The Strange Death of Intense Words

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE The video explains how English speakers are increasingly adding **back** to verbs that already have the prefix re‑ (like “reply back,” “return back”), and uses this to explore broader cycles of intensification and change in language, such as Jespersen’s cycle, the euphemism treadmill, and the split between two historical “re‑” prefixes in Latin and French.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## High‑level outline - The speaker notices a new grammatical construction in progress: adding **back** to re‑verbs (reply back, return back, rewind back).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - This is framed as part of a wider pattern where words lose emotional force over time, prompting intensification (e.g., adding extra words, repetition, new structures).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The video connects this to Jespersen’s cycle in negation, the euphemism treadmill, and the history of the prefix re‑ in Latin and French.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## Detailed section outline ## 1. Introduction and the “mystery” construction - The speaker introduces the idea of a “linguistic change in progress” that, once noticed, cannot be unseen, and hints that it signals a small but meaningful grammatical shift in English.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Academic publishing is briefly criticized as exploitative, used as a humorous aside before returning to the main topic.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The audience is challenged to identify the new construction, with the speaker noting that it has already been used multiple times in the opening minutes.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 2. Words losing force and the need for intensification - The speaker explains that words lose meaning, power, and emotional valence over time, leading speakers to “punch them up” with extra material.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The process is described as intensification and an opposite process jokingly labeled “blandification” or “dullification,” where expressions lose their luster.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Several phenomena are grouped as instances of the same underlying pattern: Jespersen’s cycle (negation), do‑support in English, and the euphemism treadmill for taboo or negative terms.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 3. Revealing the construction: “back” with re‑verbs - The specific construction is identified as adding **back** to verbs that already have re‑, such as “return back,” “rewind back,” “reply back,” “respond back,” and “remember back.”[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The speaker notes that this pattern has become common and may even be obligatory for some speakers in certain contexts, while being unacceptable with some verbs like _rejoice_ or _rely_.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Example sentences from earlier in the video are replayed to show where “back” was added redundantly, making the pattern clear.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 4. Scientific thinking and hypothesis‑testing - The speaker shifts to methodological discussion: scientific thinking involves forming testable hypotheses and then trying to prove oneself wrong, rather than cherry‑picking confirming evidence.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - A contrast is drawn between a “lawyerly” approach to evidence (arguing a side) and a scientific approach (trying to falsify a hypothesis).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - This mindset is linked to how linguists test whether a new pattern (like re‑ + back) is systematic, acceptable, and constrained.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 5. Testing the pattern: where “back” works and where it fails - The speaker notes that “revile back” only makes sense if someone reviled you first, showing that some verbs semantically support “back” while others do not.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Verbs such as _rejoice_ and _rely_ are given as examples that resist the addition of “back,” suggesting semantic and historical constraints.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The audience is told that speakers unconsciously preserve thousands of years of etymological differences in their sense of which combinations “feel right.”[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 6. Corpus evidence: Google Ngrams - The speaker uses Google Ngrams to show that phrases like “reply back,” “respond back,” and “rewind back” have risen sharply in frequency in the last generation or so.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - A question is raised: are these forms taking over, or is the rise simply due to more talk about replying/responding in general?[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The idea is introduced that comparing slopes (rates of increase) between “reply back” and “reply” can test whether the intensified form is growing faster than expected.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 7. Predicting a change in progress - The video emphasizes that this is not a full scientific paper and that a rigorous study would need to consider age, internet use, education, dialect, region, and individual speaker behavior.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Nonetheless, the speaker proposes a falsifiable hypothesis: forms like “return back” and “respond back” will become dominant, perhaps even obligatory, over time.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - This prediction is justified by noting that the change fits a repeated pattern in language where intensifying structures spread.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 8. Intensification more broadly - The pattern of intensification is illustrated with fixed expressions like “big giant sign” and “tiny little mouse,” where apparent redundancy adds emotional or stylistic force.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Jespersen’s cycle is introduced in detail: negation shifts from a single marker before the verb to a bipartite structure and then to a new single marker after the verb.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - French examples show how _ne_ and _pas_ developed, with _pas_ originally meaning “step” and similar negative minimizers like _mie_ (crumb) and _goutte_ (drop) playing comparable roles.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 9. English negation and do‑support - English is shown to have undergone a related pattern, moving from “I know not” to “I do not know” and then to reduced forms like “I don’t know.”[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The auxiliary _do_ is described as a “light verb” that originally added intensity or emphasis and then bleached into a grammatical marker.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Casual dialect variants (e.g., reduced “I dunno”) illustrate how the intensified structure eventually weakens into an underspecified grammatical puff of sound.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 10. Euphemism treadmill and “literally” as intensifier - The euphemism treadmill is defined: impolite or stigmatized words (e.g., older terms for racial categories) are replaced by more polite forms like “African‑American” or “Asian‑American,” which in turn may be replaced later.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The speaker connects this treadmill to the same basic mechanism of intensity and novelty wearing off.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The modern use of “literally” as a general intensifier (alongside “really,” “truly,” “in fact”) is presented as another instance of the same intensification pattern.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 11. Two historical “re‑” prefixes and why some verbs take “back” - The crucial etymological point: historically there were two re‑ prefixes in Latin/French‑derived words, one meaning “back” and another developing the sense “again, anew” and eventually functioning as an intensifier.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Verbs like _return_, _respond_, _reply_, _rewind_, _recycle_ are aligned with the “back” sense, so adding “back” feels like redundant marking of direction, similar to mid‑stages of Jespersen’s cycle (double marking negation).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Verbs like _rejoice_ and _rely_ have re‑ from the “again/anew” or intensifying sense (e.g., _rejoice_ from French verb related to “joy,” _rely_ from _re‑_ + _ligare_ “to bind”), so attaching “back” clashes with their semantics.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 12. Aspect and directional particles in English - The speaker notes that “back” is especially common in past tense forms and connects this to English’s use of directional particles (up, down, back) to signal aspectual nuances.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - An example is given: “drink” versus “drink up,” where the latter suggests a completed or perfective action; similarly, “reply back” can suggest not just composing but actually sending the reply.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The speaker frames this as another testable hypothesis about how speakers interpret “back” in such constructions.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## 13. Limits and oddities (recall, refer, etc.) - The phrase “recall back” is observed to be acceptable mainly when referring to recalling back to a time, not to a specific fact, showing subtle distributional constraints.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - Academic clichés such as “more research is needed” are playfully contrasted with impossible variants like “more research back is needed.”[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - The video closes by inviting viewers to support the channel, leave comments (which help the algorithm), and continue learning about language change.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ## Vocabulary list from the video Here is a list of salient vocabulary and key terms used or discussed, focusing on linguistic concepts and expressive words.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Linguistic change in progress** – Ongoing structural or usage change observable in a language.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Grammatical construction** – A recurring form–meaning pairing in a language (e.g., “reply back,” “I do not know”).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Emotional valence** – The positive or negative emotional “charge” associated with a word or expression.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Intensification** – The process of making an expression stronger or more emphatic, often by adding words or redundancy.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Blandification / dullification** – Humorous nonce terms for a process where language becomes less vivid or intense.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Obligatory** – Required in certain grammatical or social contexts; not optional for some speakers.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Scientific thinking** – Approach where hypotheses are made testable and then subjected to attempts at falsification.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Hypothesis** – A testable claim or prediction that can be supported or falsified with evidence.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Falsifiable** – Capable of being proven wrong by data or observations.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Corpus (e.g., Google Ngrams)** – A large, searchable collection of texts used to study language patterns quantitatively.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Slope (in frequency data)** – The rate of change over time in the use of a word or phrase.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Jespersen’s cycle** – A historical pattern in which negation shifts from pre‑verbal to bi‑partite to post‑verbal markers.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Negation** – Grammatical marking that makes a sentence negative (e.g., “not,” “no”).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Minimizer** – A small‑quantity word used in negation, like “a crumb,” “a drop,” or French _pas_ (“step”).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Do‑support** – Use of auxiliary _do_ in English for questions, negation, and emphasis (e.g., “Do you know?” “I do not know”).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Light verb** – A verb that carries little lexical meaning and mainly contributes grammatical or aspectual information (e.g., _do_ in “do not know”).[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Euphemism treadmill** – The cycle where euphemisms become tainted and are replaced by newer polite terms.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Intensifier** – A word that heightens emphasis, like _really_, _truly_, _literally_ in some modern uses.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Etymological** – Related to the historical origin and development of words.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Perfective (aspect)** – Aspect that views actions as complete or bounded, as in “drink up” or “finished writing.”[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Directional particle** – Short word indicating direction or aspect when combined with a verb, such as _up_, _down_, _back_.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Dialect** – A regional or social variety of a language with distinct vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Open access** – Publishing model where research articles are freely available, often with fees paid by authors or institutions.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) - **Double‑blind peer review** – Evaluation process where authors and reviewers are anonymous to each other.[youtube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) If you want, a follow‑up outline can zoom in just on the “re‑ + back” pattern so you can turn this into Obsidian notes or an atomic concept card. 1. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nPovqKKSKcE) ---