really have nothing to do with each other, further backing up the thought that it's not ignorance that's causing these words to swap: it's carelessness. There is a considerable lack or attention to little details (such as spelling) on the internet, and, as previously stated, this lack of attention is causing the breakdown of modern language. Simply typing something closely enough doesn't make it correct. This is happening too often. Another strange note: Their positions are side-by-side in the list. As also evidenced in...

(77) its / (78) over