- Television! Yea!
(upbeat funky music)
Did you know that the average American
watches approximately 153 hours of TV every month?
With that much time dedicated to programming,
many argue that the words, phrases,
and grammar of television
can fundamentally alter the way we talk.
Here's how.
- I've fallen, and I can't get up!
- We all know catchphrases.
- Did I do that?
- That's kind of the whole point.
They're expressions that are recognized
because they are repeated in culture.
And since television is so ubiquitous in our society,
it's no surprise that
many popular catchphrases originate there.
Researchers have found that we use those phrases
to form solidarity with others,
subsequently making us feel good about ourselves.
Richard Harris at Kansas State University
discovered this behavior in a study on local young adults.
His participants overwhelmingly cited catchphrases
from comedies first.
- So that's the alright alright alright.
(laughter)
- Uh, ba-donka-donk.
(laughter)
- Means to pass someone on a motorcycle,
then see a police car and brake suddenly.
(buzzer sounds)
No.
- Slang is informal terminology,
synonymous with other words or phrases.
You know the term punked?
- [Voiceover] You got punked!
(laughter)
- Well even if you've never seen the MTV show,
you probably know its title also operates
as a term for being fooled or tricked.
Or here's another example of television affecting slang.
How many of you knew what "breaking bad" meant
before Walter White cooked up his first batch of meth?
- Ready for this? Here goes.
You two suck at peddling meth. Period.
- Even show creator Vince Gilligan
thought it simply meant to raise hell,
but it's more nuanced than that,
implying anger and violence also.
- I am the one who knocks.
♫ Accede and accost and accept and across
and accompany, acre, accord♫
- Most of us who grew up with Sesame Street
would agree that television also has
the capability to improve our vocabulary.
- Hello, I'm Robin, and this is the Two-Headed Monster.
- Hello!
- And we're here to tell you all about the word conflict.
- Conflict!
- Right.
- In fact in 2010, dictionary.com chose True Blood,
Fringe and more as shows likely to expand
your personal lexicon.
Others argue, however, that when tested,
television neither expands nor reduces our vocabulary.
- Are you contracting or doing some work around the house?
- No, we work all over.
- Full-time?
- No we had about five jobs last month.
- Ah, with that rate,
the cost of the powder-actuated gun justifies itself.
- You say power?
- [Store Employee] Powder.
- Like gunpowder.
- Yea.
- Whether dialects are affected by television
seems to still be up for debate.
Linguist Jack Chambers says
it does not have an effect on speech patterns.
For example, he cites the fact
that inner city African Americans watch an average
of eight hours of television a day,
but they have still preserved their own unique dialects,
despite that variety of language
being under-represented on TV.
Despite this, other researchers, and even governments,
believe dialect is affected.
(man speaks in a dialect)
- Now, once more. In English.
- For instance, researchers in Glasgow
claim that the television show East Enders
is spreading the Cockney dialect,
originally endemic to parts of London,
all the way to Scotland.
Even the Chinese government has removed dialects
from television in efforts
to promote the official language, Mandarin.
So what do you think?
Can television change our dialect and accents?
Check out the expanded article version of,
"How Television Changes the Way We Talk,"
on howstuffworks.com,
then come back and let us know what you think
in the comments below.
And don't forget to subscribe to the How Stuff Works channel
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