Lesson video

This lesson is an exploration of how words change over time.

My name is Mr. Young and it's great to be with you once again on another lesson in our history of language learning sequence.

So today's learning outcome is that I can explain how words change over time.

And as always we will be accompanied by some very important words, our key words.

So let's take a quick look at what they are.

Weakening.

Intensification.

Amelioration.

Pejoration.

And superlative.

So our lesson two today will have two learning cycles.

Our very first learning cycle is called weakening and intensification.

And in particular we are going to look at language and particular words whose meanings have grown stronger and weaker over time.

And then we're gonna move on to our second learning cycle, which is called amelioration and pejoration.

And we are going to look at language and words which have grown either more pleasant or more negative as the years have have gone by.

So let's make a start with learning cycle one.

Okay, we are going to start today's lesson with a quick discussion question.

So your question is as follows, think about the words you speak with your friends and family.

Are there any words that you think you overuse? Pause the video, have a discussion and push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, a great start to today's lesson and some really nice conversations taking place.

So let's develop that idea a little bit further.

So on the board you can see some example statements from the students from.

So we've got statements like, the party was awesome, that's amazing, and I was stunned when I heard that song.

What I'd like you to do is to discuss what is being said in these statements.

So look at the words being used by the students.

Why are they using these words and do you think they really mean them? Pause the video, have a quick discussion and push play when you like some feedback.

Okay, some great discussions taking place.

I particularly like conversations that centred on the fact that maybe these students might be exaggerating a little bit and potentially they're just using these words to describe something nice or positive.

And actually the original meaning of these words is, is far removed from how they're being used by the students.

Great work if you were able to identify that.

Okay, so when we overuse a word, it begins to change its meaning and this is called weakening.

And this is particularly true of words used to positively describe things just like the students were doing on the previous slide.

So a quick discussion task then to develop this idea a little bit further.

So we are going to see some words below very shortly.

What I would like you to do is to tell me, what do you think they mean and in what situation might you use them.

So those words are stunning, awesome, amazing and unbelievable.

So pause the video, have a quick discussion and push play when you would like to continue.

Okay, fantastic discussions taking place around these words.

So let's unpick them a little bit more, so we are going to look now at the original definitions of these words.

I would like you to be thinking about how has their meaning changed and why do you think this is so and are they relevant to what the discussions you were having before about how these words are used in modern society.

So we've got the word stunning and its original definition is to render someone unconscious.

We've got the word awesome whose original definition, means a feeling of wonder and fear at something's power.

Again, we've got the word amazing, which is a feeling so powerful it can overwhelm you.

And unbelievable something not capable of being believed.

So we could really argue here that a lot of these words have kind of deviated from that meaning, they're usually just used in modern society to kind of describe something impressive or positive.

They are not quite linked anymore to their original definition and we would say that this is a clear example of word weakening.

Okay, so a quick check for understanding for learning cycle one.

So word weakening is when words are overused and their meaning changes, words are forgotten as a result of not being used or words are intentionally amended to become weaker than their original meaning.

Pause the video, complete the task and push play when you'd like to see some feedback for this task.

Okay, great work, if you identified a word weakening is when words are overused and their meaning changes.

Okay, so let's have a bit more of an in-depth look at word weakening.

So we have an example extract on the left hand side which discusses the concept of word weakening.

So let's read it.

"Social media apps have made it so easy to express our thoughts and feelings.

We can post about our perfect morning coffee, our hilarious cat videos or even a tragedy in our lives.

But with this ease of expression comes a downside, the overuse of certain words.

It seems like everything we encounter is "awesome" or "amazing." Even the most mundane events are described as epic and every meal is "perfect." So let's unpick this extract a little bit more.

So my first question for you is what words does this article suggest are overused? Pause the video, have a quick discussion and push play when you'd like to see some answers.

Okay, excellent work if you identified some of these examples being used.

So we have words like hilarious, perfect, awesome and amazing, which the article is suggesting are simply overused by people and have become weakened as a result.

Okay, our next question is what does the article blame for the overuse of words? Again, pause the video, have a quick discussion and push play when you'd like to see some answers to this question.

Okay, great work if you identify social media as the cause of word weakening according to this article.

So this article blames social media and the way it has made it so easy to express our thoughts and our feelings.

Okay, our final question then is, what does the article suggest people use these words for? Again, pause the video, have a quick discussion and push play when you like to continue.

Okay, great job if you manage to identify anything similar to what's on the board in front of you now.

The article suggests people use exaggerated words to describe things that are simply mundane.

So the article argues that the things being described as amazing, awesome and epic simply don't deserve these kind of adjectives.

Okay, let's move on to the second part of the article, so the article continues, "This constant bombardment of superlatives has led to word weakening.

We scroll through our feeds and see "incredible" photos of someone's lunch or "genius" hacks for everyday tasks.

The lines between the truly remarkable and the everyday have become blurred.

We often no longer reserve these words for the exceptional moments or individuals that truly deserve them." So once again, let's unpick this article a little bit more through some questions.

So our first question is as follows, when the article refers to a constant bombardment, what is it referring to? Again, pause the video, have a discussion and push play when you'd like to see the answer to that question.

Okay, the constant bombardment is of course the number of times exaggerated words are used to describe things on social media.

So really great work if you identified that.

Our second question, what kinds of words does it suggest are overused? Again, do pause the video, have a quick go at this task and push play when you'd like to see some feedback.

Examples of words that are overused according to this article are words like incredible and genius.

So incredible work if you are able to identify those.

Our final question then is, the extracts suggests that the lines between the truly remarkable and the everyday have become blurred.

What do you think this means? Pause the video, have a quick go at this task and push play when you'd like to continue.

So this suggests that people no longer reserve these words for things that that really deserve them and that their meaning has become weakened.

Great work if you were able to identify that.

Really well done.

Okay, so now let's move on to something related to word weakening but entirely different and that is intensification.

So in addition to word weakening, sometimes a word can gain a stronger meaning than it had before, and this is called intensification.

So a quick discussion task then as we start looking at word intensification.

Why do you think a words meaning may grow stronger over time? Pause the video, have a quick discussion and then do push play when you'd like to continue.

Okay, some excellent discussions taking place and really nice ideas around that question.

Particularly, great work if you were able to identify the context in which a word is being used potentially contributing to making it stronger over time.

So over time words become more powerful as people use them to describe things more intensely.

For example, the words smart initially meant clever and was only applied to people.

However, it has taken on a stronger meaning.

Meaning both clever but also advanced in technology.

And this is an example of word intensification.

So let's look at some examples of word intensification over time.

So each of the blow are examples of words where the meaning has intensified.

So let's look at some examples.

So firstly we've got the word night and its original meaning referred to a young man or a servant.

However, its modern meaning refers to a brave warrior noted for their honour and nobility.

So we can clearly see that word's meaning has intensified over time.

Again, disease, the original meaning of the word disease was merely just a minor discomfort or inconvenience.

But in modern society we would say it's a significant illness with serious implications.

Once again, a word that has really intensified over time.

And finally we've got the verb to kill.

Its original meaning meant nothing like what we know the word to mean in modern society actually meant to strike, hit or knock.

But over time it has come to mean to put to death.

So a really stark example of how a word has intensified over time.

So our quick check for understanding then please, so the word night has become intensified over time.

True or force.

Pause the video and do push play when you'd like to see some feedback to this question.

It is of course true and great work if you were able to identify that.

But let's add a little bit of challenge to this question by trying to justify our answer.

So how would we justify that answer? Is it a, knights undertake brave and heroic deeds? So the meaning of this word has naturally become stronger or knight used to mean servant or young boy and has strengthened to mean a mounted warrior.

Pause the video, have a quick go at this check for understanding and then do push play when you'd like to see the correct answer.

Excellent work if you are able to identify B as the correct answer.

Knight used to mean servant or young boy and has strengthened to mean a mounted warrior.

Great job if you are able to get that one.

Okay, so let's move on to our first practise task of today's lesson and that is all about intensification and weakening.

So your task is as follows, I would like you to complete the sentences below to explain the intensification and weakening of words.

And you've got some sentence starters there to help you.

So your first sentence starter is, the meaning behind certain words can become weaker because.

sometimes a word starts out with a weaker meaning but.

and over time words are overused so.

So do pause the video, have a go at today's practise task and then move on when you'd like to see some feedback on the next slide.

Okay, really nice work.

And what is a really challenging task in today's lesson? So let's see what we could have completed in response to this task.

The meaning behind certain words can become weaker 'cause these words are overused.

An example of this would be stunning, which used to mean to render someone unconscious but now means something surprising or pleasing.

Again, we might have said sometimes a word starts out with a weaker meaning, but over time it's meaning becomes stronger, this is called word intensification.

An example of this is the word disease.

This word originally meant a minor discomfort but has come to mean a serious disease.

And again, over time words are overused so they become different from their original meaning.

This has been influenced by social media where superlatives like incredible and amazing are common.

Really great work, if you were able to identify anything similar in your own work, well done.

Okay, we are now going to move on to the second learning cycle of today's lesson and we are going to look at amelioration and pejoration.

So let's get started.

So both the words amelioration and pejoration have their origins in Latin.

Let's unpick that a little bit more.

So as we can see, both words end in Asian, and this is the Latin word for a process.

So this immediately indicates to us that these words describe a process of some kind and then we have the prefix of the word.

So amelio means to make better and pejor means to make worse.

So over to you then for a quick discussion on this.

When applied to language, what do you think these words might mean? Okay, some great discussions to kick off learning cycle two and excellent work.

If you were able to identify that these two processes are likely to contrast, they are likely to be opposites because one is to make worse and one is to make better.

So let's have a very specific look at what each of these words means.

Okay, amelioration refers to a process when a word acquires a more pleasant meaning than it had before.

So we're looking at that Latin prefix of amelio, which means to make better.

And we understand that it is when a word acquires a more pleasant meaning than it had before.

And equally pejoration refers to a process when a word acquires a more negative meaning than it had before.

Once again, we're looking at that Latin prefix of pejor which means to make worse.

So many different things can drive this process and this includes generational changes, cultural shifts and new meanings of words.

And also the overuse of words can also drive amelioration and pejoration.

Okay, let's look at an example of this inaction.

First we are going to look at the word amelioration.

So let's read this extract.

"In 1916, "geek" was carnival and circus slang, meaning "sideshow freak".

This obviously was offensive and not something you would call your friends even as a joke.

It had originated in the word "geck" which in the 1510s meant "a fool, a dupe or a simpleton".

But now "geek" has expanded to mean someone with special knowledge, not limited to computers.

We have in recent years seen it on t-shirts and jumpers, almost like a badge of pride.

Being a geek now shows you no more than others on a certain subject." So a really nice example there of how a word has ameliorated over time.

So let's unpick this article in a bit more depth.

Okay, so first and foremost, what did the word geek originally mean? Well, the word geek originally meant a sideshow freak.

The word geek originated from the word geck.

What did that mean? Well, the word geck originally meant a fool, dupe or simpleton.

So we can see it has really negative connotations at least to begin with.

And our final question, how has the word geek ameliorated? Well, if we were answering this question, we would probably say that over time the word geek has ameliorated from a negative insult to a positive term to describe an expert.

So a really, really nice example of word amelioration over time.

So a quick check for understanding over to you then please.

So true or false, the word geek hasn't ameliorated over time, true or false? Pause the video and push play when you'd like to see the correct answer.

Okay, great work if you identify that it is false, the word certainly has ameliorated over time, but let's just add a little bit more complexity to this check for understanding.

So I would like you to try and justify your answer please.

How would you justify this? Is it a, the word has gained a more positive meaning over time or is it a, that the word has always had a positive meaning? Pause the video, complete the task and push play when you'd like to see the correct answer.

Great job to all of you who identified A, the word has gained a more positive meaning over time.

So it is a clear example of word amelioration.

Well done if you've got that.

Okay, now we are going to look at something completely opposite to amelioration and that is pejoration.

So let's look at an example extract that discusses this process in a little bit more detail.

So, "The word "notorious" has evolved over time to become more negative in meaning.

Originally it came from the Latin word "notorius," which meant "well-known" or "famous" and it was used by Shakespeare in this way.

However, from the 18th century it started to be associated with being famous for something bad or having a bad reputation.

So today when we say someone or something is "notorious", it often means they are widely known for doing something wrong, illegal or morally unacceptable.

So a really nice explanation there of pejoration using examples.

So over to you then let's look at this in a bit more depth using some questions to unpick the text.

So our first question is from what Latin word does notorious originate? Pause the video, have a go and push play when you like to see the answer.

Okay, it of course originates from the Latin word, notorius, which means well known.

So great job if you are able to identify that.

Okay, our second question, what did notorious begin to be associated with in the 18th century? So once again, pause the video, have a go and push play when you'd like to see some feedback to this task.

Okay, well done and and great job if you are able to identify that notorious became to be associated with being famous but for something bad.

Okay, our final question.

If someone is described as notorious in modern society, what are they likely to be known for? Once again, pause the video, have a go and push play when you'd like to see some feedback to this task.

If someone is described as notorious in modern society, it is likely to mean they are doing something wrong, illegal, or morally unacceptable and fantastic work if you are able to identify that.

Really well done.

Okay, a check for understanding on pejoration then please.

So pejoration is when a words meaning becomes significantly more negative over time, becomes significantly less negative over time or becomes significantly more positive over time.

Pause the video, complete the task, and do push play when you'd like to continue.

Well done to all of you who said a, it becomes significantly more negative over time.

Well done for identifying that.

Okay, so we are going to move on to our final practise task for today.

So we are going to put our fantastic knowledge of amelioration and pejoration in to practise.

So your task is as follows.

So using the sentence status below, write a summary of both amelioration and pejoration using examples to support your summary.

And your sentence starters are as follows.

Amelioration is when an example of a word that has.

and over time this word has.

And for pejoration, pejoration is when an example of a word that has.

and over time this word has.

So do pause the video, have a go at this practise task and I'm really looking forward to seeing what you are able to produce as a result of this task.

Okay, excellent work to again, what is a really challenging task in this lesson.

So there are some ideas on the board of what you might have come up with.

And these are by no means the only correct answer, so you may have come up with something slightly different to this so don't stress if that's the case.

Okay, amelioration is when a word gains a more positive meaning over time.

An example of a word that has ameliorated would be the word geek.

Over time, this word has changed from a negative insult to a word denoting an expert in a particular area.

And again, for pejoration, we may have said something similar to, pejoration is when a word meaning becomes more negative over time.

An example of a word that is experienced pejoration would be notorious over time this word has gone from meaning generally well known to mean being known for negative reasons.

So great job if you are able to identify those ideas around amelioration or pejoration, well done.

Okay, we have reached the end of today's lesson, so well done for your fantastic work and effort throughout today's learning.

Let's take a quick look at what we have learned in today's lesson.

Weakening is when a word is overused and loses the strength of its meaning.

<v ->Intensification is when a word acquires</v> a stronger meaning over time.

Amelioration is when a word acquires a certain more pleasurable meaning than it once had.

pejoration is when a word acquires negative connotations that it did not have before.

Okay, once again, great job on all your fantastic effort, hard work and the work that you've produced in today's lesson.

It's been a great pleasure to teach you and I very much look forward to teaching you on another lesson in our sequence, a history of language.

Thank you very much and goodbye.