The "evolution" of language
Feb. 29th, 2012 06:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
spottoSo ranting about the current Derpy situation would be rather pointless as everyone and their grandma has already discussed it. Not only that, but AKR already issued a pretty in-depth statement about what exactly happened. When I first heard the news I was a bit upset of course, as any fan probably would be, but I wasn't all that invested into the character of Derpy herself. I mean, the fact that she was named and had a voice and everything was a huge thing for the fanbase itself, but otherwise The Last Roundup being my favourite episode ever and possibly forever had nothing to do with Derpy; if she never appeared it'd still be my favourite episode ever.
Nonetheless, my biggest beef with the change was the removal of her name. The statement Amy Keating Rogers released explained why it happened, and while the term "derp" has been used to describe retardation before, I believe it's a wrongful use of the term. I'm pretty sure "derp" was popularized from South Park (and first used in the creators' film, Baseketball), and certainly not as a made-up word to describe the mentally-disabled. Timmy, the kid in the wheelchair who could only speak his name was, as far as I remember, never addressed with the word "derp" before. No, derp was something like Homer Simpson yelling D'oh! after doing anything particularly dumb or making a mistake. If I started typing something out, describing something to my friends but accidentally using a different name for some reason, I'd probably correct myself and say 'derp' afterwards, acknowledging my silly mistake and moving on. It did not mean retarded. According to KYM, derp was eventually associated with the crossing of eyes, calling it a "derp" face...and well, due to the animation error on Derpy...her name was natural.
The only reason derp has ever been associated with anything related to being a "retard" is that fact that "retard" has been used erroneously and irresponsibly itself. I too am guilty of using it improperly, using the word in place of other words like dumb or ridiculous. And frankly if people actually thought about what they were saying, using the term "retarded" to describe such things itself is pretty offensive, so this really just carried over and all the misuse of words is strangling and killing the ones we use today. A word we might think is innocent could be a horrible slur or insult in five years, and perhaps in an even shorter duration of time due to the rapidly-evolving nature of the internet. I mean you can always argue on how language is pretty much dying this generation due to chatspeak thanks to texting and such, but it's gone beyond that now. People actually have full-touchscreen keyboards to actually type everything out and large enough tablets that their pudgy fingers could easily tap the letters in without needing to take shortcuts. Even then we still have older style phones without that luxury, and smartphones with screens too small to consistently type in an efficient manner with those tiny, tiny keyboards.
Even without this excuse there are still generations of people, even adults well into their 30's and 40's who despite having the often-overlooked advantage of a full QWERTY keyboard insist on typing their words with shortcuts and basically sounding like eleven-year-old children who cannot spell. This has been going on for a while anyway, and is pretty common knowledge in terms of how language has evolved. As much as I don't want to judge a person in how they type, it's kind of hard not to. It feels like they do not respect the person they are talking to enough to put effort into typing words with all the letters they have. I guess in their shoes it would be pretty anal to have a problem with that, but I really wish people would just start typing properly, even if it is on the internet. I guess in certain situations with close friends and such it isn't too much of a bother, but the more lenient we are to this, or the more exceptions we make the less incentive there is to actually bother to spell in the first place.
So that merely just returns to the usage of the word derp and how it has evolved thanks to negative influence and how we associated some words with others. I find it tragic in a linguist kind of way, but that's just how it has to be. I wish we could use words already seen as inappropriate and actually use them with their original definitions, but it's too late for these words now. Faggot used to mean a bundle of sticks...wouldn't it have been nice to be able to describe "a bundle of sticks" with just one word? (I do recall an episode of the Simpsons where they used the entire word, uncensored on air while actually describing a bundle of sticks. It was pretty awesome!) Sadly the once-innocent word became one of taboo and people can never use it, else offending pretty much most of the world, while others will continue using the word disrespectfully, and not because they're dumb ignorant idiots who should know better. (I mean, that's probable) After all, I am a person who swears with the fire of a thousand suns especially when angry, and while my meaning behind the words isn't as nasty as they are meant to be, it's just something that comes out. People will be offended and apologizes must be handed out in short order, ending with tainted reputations. People just happen to be very judgemental, so as much as I'd like society to not banish the usage of certain words simply because someone corrupted the word to be so distasteful, it's just not possible in this world today.
And due to the change of Derpy's name, or rather the removal of it...well, that certainly is a giant step on the path of turning the word into a horrible one in the future. I liked Derpy's name, it was different. Ditzy just doesn't seem as modern or as unique and Derpy was the perfect shoutout to MLP's periphery demographic. But unfortunately due to everyone's improper and insightful wording...it's probably going to be on the path to its own destruction. Nonetheless I will always think of her as Derpy Hooves, not Ditzy Doo or whatever name that may be used. (I do like "Dreamy" from the Ask Pinkie Pie Solutions askblog) But I guess on a personal level it isn't too big of a deal for me, I just hope in the future such an incident won't happen again, and the writers or other creator's won't be too influenced by the, excuse my language, shitstorm that resulted from this. P:
Well that's just my little rant of the day, carry on with your exciting and highly entertaining wondrous lives.
Nonetheless, my biggest beef with the change was the removal of her name. The statement Amy Keating Rogers released explained why it happened, and while the term "derp" has been used to describe retardation before, I believe it's a wrongful use of the term. I'm pretty sure "derp" was popularized from South Park (and first used in the creators' film, Baseketball), and certainly not as a made-up word to describe the mentally-disabled. Timmy, the kid in the wheelchair who could only speak his name was, as far as I remember, never addressed with the word "derp" before. No, derp was something like Homer Simpson yelling D'oh! after doing anything particularly dumb or making a mistake. If I started typing something out, describing something to my friends but accidentally using a different name for some reason, I'd probably correct myself and say 'derp' afterwards, acknowledging my silly mistake and moving on. It did not mean retarded. According to KYM, derp was eventually associated with the crossing of eyes, calling it a "derp" face...and well, due to the animation error on Derpy...her name was natural.
The only reason derp has ever been associated with anything related to being a "retard" is that fact that "retard" has been used erroneously and irresponsibly itself. I too am guilty of using it improperly, using the word in place of other words like dumb or ridiculous. And frankly if people actually thought about what they were saying, using the term "retarded" to describe such things itself is pretty offensive, so this really just carried over and all the misuse of words is strangling and killing the ones we use today. A word we might think is innocent could be a horrible slur or insult in five years, and perhaps in an even shorter duration of time due to the rapidly-evolving nature of the internet. I mean you can always argue on how language is pretty much dying this generation due to chatspeak thanks to texting and such, but it's gone beyond that now. People actually have full-touchscreen keyboards to actually type everything out and large enough tablets that their pudgy fingers could easily tap the letters in without needing to take shortcuts. Even then we still have older style phones without that luxury, and smartphones with screens too small to consistently type in an efficient manner with those tiny, tiny keyboards.
Even without this excuse there are still generations of people, even adults well into their 30's and 40's who despite having the often-overlooked advantage of a full QWERTY keyboard insist on typing their words with shortcuts and basically sounding like eleven-year-old children who cannot spell. This has been going on for a while anyway, and is pretty common knowledge in terms of how language has evolved. As much as I don't want to judge a person in how they type, it's kind of hard not to. It feels like they do not respect the person they are talking to enough to put effort into typing words with all the letters they have. I guess in their shoes it would be pretty anal to have a problem with that, but I really wish people would just start typing properly, even if it is on the internet. I guess in certain situations with close friends and such it isn't too much of a bother, but the more lenient we are to this, or the more exceptions we make the less incentive there is to actually bother to spell in the first place.
So that merely just returns to the usage of the word derp and how it has evolved thanks to negative influence and how we associated some words with others. I find it tragic in a linguist kind of way, but that's just how it has to be. I wish we could use words already seen as inappropriate and actually use them with their original definitions, but it's too late for these words now. Faggot used to mean a bundle of sticks...wouldn't it have been nice to be able to describe "a bundle of sticks" with just one word? (I do recall an episode of the Simpsons where they used the entire word, uncensored on air while actually describing a bundle of sticks. It was pretty awesome!) Sadly the once-innocent word became one of taboo and people can never use it, else offending pretty much most of the world, while others will continue using the word disrespectfully, and not because they're dumb ignorant idiots who should know better. (I mean, that's probable) After all, I am a person who swears with the fire of a thousand suns especially when angry, and while my meaning behind the words isn't as nasty as they are meant to be, it's just something that comes out. People will be offended and apologizes must be handed out in short order, ending with tainted reputations. People just happen to be very judgemental, so as much as I'd like society to not banish the usage of certain words simply because someone corrupted the word to be so distasteful, it's just not possible in this world today.
And due to the change of Derpy's name, or rather the removal of it...well, that certainly is a giant step on the path of turning the word into a horrible one in the future. I liked Derpy's name, it was different. Ditzy just doesn't seem as modern or as unique and Derpy was the perfect shoutout to MLP's periphery demographic. But unfortunately due to everyone's improper and insightful wording...it's probably going to be on the path to its own destruction. Nonetheless I will always think of her as Derpy Hooves, not Ditzy Doo or whatever name that may be used. (I do like "Dreamy" from the Ask Pinkie Pie Solutions askblog) But I guess on a personal level it isn't too big of a deal for me, I just hope in the future such an incident won't happen again, and the writers or other creator's won't be too influenced by the, excuse my language, shitstorm that resulted from this. P:
Well that's just my little rant of the day, carry on with your exciting and highly entertaining wondrous lives.
