Title: The Secret Life of Pronouns (book 6 of 100 on the year)
Author: James Pennebaker
Cover:
Description: …Pennebaker uses his groundbreaking research in computational linguistics-in essence, counting the frequency of words we use-to show that our language carries secrets about our feelings, self-concept, and our social intelligence. Our most forgettable words, such as pronouns and prepositions, can be the most revealing: Their patterns are as distinctive as fingerprints.
My Read: Amazon does this great thing where they recommend things to you based on past purchases and your Wish List. Since my wish list is almost entirely books, most of my recommendations are as well. This book was recommended to me and I happily bought it. I was very intrigued about what my use of pronouns and other “stealth” words might mean about me. And I learned a ton. This book was great. But, as John so accurately pointed out when I told him about it, “there are probably only 6 people in the world who would want to read this book and you are one of them. You should find the others and form a club”. Erica is the only person I can think of off the top of my head who would also like to read this book and I gave it to her yesterday. I won’t tell you all the interesting things I learned but will share one that I experience a lot. There is something called LSM or language style matching. We all do it subconsciously. If we are speaking to someone who speaks formally, we speak more formally. If we’re around people who speak slowly, we will do that as well without thinking about it. Pennebaker asks us to think of a time when we have watched a movie or read a book and found ourselves talking like the characters afterwards. As I have mentioned before, this happens to me in a major way when I read Jane Austen or any other novel set in Britain around the same time (Dickens, the Bronte’s, etc.). I always find myself speaking more formally and using old words and even British pronunciations and spellings of things. It’s interesting, no?
Quotes:
1. “Language is a powerful reflection of a person but does not change the person on it’s own”.
2. (This is not a quote from the author but is what Sigmund Freud wrote to Karl Jung when severing their friendship. I found it so wonderful that I wrote it down to share with you all and can only hope to be able to end a friendship with such words one day!) “I shall lose nothing by it, for my only emotional tie with you has long been a thin thread-the lingering effect of past disappointments”. Come on! How great is that!
What’s next in the series – The Secret Life of Adverbs? Seriously, I can’t tell a pronoun from an adverb ever since Freshman English at good old Sebewaing High School.