Language

Back in the late 80s and early 90s my favourite television programme bar none was A Bit of Fry & Laurie. Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie were not long out of Cambridge's illustrious Footlights and forging their own unique path in British comedy.

One of the things that appealed to me about the show was their wordplay, their love of language, as well as their not inconsiderable comedic talents. Puns and surreal conversations were the lifeblood of the programme and I, in typical schoolboy fashion, would learn the sketches and quote them to my friends. Lord only knows why. Teenagers are a funny lot.

One particular sketch was slightly more esoteric than most and in it Stephen discussed, to a largely baffled Hugh, the flexibility of language.

"Our language, hundreds of thousands of available words, frillions of possible legitimate new ideas, so that I can say this sentence and be confident it has never been uttered before in the history of human comunication: 'Hold the newsreader's nose squarely, waiter, or friendly milk will countermand my trousers.' One sentence, common words, but never before placed in that order."

It's frivolous and ridiculous but makes a valid point and this subject of the variety and beauty of language is something that Stephen has recently returned to in his latest podgram. In it, he revels in what Roland Barthes called the jouissance or 'juicy joy' of language. Anyone who watches QI or has read any of Fry's work will know that he also uses his impressive vocabulary not simply to impress but because he enjoys it so very much, and in so doing delivers a rich texture to his thoughts and ideas that would not otherwise have been possible.

He goes on to discuss the evolution of language, such as how 'willy nilly' used to mean very specifically 'whether you like it or not' and now means something more like 'haphazard'. He suggests that far from despairing at these changes, we ought to embrace them wholeheartedly.

He also reveals a hatred of pedants, the sort of people who start campaigns to make supermarkets change their signs from '5 items or less' to '5 items or fewer'. Whilst they are indubitably correct, it's petty and filled with a sneering smugness that is deeply unattractive. He rightly points out that it would be lot better of these people were to spend their time creating stories or plays or poems, indeed anything remotely creative instead of writing letters of complaint to newspapers.

For some of us, getting these things right in the first place is our job and so unfortunately spotting errant apostrophes becomes second nature. As much as I'd like to write with a freedom I might employ in my own writing, all the jouissance in the world isn't going to help me retain my contracts with my clients.

And besides, if no one bothered about apostrophes anymore, some people would be really annoyed. Because whatever you might think of Britney's pears, you could never say that Hilary's wank.