Evolving English - well worth a visit

If you have any interest in the English language and you haven't been to the Evolving English Exhibition at the British Library, then (if you’re in easy reach of London) go! There is still just over a week before it closes (it runs until 3 April) and some of the exhibits are just breathtaking. In fact, it’s worth going just to take a look at some of the manuscripts and printed documents on display (11th century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, for example). But there’s also plenty to learn from some of the video and audio clips, and plenty of common myths about English are exploded. You can even listen to regional accents by hitting buttons on a map of the UK. What’s more, it’s free to attend. I went with the SYP last week and was so glad I did. See http://www.bl.uk/evolvingenglish/index.html.

When is a three-letter word a four-letter word?

Public health minister Anne Milton has caused a stir by suggesting that health professionals use the term 'fat' instead of 'obese'. Many people will have some sympathy for the view. Isn't it just a case of calling a spade a spade? Of reversing the tide of insane political correctness?

Well, possibly. But it made me wonder why people find the word 'fat' so insulting in the first place.

It's clearly not just because it's an everyday word and not a medical term. It's all too easy to say the word in a way that sounds insulting. And that's partly down to its origins. 'Fat' has Old English and Germanic roots, something it has in common with some of the more extreme swear words in the English language. The fact that it is a one-syllable word, ending in the hard 't' (known in linguistic circles as a stop consonant), gives it a short, sharp quality. It's just not possible to spit out 'obese' (a Latin-based word) in the same way.

So 'fat' is not just a word. Depending on the context, it's come to be an insult. And even if health professionals don't mean it to insult people by using it, it will be interpreted in that way.