Y07W24RC Language in Motion

This week you are exploring how language is always on the move — picking up new words, dropping old ones, and reshaping meaning to fit the world we live in. The reading ahead will help you practise inferring meaning from context and thinking about why language changes over time. As you read, pay attention to the examples the writer uses and consider which ones feel most familiar to you.

Informative — Feature article

A feature article is a longer piece of writing — typically found in a magazine, newspaper, or online publication — that explores a topic in depth rather than just reporting basic facts. Its purpose is to inform: to give readers a richer understanding of something by combining factual explanation with engaging examples and analysis. Feature articles are organised into sections, usually signalled by subheadings, and move through a topic in a logical order — often starting with something that grabs the reader's attention before building into more detailed explanation. The content typically includes a mix of evidence, real-world examples, and the writer's own informed perspective. When you read a feature article, your job is to absorb new information, track how ideas connect across sections, and think critically about the examples and reasoning the writer provides.

Before You Read

  • Scan the subheadings before you start reading. In a feature article structured this way, each subheading signals a distinct aspect of the topic — use them to map out the territory before you dive in.
  • Think about words that feel completely normal to you now but probably did not exist for your grandparents — words connected to technology, social media, or everyday Australian life. Language in motion is something most people experience without noticing it.
  • The article moves through several distinct ideas in sequence. Keeping track of how each section connects to the one before it will help you follow the overall argument rather than treating each section as separate.

While You Read

  • Each time the writer introduces a new term or concept, pause and check whether the surrounding sentences offer clues about what it means before you read on. Feature articles often embed explanations close to the term being introduced.
  • Use the subheadings as signposts while you read — when you finish a section, take a moment to summarise the main point in your head before moving to the next one.
  • Pay attention to the examples the writer chooses. Ask yourself why each example was selected and what it adds to the point being made, rather than reading past it as decoration.
  • When the writer compares an older meaning of a word to a newer one, slow down and make sure you are clear on both before continuing — that contrast is often the heart of the explanation.

Read With Purpose

  • Notice the different forces the writer identifies as driving language change, and consider which one seems to have had the greatest impact on the words you use every day.
  • Notice how the writer's tone shifts when discussing slang and dialects — pay attention to the attitude behind the word choices, not just the information being presented.
  • Notice the moment when the writer addresses those who see language change as a problem, and consider how the argument made there connects to the article's overall message.

Now read

The feature article

~4 min read · ~772 words

New Words, New World

Have you ever used a word that your grandparents had never heard of? Or noticed that a word you knew perfectly well suddenly seemed to mean something completely different? Language is not a fixed, finished thing — it is alive, constantly shifting to keep up with the world around it. Every generation adds something new, drops something old, and stretches familiar words into shapes their inventors never imagined.

Where Do New Words Come From?

New words do not appear from nowhere. Linguists — people who study language — have identified several reliable patterns that explain how new words enter everyday use.

One of the most common is borrowing. English has always pulled words from other languages, and it continues to do so. Australian English, in particular, has borrowed words from First Nations languages for centuries. ‘Kangaroo,’ ‘quokka,’ and ‘budgerigar’ all come from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. More recently, Australian slang has absorbed words and phrases from the many communities that make up modern Australian life.

Another pattern is blending, where parts of two words are combined to make one. ‘Brunch’ came from ‘breakfast’ and ‘lunch.’ ‘Podcast’ blended ‘iPod’ and ‘broadcast.’ Technology has driven this process rapidly: ‘vlog,’ ‘emoji,’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ are all relatively recent arrivals, each born from a world that did not exist a generation ago.

Then there is conversion — taking a word that belongs to one category and using it as another. ‘Google’ began as a proper noun, the name of a company. Within years, it had become a verb: ‘Just google it.’ The same happened with ‘text,’ which was once only a noun. Now you send one, you receive one, and you can also ‘text’ someone, all in the same conversation.

When Words Change Their Meaning

Sometimes new words are not needed at all — existing words simply stretch to cover new territory. This process, known as semantic shift, has been reshaping English for as long as the language has existed.

The word ‘awful’ once meant ‘deserving of awe’ — something so impressive or overwhelming it inspired wonder. Over time, it drifted in the opposite direction until it came to mean something deeply unpleasant. ‘Silly’ used to mean ‘blessed’ or ‘happy’ in Old English. Few people today would use it that way.

More recent examples are easier to spot. ‘Sick,’ in Australian and international youth slang, has taken on the meaning of something excellent or impressive: ‘That trick was sick.’ ‘Ghost’ is now commonly used as a verb meaning to suddenly cut off contact with someone — to disappear without explanation. ‘Lit’ shifted from describing something that was on fire to describing a party, event, or experience that was exciting and lively.

These shifts can move quickly or slowly, but they are rarely random. They tend to follow the feelings, humour, and values of the communities using them.

Technology as a Language Engine

No force has driven language change faster in recent decades than digital technology. The internet, social media, and messaging platforms have created entirely new communicative needs — and language has rushed to fill them.

Consider the word ‘stream.’ For most of English history, it meant a small body of flowing water. Then it came to describe the flow of data. Now it describes watching a film, listening to music, or broadcasting yourself to an audience. All three meanings exist simultaneously, and context tells you which one is meant.

Abbreviations have multiplied rapidly. ‘LOL,’ ‘DM,’ ‘FOMO,’ and ‘IRL’ (in real life) began in digital spaces and have since made their way into spoken conversation and even formal writing. The speed of digital communication has also changed punctuation habits: a full stop at the end of a short message now carries a different tone — often colder or more serious — than it once did. Meaning leaks into unexpected places.

A Living Language

It can be tempting to see language change as a problem — a sign that standards are slipping or that people are becoming careless. Linguists generally disagree. Change, they argue, is evidence that a language is being used. Dead languages do not change because no one is speaking them anymore.

This does not mean all changes are equal or that clarity does not matter. Context still determines what is appropriate: the language of a text message is not the same as the language of a formal report, and knowing the difference remains important. But judging one variety of language as inherently better than another misses the point. Every dialect, every slang term, every borrowed word is a record of the people who used it and the world they were living in.

Language is not slipping. It is moving — just as it always has.

Check your vocabulary knowledge

linguists n.
people who study language, including how it works and changes
semantic adj.
relating to the meaning of words and how meanings shift
simultaneously adv.
happening at the same time, without one replacing another
abbreviations n.
shortened forms of words or phrases, often using initials
dialect n.
a variety of a language spoken by a particular community or region