Valerie Fridland is a sociolinguist, Professor of Linguistics at the University of Nevada, a researcher and an author. On average we say around 5,000 words every day. But how often have you assessed why you communicate the way you do, or where the words you're using came from? This is where the fascinating field of sociolinguistics comes in, exploring the history of our speech patterns and words' origins to help us develop new and better ways to communicate. Expect to learn why languages evolved to be so complex, how to stop saying ‘like’ so much, how social media has impacted the way we speak, why you keep using “um” and “uh” all the time, why Black Twitter is at the forefront of all cool new lingo, the unexpected origin story of the word ‘Hello’, why I apparently have hard time pronouncing my R’s and much more... Sponsors: Get £150 discount on Eight Sleep products at https://eightsleep.com/modernwisdom (discount automatically applied) Go to my sponsor https://betterhelp.com/modernwisdom for 10% off your first month of therapy with BetterHelp and get matched with a therapist who will listen and help Get 20% discount on House Of Macadamias’ nuts at https://houseofmacadamias.com/modernwisdom (use code MW20) Timestamps: (00:00) Intro (00:20) The Work of a Sociolinguist (04:27) Has English Become Simpler? (14:51) Why We Say ‘Um’ and ‘Uh’ (26:27) Is it Better to Be Silent Than Use Fillers? (30:39) How to Be a More Conscientious Listener (34:26) Why We Say ‘Like’ So Often (44:46) The Cause of Vocal Fry (52:12) Has Social Media Caused a More Informal Language? (1:01:43) Strange Word Developments (1:10:24) Where to Find Valerie Extra Stuff: Buy Like Literally Dude - https://amzn.to/41HmKaR  Get my free Reading List of 100 books to read before you die → https://chriswillx.com/books/ To support me on Patreon (thank you): https://www.patreon.com/modernwisdom - Episodes You Might Enjoy: This Is How To Master Your Life - David Goggins - #577: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠ How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs - Dr Jordan Peterson - #712: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠ The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain - Dr Andrew Huberman - #700: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠ Get in touch. Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast Email: https://chriswillx.com/contact/  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices