Discussion
I don't know why but I notice, and am annoyed by, certain kinds of phatic communication. Most recently:
"Thanks for being on the show."
"Thanks for having me."
There are so many other ways to do this. Why not mix it up?
This is the least of our problems, obviously. I should just let it go. But once I notice it, I can't unhear.
The worst one for me? "Perfect" as the coda for any retail transaction.
@judell Have you become more sensitive in the last year or two? If you use LLMs, does it ever happen with them?
@earth2marsh It happens all the time. Language is fluid and evolves as it is used. I'm reminded of this investigation into how tag vocabulary in del.icio.us evolved organically, as speakers and readers/listeners interact.
https://jonudell.net/udell/gems/delicious/delicious.html
We coin terms and phrases that others may or may not pick up and amplify.
I'm fascinated to see this happen in human/LLM discourse. I often hear that LLMs are "bad writers" and "not creative" but from my point of view, when the writing is functional not creative, they are excellent coiners of useful phrases that I am happy to pick up when working with them. And it goes the other way, I coin phrases that they pick up and use.
Whatever else you think about LLMs, they are using language proficiently and as a result we and they are co-evolving it. I think this is fascinating and potentially quite important. I also think that what George Orwell and E.B. White and others taught matters as much as ever in this new hybrid linguistic landscape.
@judell That may be the editor in you? I wholeheartedly share the sentiment.