Abso-b████y-lutely: Expletive Infixation

There are rules in the English language that you've probably never been taught, but you know anyway: how to split apart words with "infixes". But you've never been taught it because some of those infixes are words you probably shouldn't use in front of your high school English teachers...
Written with Molly Ruhl and Gretchen McCulloch. Gretchen's podcast Lingthusiasm is at lingthusiasm.com/ - and there are two bonus episodes, #1 and #13, on the podcast Patreon about exactly this!
Gretchen's book BECAUSE INTERNET, all about the evolution of internet language, is available:
🇺🇸 US: amzn.to/30tLpjT
🇨🇦 CA: amzn.to/2JsTYWH
🇬🇧 UK: amzn.to/31K8eRD
(Those are affiliate links that give a commission to me or Gretchen, depending on country!)
Graphics by William Marler: wmad.co.uk
Audio mix by Graham Haerther: haerther.net
REFERENCES:
IPSOS Mori / Ofcom (2016). Attitudes to potentially offensive language and gestures on TV and radio. www.ofcom.org.uk/__data/asset... [PDF]
Vittrant, A., Watkins, J., & Matisoff, J. (2018). The mainland southeast Asia linguistic area. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter GmbHMouton.
Ringe, D. (2006). From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic. Oxford: OUP Oxford.Ljung, M. (2011). Swearing: A cross-cultural linguistic study. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Ljung, M. (2011). Swearing: A cross-cultural linguistic study. Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire ; New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
McCawley, J. D., & Zwicky, A. M. (1992). Studies Out in Left Field: Defamatory Essays Presented to James D. McCawley on the Occasion of His 33rd or 34th Birthday. John Benjamins Publishing Co.
McMillan, J. (1980). Infixing and Interposing in English. American Speech, 55(3), 163-183
Zwicky, A., & Pullum, G. (1987). Plain Morphology and Expressive Morphology. Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 13, 330.
Aronoff, M. (1976). Word formation in generative grammar. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press.
McCarthy, J. (1982). Prosodic structure and Expletive Infixation. Language, 58(3), 574.
McMillan, J. (1980). Infixing and Interposing in English. American Speech, 55(3), 163-183
Zwicky, A., & Pullum, G. (1987). Plain Morphology and Expressive Morphology. Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society, 13, 330.
🟥 MORE FROM TOM: www.tomscott.com/
(you can find contact details and social links there too)
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[@TomScottGo]

This had to be filmed against a home green-screen in my tiny 90-square-foot flat, so apologies if the picture and sound aren't quite as sharp as usual. And yes, I regret not getting a haircut before lockdown.

[@admiral3849]

wait a minute

[@theoweiss2883]

The compression is killing us!

[@Rahat-tw8vg]

4 days ago

[@BobSilverstein13]

The video was uploaded and left as private until it was officially released today, that's how the comment was posted before we saw the video, stop asking.

[@mobiljetoil]

Walter

[@oliverwilson11]

"Bloody" will be a slur that robots use to insult biological humans

[@yondaime500]

In Alita: Battle Angel, the cyborgs use the term "meat boy". I guess they can't use "bloody" since they also have blood.

[@joshuahadams]

yondaime500 Taking notes from HK-47 I guess

[@Mic_Glow]

I think the correct term is meat sack. Or "organic". Which already sounds a bit iffy.

[@heinzke8512]

Meatbag

[@rute_awakening]

SQUISHIES

[@lazaraleksandrov2808]

"Fortunately, I am British" is the single most Tom Scott sentence ever, apart from "[...]you'd have to charter a plane. So I chartered a plane!"

[@maythe15015]

Wait what video is that from

[@lazaraleksandrov2808]

@@maythe15015 the one about the most northern bit of Iceland

[@user-tl8rk6pb6k]

From another video about the Eiffel tower or something: "To make matters more complicated, I am British."

[@pkobalt]

"So I booked a flight to Tokyo"

[@christiancoyle8481]

Don’t forget “oh no, I am a missile!” From the one about GPSs

[@theoriginalshew]

Tom calls them "expletive infixations", I call them" sentence enhancers"

[@Ant42Lee]

How the *dolphin noise* are ya?

[@WiiUniverse]

pfp checks out

[@mistermoee]

Makes anything better, or worse.

[@ikilledaman]

Haha spongebob

[@andersenzheng]

i call them 'stralia

[@drunkshinx960]

My favorite example is "gosh friggin' darn it" because you are putting an expletive inside of another expletive.

[@jamesharding3459]

I have never heard someone layer more expletives than a Master Sergeant who dropped a heavy object on his foot

[@rhapsodyaria]

@@jamesharding3459 You evidently haven't heard my roommate playing Super Monkey Ball Banana Mania, a game which causes her to use some words I will not say here.

[@jamesharding3459]

@@rhapsodyaria I’ll believe someone can top MSG Hyde’s profane vocabulary when I see it.

[@unfunnyperson7550]

oh gosh ur right

[@TheCostantinus]

Fan-gosh-friggin'-darn-tastic!

[@FISHSTlCKS]

Tom: I don’t wanna swear just incase your parents don’t like swearing Also Tom: hey kids go try swearing yourself!

[@Corbald]

Shifting the blame is A-O-Friggin'-K in my book!

[@locabal8354]

swearing is a fan-fu'king-tastic expression.

[@locabal8354]

swearing is a fan-fu'king-tastic expression.

[@Colopty]

And remember to do it as loudly as you can. If your parents complain, say it's educational.

[@brady50429]

What about the n word that's my favorite

[@anawkwardsweetpotato4728]

Tom shouting "Raining!" is the quality content we all need daily in our lives right now.

[@kornsuwin]

An Awkward Sweet Potato Raining!

[@spiyder]

2:09 btw for anybody that what’s it too

[@Pmf95k]

The loudest Tom can be

[@KarateLauren]

Petition to only shout "RAINING" when it's raining outside

[@theblackwidower]

I know I'm tired because seeing Tom shout 'RAINING' just broke me.

[@vartin3276]

"Isacc God-damn Newton" sounds like something someone would say whenever physics inconveniences them

[@BlueMiaou]

"Isaac god-damn Newton!" -anime girls, probably

[@ijustdocomments6777]

If Walter White had been a physics teacher, instead of a chemistry teacher.

[@GumSkyloard]

@@BlueMiaou Nichijou in a nutshell.

[@londonalicante]

Like Samuel L Jackson on a plane thats about to crash.

[@hwgoblin]

Or they're pissed at Newton for making calculus a thing... we've all been there.

[@bobthebuilder9638]

My favourite is "that's a whole nother point", where "whole" splits "another". It's surprisingly common and lots of people use it entirely unselfconsciously.

[@ohno-wi1vb]

that’s super interesting, I guess if you didn’t split it you would have to say “that’s another whole point”?

[@bobthebuilder9638]

@@ohno-wi1vb Or even "that's a whole other point"

[@glowstonelovepad9294]

It's called tmesis

[@bandie9101]

"you were never taught, but you know how it works" - basically all native tongue grammar

[@selohcin]

KZbin comments prove your idea wrong on a daily basis. A shocking number of native English speakers demonstrate very limited ability to articulate their thoughts with anything approaching linguistically correct grammar.

[@HassanSelim0]

@@selohcin and on the other hand, a lot of non-native english speakers are able to understand these kinds of stuff without studying them, simply because of how common english is in online media/entertainment.

[@BonaparteBardithion]

@@selohcin I think the point here is that scholastically correct grammar is not the same as linguistically correct. ESL students only learn this stuff through exposure, so some pick it up while others don't. Native speakers always pick it up even if they never use it because it's ingrained in every day linguistics. Edit: Arguably, even incorrect internet speak is linguistically correct if a significant number of their peers understands them. Chatspeak is legitimate slang.

[@santiagos.3673]

now make a video proving it

[@markmandel6738]

@@selohcin Nicholes, you're confusing prescriptive grammar ("This is how you should say it") with descriptive grammar ("This [and maybe also this and this'] is how people say it.) Prescriptive grammar is a social practice for formal language, TAUGHT by teachers because it's artificial. Descriptive grammar is a science, applied by linguists to discover what's actually going on in a language, what native speakers LEARN starting in infancy without ever being taught.

[@Foxinthetree]

I can't imagine what it would be like to hear Tom Scott angrily swear.

[@TempestCrown]

I'd pay a patreon for that

[@Sam-fq3bt]

Foxinthetree You can probably find something like that in Citation Needed

[@trapbuilder2283]

@@Sam-fq3bt It'll be censored though

[@skyluke9476]

it would be fanfuckingtastic

[@Ouba1]

Abso-bloody-lutely

[@akimel4028]

2:09 "It just means we don't have to point out the window and go: RAINING!!!" Bloody brilliant.

[@Victorsandergamer]

brilli-bloody-illiant*

[@MichaelDarrow-tr1mn]

​@@Victorsandergamerthat's not how it works. The infix has to be before the stressed syllable.

[@JamUsagi]

I love how his body actively fights saying the tamest possible curses on camera

[@WeyounSix]

"you weren't taught this, but you know it anyway" is basically a great example of why immersion helps so much with learning a new language

[@stevethea5250]

I take morphemes for my pain

[@jarleskogly8388]

Too many people think immersion is all it takes though. This is kinda off-topic, but I need to stress this to anyone who might be reading this... Don't forget to study your glossaries. You need to know the words, or everything you hear on a day to day basis will just be gibberish. Immersion teaches context, pronounciation, sentence structure but not the actual words.

[@Asschen-Sukar]

What Jarle said. Good old cramming (in an efficient way) has been proven to still be one of the most effective ways to do learn and memorize new words. I have to keep telling my students that, although they may not have much opportunity to immerse themselves in the language they're learning, that doesn't excuse the fact that they're not utilizing the options available to them. :')

[@andrewpoison]

It's also where Trump gets all his "facts" from ;D

[@WeyounSix]

@@jarleskogly8388 No, you're absolutely correct, but I'm saying some things in a language are definitely about feel vs just academic knowledge. You definitely need that academic knowledge, but without immersion and experience it can sound a bit overtly formal or robotic. For example its nearly impossible to explain to someone the difference between WA and GA, and due to this, immersion is required to know where and when to use each one in every single case.

[@JoeBob79569]

I think _"Issac god-damn Newton"_ is probably used mostly by students, and flatearthers. And also maybe apple pickers..

[@headcanon6408]

It's actually the most common phrase heard in college physics classes. Don't google that though, just trust me

[@TomGibson.]

@@headcanon6408 until you get to sub atomic particles and their interactions and they tell you everything you were taught last year is a lie, and then the most common phrase is unintelligible screaming

[@user-ss8yc7bx4l]

XD

[@Jacob-yg7lz]

And Mass Effect characters

[@BlueMiaou]

"Isaac GOD DAMN Newton could make more use of these apples than I ever will by eating them!" -someone, probably

[@parthanaved3866]

Tom: Bloody *Ronald Bilius Weasley has entered the chat*

[@matthewmorgan7755]

Hilarious

[@parthanaved3866]

@@matthewmorgan7755 yes.

[@recoveryemail1046]

Read another book

[@derinwithaq5811]

Ronald bloody Weasley

[@stefanalexanderlungu1503]

@@recoveryemail1046 No

[@clumbus894]

My favorite about weird rules you just "know" is with denonyms. There are a lot of different endings for denonyms, like -ese, -an, -ite, but for some reason if you give an English speaker a name of a country or of a city, or even of a made-up one, you'll usually get one answer.

[@sydssolanumsamsys]

i hadnt thought of those

[@captaincapitalism9535]

I think -ite is woefully underutilized as a demonym, same with -ine

[@firstnext5482]

I always thought that Greece/Greek was weird in that way. If you didn't know Greece became Greek I don't think that'd be your intuitive guess at the denonym. Also, Vatican City just doesn't get one because it's agreed no one is native to there. Vaticanite would be my go to. Also also I live near Phoenix, Arizona and that becoming Phoenician always felt wrong. It's not wrong but it feels wrong.

[@conlon4332]

Or like "ish" like English. It's interesting how in German they almost always end in "sch".

[@junofall]

Gets difficult with some words, like how the denonym of Jupiter is Jovian.

[@sanyr80]

“Fricking flipping gosh darn” - Tom Scott, 2020

[@cosmosisrose]

He's such an inspiration

[@Syncromatic]

Reminds of of when Ned Flanders lost his house to a tornado

[@DarkMeta_Minecraft]

I'm So Into science when people ask me who's my hero, I proudly tell them: Isaac god damn Newton. 😂

[@asneakychicken322]

@@Syncromatic I said I don't want any damn vegetables!

[@pokeyy6093]

Made this comment 666 likes 🤐

[@molly.dog8brooke792]

I’m gonna just shout “RAINING” whenever it rains from now on.

[@Yotanido]

I like the Japanese approach: They simply say "rain". Well... 雨, but you get the idea.

[@Double-Negative]

@@Yotanido 雨だ (it's rain) or 雨が降る (rain falls)

[@GraveUypo]

or, you can just say "Rain!" and it'll be perfectly normal.

[@aidandecker7803]

@@Yotanido 雨 kinda even looks like rain though a window

[@Yotanido]

@@aidandecker7803 That's exactly how I remembered it when I was learning the N5 Kanji. Definitely one of the easiest to remember :)

[@skelo9033]

Remember back when it was just two drums and a symbol falling off a cliff.

[@meetaverma8372]

That was, so so long ago

[@DragonWinter36]

cymbal

[@thehuman2cs715]

Ah yes, symbol

[@anatine_banana_69]

*Cym-bloody-bals

[@MonzennCarloMallari]

Probably the @ symbol

[@sethapex9670]

"Bloody" was considered offensive because it refered to, and usually blasphemed, the blood of Christ.

[@buzzkrieger3913]

Both of those explanations would keep it fixated as an expletive, but bloody has had a long history as an adjective 'of the lower classes'. This really gives credence to it being yet another anglicized loan word from Dutch via sailors - bloote. It seems very English for the prissy to attach a bad meaning to the word to stop their children sounding common.

[@DjokovicIsOurLordAndSaviour]

Aaahhhhhh.

[@sethapex9670]

@Dave The Credible depends where "everywhere" is, I leave a lot of comments.

[@jus9316]

@@buzzkrieger3913 I am curious towards your source of "bloote" being used as a curse word. I am Dutch and have never heard of people using it that way as it just means naked

[@buzzkrieger3913]

@@jus9316 it was used as an adjective to form a 'strong phrase' and then got anglicized into it's false friend - bloody. Bloody by itself isn't and never has been a curse word in of itself. It always needs to be coupled to something else.

[@Nadia1989]

Tom Scott: "Raining!" * Looks at the window. * Yep, raining. Right now.

[@Sethrain]

Britain.

[@MadeinHell2]

Why was that so damn funny?!

[@W4LL37SK83R]

@@Sethrain Also most of the eastern US right now.

[@einsteinyh]

Also bogota 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@danielsjohnson]

I think that's how the Japanese language works.

[@NoobChester8964]

2:10 in Cantonese we just point out the window and yell "Raining!"

[@DjokovicIsOurLordAndSaviour]

Haha.

[@____soda]

As a native Cantonese speaker I can confirm that this is true

[@ghejnuni]

@@____soda so that wasnt a joke?

[@techhelpportal7778]

Nah it's 下雨

[@kjl3080]

@@ghejnuni no

[@AEXU_]

'I would dab but i don't want a gif to haunt me my whole life' -tom scott 2020

[@insanitycubed8832]

Tom: There are some words that I cannot use in this video. Also Tom: Isaac god-damn Newton

[@missinghood]

“Unbefuckinglievalbe” -Lewis Black

[@SGresponse]

He's a comedian. You laughed because the punchline was surprising. It was surprising because it eschewed the standard way of using infixes. Sorry, but that is a great example of why Tom is actually right. It is also an extremely good example of how an exception can prove a general rule.

[@stensoft]

This is actually correct, unbelievable is pronounced /ʌnbəˈliːvəbl/ so the stressed syllable is lie and the infix should go before it.

[@41-Haiku]

I love that it works tho

[@pattheplanter]

@@SGresponse The word prove has a minor meaning of test. The original quotation meant "The exception tests the rule". Which is logical, if your rule does not include exceptional cases, it is not a rule.

[@NoNo-nz7iq]

To me it also sounds right if you put the infix between the prefix and the start of the word

[@oafkad]

I kinda want to setup my alarm to just be Tom excitedly shouting "Raining!"

[@hpekristiansen]

It is not an alarm as such, but you could download his weather app and turn up the volume.

[@mousermind]

*set up _Setup_ is a noun, mate.

[@thesos320]

"What do you mean my theory about gravity is wrong? Im Isaac god damn Newton!"

[@wenlock8069]

Super Science Friends?

[@matthewhafner962]

Einstein has entered the chat

[@albertjackinson]

@@matthewhafner962 Exactly.

[@nob2243]

English: _sticking a curse word inside an adjective_ Meanwhile, me in Polish: Meh, that's nothin'! Have you ever heard about sticking a curse word into *another* curse word... _zaje-kurwa-biście!_ (Well, as a general rule, Slavic languages are more expressive when it comes to swearing, soo...)

[@NoTraceOfSense]

@@saurosha I only know cyka blyat; how deep does the rabbit hole go?

[@minecraftroksiak3306]

Bro, that's my friends in a nutshell

[@ntpgmr]

How about slotting the classic fornicative into the classic theo-imprecative?

[@starylize]

this is so interesting!

[@alexp6013]

I think that in english you can do that too : god _f*cking_ damnit. I personnally use it about as often as I stub my toe.

[@Doophenschmirtz]

On day 30 of quarantine, I’m learning how to curse properly!

[@amphioxusanniversary]

Lies and slander my friend! The thesis of this video is that you *already* know how to curse properly!

[@ZunarZulfiqar]

Leroy Barlow Well.... actually, more like how to add special emphasis to words to help better express your pain and push forth the deep, deep darkness buried within you alongside the unwillingness of your inner being to accept anything as modest as simply using the word as intended, as doing so would result in unsatisfactory frustration and a disconnect of understanding to whom it was intended for. Hope this clears things up.

[@mparagames]

@@oneiroagent "Soyuz nerushimy respublik svobodnykh!"

[@river1403]

Leroy Barlow amateur. I’ve been on quarantine for 44 days.

[@yourbitch9856]

You have 600 likes but I'll leave it like that for now...

[@jackeea_]

RAAAINING - Tom Scott, 2020

[@Medlek]

2:07 Dude I laughed so much at this. It's so out of character and I love it

[@Lhorez]

Having no explicit subject in a sentence is like 87% of Japanese comedy.

[@shaunakdeshpande8722]

RAAAINING - May,2020

[@adarshsingh764]

I do not even know why is that so funny, but it is

[@Nimmo1492]

I laughed so much at this. His expression made it.

[@Parageist99]

"so we dont have to point out the window and go RAINING!" really cracked me up hehe

[@GumSkyloard]

Tom is a gem.

[@Emh19]

I love that I learnt this in my Linguistics class in HS, having a whole class of 17 year olds being allowed to swear over and over again with the teacher is always fun.

[@Goodstegosaurus]

Now I feel there should be an unlisted video of Tom just saying every English swearword.

[@LemurMaster]

I think anyone who is called a "national treasure" should have to record such a video.

[@empath69]

get him to guest on someone else's account who doesn't monetize and let him go ham B)

[@theindisposable5525]

@@empath69 I volunteer as tribute!

[@darleschickens7106]

I misread the title as “expletive inflation” and went into the video expecting something about an increase in the use of swearing making the effect weaker.

[@geli95us]

Huh, that made me think, having taboo words is actually a good thing because without them you wouldn't have strong enough words for some situations, it's like you're saving them for later

[@Sandwichr]

@@geli95us Sometimes it works the other way around, when someone isn't swearing you know it's serious

[@xMaverickFPS]

now wait one bloody moment. bloody cursing doesn't bloody make it any bloody less powerful. /s

[@hiawog_]

Ok boomer

[@monochrome_soft9472]

oh ngl i thought that was going somewhere else entirely when i saw the word "inflation"

[@theletterk]

"RAINING!" - Tom Scott, 2020

[@kayleighzuniga9535]

1:15 Me: slaps Khmeran Khmeran: *Do you even realize what you have done*

[@AkmalAzry]

I samlap you And you just slap from my slap

[@kornsuwin]

bruh

[@thepurlecheetah]

Idk if this is part of the joke or not but Khmer is Cambodian, unless Khmeran is some term I haven’t heard of-

[@pedroseba8753]

"My apologies, fellas, im going to have to swear: B L I M E Y"

[@Septimus_ii]

I think blimey is one of the swear words which isn't allowed. Absoblimeylutely doesn't work

[@javiercs006]

@@Septimus_ii Actually it does etymologically. Blimey is derivative of "God blind me," a theo-imprecative.

[@MinecraftAnd9646]

@@Septimus_ii abso-blimey-lutely won't work. but abso-bliming-lutely would. heh.

[@sirlyon3333]

@@Septimus_ii you abso-blimmy-lutely can say this

[@AalbertTorsius]

@@javiercs006 TIL, thanks.

[@SmolBloof]

Tom Scott exclaiming "raining!" - this truly is the best timeline

[@yuvvrajkperson]

Somebody make a gif

[@klaxoncow]

If this is the best timeline, then I shudder to think what the others are like.

[@stardustreverie6880]

I agree this is the best world line

[@SodomySnake]

We have achieved Stein's Gate.

[@mrzap2875]

2:09

[@hamzachetoui]

Fun fact: There are also what linguists call "a circumfix", a type of infixiation that surrounds a stem from both sides.

[@dominicmagtibay7462]

Yep, in Tagalog we have a lot of those. For example: "tapak" which means "step" (with a foot) can become "natatapakan" which then means '"being stepped on."

[@mcfarofinha134]

@@dominicmagtibay7462 kinky

[@moondust2365]

​@@dominicmagtibay7462 True. Although the translation is a bit wrong. Natapakan - "[accidentally] stepped on" Tinapakan - "[intentionally] stepped on" Natatapakan - "able to be stepped on"/"being stepped on [accidentally]" Tinatapakan - "stepping on"/"being stepped on [intentionally]" Matatapakan - "will step on"/"are about to step on" Tatapakan - "will [intentionally] step on"/"will be [intentionally] stepped on"

[@oz_jones]

@@mcfarofinha134 pervert

[@dig8634]

@@oz_jones Include me in that list pls

[@rattrap1009]

I think English has at least one other prominent infix, or at least what is kind of used as one; “a whole nother”. While nother was used as a word simply meaning another before more standardized spelling, I think the specific construction “a whole nother” is derived from just sticking “whole” right in the middle of “another”. I don’t think it would be considered very formal, much like expletive infixes, but hey, linguistics is descriptive, not prescriptive.

[@katherinebare8212]

I wouldn't say this is an infix. Instead "nother" is a form of "other" that comes from interpreting "an other" as " a nother". This is a common process in English, and is the reason why Ned and Nan are nicknames for Edward and Anne ( Mine Ed --- My Ned) So saying " a whole nother" is a consequence of this previous process. Instead of an infix, I think you can think of "whole" as a simple adjective here.

[@bloosy1771]

@@katherinebare8212 Absolutely. Another An other A whole other...

[@Milesco]

@@bloosy1771 : I think what you meant was: absobloodylutely! (FWIW: I agree with you and Katherine. :-) )

[@bloosy1771]

@@Milesco Abso - whole - lutely 😄

[@donkmeister]

I wouldn't say "a whole nother" is a feature of English; it's only used in the US dialect. I would also say that it isn't universally acceptable in the US; I only know it exists because of an episode of Family Guy where "people who say 'a whole nother'" was singled out as a way of identifying stupid people.

[@professorracc.9780]

My favourite example of this has to be "Jesus tap-dancing Christ"

[@EricEisenhart]

Nillie except it flips where the religion is...

[@baylinkdashyt]

My favorite - hoisted from a spider Robinson novel - is Jesus T Murphy and His Traveling Flea Circus, but unfortunately it's not actually an example of expletive infixation. It's also difficult to spin the joke on His, since it's in title case to begin with.

[@mitch_tmv]

This currently has 666 likes so I'm commenting instead of liking

[@bentoth9555]

Jesus was quite the dancer, but no tap-dancing that I can remember. At least according to that Andrew Lloyd Webber documentary.

[@KattReen]

I like Jesus cartwheeling Christ

[@SrValRab]

No one: That kid sitting in the back of the class: 2:10

[@irofii6125]

lmao

[@plsnw820]

@@irofii6125 lfuckinamo

[@Sam-hi4ce]

you genuinely made me laugh

[@joeyhardin5903]

@@plsnw820 lmfao

[@RealJop]

2:11

[@vurrunna]

There's actually at least one example of infixation in English that doesn't involve swearing--the phrase "a-whole-nother" is often used as an infixation of "another," which itself is of course just the result of smooshing "an other" into one word. What's interesting is that it really only works as "a-whole-nother," rather than, say, "a-whole-other," which might make more sense given the origin of "another."

[@fimbles1015]

Issac god damn newton! About time someone said it! Coming round here getting his physics everywhere...

[@halfaworldaway]

This feels like a video from 2010. It's oddly cosy and nostalgic.

[@aeriumsoft]

yay 2010

[@Luigiman-rc9fi]

Back when people CHOSE to film at home and didn't HAVE to film at home.

[@dougthedonkey1805]

Tom does look very young

[@terminaldeity]

Funny enough, that's the year I learned about infixes. I was at university, majoring in linguistics, at the time.

[@aidenbagshaw5573]

My favourite instance of this was in the film Get Smart (the version with Steve Carrell), when one of the characters says “Hey, this stuff’s radioactive! One wrong move, and it’s ka-frickin’-boom!”

[@larsswig912]

3:31 "because I'm Arch Angel f**king Gabriel!!"

[@dcaonoek]

I can see a Jay Foreman song coming out with all the infixes in all the wrong places.

[@alvinyim7837]

Dane Cook then Jay Foreman might say that’s diffibloodycult 😅

[@onionbot2]

I can’t express how much I want this

[@tommypartin6431]

YES PLEASE 🤣

[@ulrich-matthiasschafer8453]

@@onionbot2 g u

[@onionbot2]

@@ulrich-matthiasschafer8453 well said

[@nerdporkspass1m1st78]

Whenever a fight breaks out in a neighborhood, a linguist goes out with a pen and clipboard and is ready for the hunt.

[@KyrstOak]

What are you talking about??

[@Flobbled]

@@KyrstOak They wanna catch the best cursewords the people can come up with.

[@vaclav_fejt]

Well, how else does Pygmalion/My Fair Lady start? :-D

[@PeskiePete]

Would that be a cunning linguist?

[@vaclav_fejt]

@@PeskiePete brushing up on a little Danish.

[@marceline124]

These videos about language you’ve done over the years are helping me with my Linguistics finals, because online classes suck and there are many things we missed throughout the semester. Thanks Tom!

[@jimsjazzz]

I'm always surprised when I find out something I assumed only I ever thought about has actually been studied and analyzed academically. Back In the '90s I was driving alone across the USA. Each time I came to a new state line, I'd say to myself "ah, finally... Colorado" (or whatever the state) and I noticed how it had more emphasis when I said "Colo-F***ING-rado". Then when I got to Kansas, I noticed it doesn't quite work with that state. You can't say "Kan-f'ing-sas", you have to say "f'ing Kansas". So I got to thinking which states work with the expletive infix and which don't and why. I came to the same conclusion as Mr. Scott that it must be inserted before the stressed syllable unless the stressed syllable is the initial syllable. It also amazes me how we humans can automatically know such language "rules" that we were never taught or have never heard. Incidentally, when I got to Kentucky, I laughed so hard I almost had to pull over.

[@ajs41]

Interesting, thanks.

[@conlon4332]

Haha! Thanks for sharing this story!

[@minekrafines]

As an Spanish viewer, it never ceases to amaze me how all languages have this untaught rules that we all know, even if it is not your native language.

[@sturmklinge9642]

Oh yes, same. I'm not an English native speaker either and I definitely wasn't taught this in school, but I still use it the way Tom describes it in the video.

[@keith6706]

What's funny is that people learning to speak a second (or third, or whatever) language are often taught some of those untaught rules so they can speak more like a native. One of my favourite examples is that I saw some lessons teaching English as a second language where it helpfully pointed out that when multiple adjectives are attached to one noun they have to be in a specific order based on the category of adjective to sound correct, which native English speakers are, generally, never actually taught. "The big white Victorian mansion" versus "the Victorian white big mansion". The latter just sound _wrong_.

[@Deythlord2112]

@@keith6706 i think tom mentions the specific order in one of his language file videos

[@flumpyhumpy]

what's being Spanish got to do with that?

[@abijo5052]

@@keith6706 I love watching English language teaching videos for just this reason, even though I'm a native English speaker

[@infinite1der]

Using it as almost every word in a sentence: "Eff the effing effers."

[@BonaparteBardithion]

Interestingly, that follows similar rules in that only certain words can be used that way and you only learn them through exposure. The pool is very small. It requires the expletive to be accepted as a verb, adjective and noun. F*k is the only example off the top of my head that fits all those criteria. You might get similar results with "that bi*in' bi*h was bi*ing at me", but that's highly unlikely. You won't get the same result with "damn the damnable damned". That just sounds like an overzealous and redundant preacher.

[@stumcconnel]

Or "The effing effer's effing effed"

[@Orion-uy6xz]

"Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo" buffalo is gramatically correct.

[@TomorrowWeLive]

@@Orion-uy6xz how?

[@Squitchtweak]

Tim Minchin does a very good job of this singing about the fomer Pope.

[@Liggliluff]

(2:15) Some languages do just that. Like Finnish _sataa_ (raining). But most languages seems to say "it raining", "rain falling", "sky still pouring"

[@Victorsandergamer]

in portuguese we either say _"ta chovendo"_ (it's raining) just _"chuva"_ (rain) or, in the past tense, _"choveu"_ as in _"choveu ontem"_ ('rained' yesterday)

[@JK-dv3qe]

0:47 -> antiness, preology, hyperable, monoment 👍

[@onionbot2]

PrefixesSuffixes

[@hungryshark97]

I'd go even further: I'm not a native english speaker. I've had english in school for 8 years and never learned that. But it's funny that I still knew most of these words

[@heshiram1188]

Thats not as rare or impressive as you think

[@NiquelBones]

@@heshiram1188 hes not saying its rare hes just adding to the point made in the video, so stop trying to make other ppl feel worse just because you think you're smarter than him by disregarding something they value please, you'll do better in life trust me

[@heshiram1188]

@@NiquelBones I didn't say I was smarter.

[@alamrasyidi4097]

This is exactly me because of my media consumption. My friends are less used to english but I'm waaay more used to it.

[@sandwich3075]

Fritz Gallo you were acting like it😳😳

[@allengrigg7553]

The Lord Our Savior, working in the oil industry? Jesus “Fracking” Christ

[@ObadiahtheSlim]

Not to be confused with Jesus "Tap-Dancing" Christ

[@ElectricityTaster]

Sweet Cheeses!

[@Creed-lp4wj]

Alright, we get it, you studied year 10 science.

[@bananya6020]

@@Creed-lp4wj the worst thing is that this isn't even year 10 science so you probably don't know it yourself

[@Sarsanoa]

​@@Creed-lp4wj depending on where you are in the world, fracking is a common knowledge word. Your exasperation is a little misplaced.

[@eastpavilion-er6081]

2:10 "IT'S BLOODY RAINY!"

[@winterstefan1337]

I cannot emphesize enough how bloody awesome Toms videos are. Not only am I able to switch from trivia like the tales of a British spacesuite right to the details of modern language rules. I also literally see the work and effort that's put into every single video. Having nice animations, great visual story telling and an absolutely high standard speaking of quotation and referencing the important sources. Even having to film the current video in a small flat and having to deal with the disadvantages of lockdown and social distancing, the video is great! Shoutout to Tom, Molly, Gretchen, William and Graham!

[@RegebroRepairs]

Prefix: Hyper- Suffix: -able Infix: fu... oh, wait, no bad idea.

[@CollinBuckman]

That sounds like the opposite of a bad idea

[@zekiz774]

Yes it's not a bad ideas.

[@CutcliffePaul]

@@CollinBuckman That depends whether he's speaking about Tom, and, of course, how Tom might feel about it. 😲

[@xMaverickFPS]

don't threaten me with a good time.

[@FOGoticus]

Congratulations. You just unlocked teen angst!

[@dresdonmccool709]

"You cant use any word" Australians: "hold me beer"

[@KettuKakku]

To be fair, you still can't use absosangerlutely any word, but whatthedunnyever.

[@lukasperuzovic1429]

AbsoFRACKINLutely

[@BadJellyman100]

Everyone is reading these in a laid back, drunken Aussie timbre. That or Aussie Rick

[@InnuendoXP]

AbsoScunthorpeLutely!

[@sockcutter]

Absocuntinglutely

[@TheRealGuywithoutaMustache]

Tom: Pause the video and try them out Me: Okay Me: F- (dad walks by) Father, can you help me find the remot?

[@meetaverma8372]

You've taught me how to gain subscribers, by being everywhere

[@tiramitsuko]

why am I not surprised that you're here

[@bendanonfawkes4189]

3:07 thanks a bloody lot for getting me in trouble with my mum.

[@jaykay4137]

don't let this video distract you from the fact that "undisableable" is a perfectly valid word made entirely of prefixes and suffixes

[@lyreparadox]

I thought in this instance "able" was being used both as a base word and a suffix? able > disable > disableable > undisableable (my spell check is disputing that last one)

[@oliverwilson11]

Only the second "able" is actually being used as a suffix, you can tell from the pronunciation

[@ericcao4829]

or disestablishmentarianism

[@giin97]

@@ericcao4829 I thoroughly enjoy this word :P

[@giusepperoberto2343]

I disagree with disestablishmentarianism. I'm an antidisestablishmentarian.

[@qunt2742]

"Sir, I think you're dying.. There's nothing we can do." - "Just give me the morphine" "Sir, we think you're pre-death.. There's nothing we can do."

[@youssefr]

Take your like and get out im-bloody-mediately. Wait that doesn't-

[@Berkeloid0]

@@youssefr That was aw-bloody-ful

[@primalaspie]

@@Berkeloid0 the "aw" in "awful" is stressed, so it should be, "bloody awful"; curses must be inserted before a stressed syllable.

[@Berkeloid0]

@@primalaspie Yes I was responding to an improper use with another improper use, that was the joke!

[@primalaspie]

@@Berkeloid0 oh

[@n0us.]

3:21 Or of course: SIMON F***ING COWELL

[@GumusZee]

4:16 - all sound terri-bloody-ble

[@80greaty]

Look at that description, can we appreciate how much Tom Scott researches for his videos? 😮

[@mhello276]

It is truly incredible and makes it so much more enjoyable to watch tom’s videos. It’s abso -shreking- lutely amazing

[@ChrisbyFlanker]

100% this. His content is on par with most disertations and university. It gives him so much credibility and it is also why I still follow his content.

[@neelparmar6690]

I also appreciate that the video seemed to be just one take

[@mehmetaslan9551]

Kurzgesagt enters...

[@paxcaeli]

"I want to keep my videos friendly for everyone, no matter how conservative your {parent's } views on language are [...] try these, out loud, to help you coope with the state of the world"

[@Not_Lilly42]

Not only try them scream them, at a time when you're home with your parents

[@PeterNjeim]

It's funny because conservatives are now the free speech ones and liberals want hate speech laws that impede freedom of speech. How times have changed.

[@paxcaeli]

Peter Njeim there are other places to talk about politics, or discuss with others your wrong ideas. This isn’t one of them, we’re talking about language here, and I don’t think anybody wants to see another thread where people shout “liberal/conservative bad”

[@paxcaeli]

Lilly King it takes all the fun away though

[@AugustusBohn0]

@@paxcaeli "wrong ideas" couldn't help yourself even when you were trying to take the high road, could you?

[@nextProgram]

I appreciate how well-researched these videos always are

[@serinad9434]

Oh, I've missed these linguistics videos, I'm so glad you're doing more of them again!

[@DanielFernandez]

I abso-freaking-lutely love this channel.

[@mrmeme1950]

How are you bloody verified

[@jaspermooren5883]

​@@mrmeme1950I guess the in-bloody-credible amount of subscribers helps.

[@kshadehyaena]

2:10 "Raining!" - perfect Matt Gray impersonation

[@MetaBloxer]

I...

[@lundylow]

I heard an accidental Homer Simpson impression

[@victoriaeads6126]

I love the linguistics videos. I have an undergraduate degree in linguistics -specifically as it pertains to the Slavonic language group, and I have always loved the myriad nuances of languages and the people who create them. 💜

[@Big_Computer]

Not many people can make videos about language (or educative in general) that people just watch for fun. Glad to have Tom on YT

[@katie-ampersand]

2:29 My mind already expected fanfuckingtastic

[@em00k]

absofuckinglutely.

[@mattymoowhite]

Or Scunthorpe...

[@R2Cv1]

@@mattymoowhite fan-scunthorpe-tastic?

[@brianjones8899]

@@R2Cv1 Outfuckingstanding

[@Goldap1000]

I love my language, it lets you put swear words in middle on of other swear words.

[@joeblakesley]

Technically, these AREN'T usually infixes, or even morphemes, but examples of tmesis. Although, since I disagree with that nuanced distinction, that didn't stop me from giving "Abso-f****ing-lutely!" (sans asterisks) as my answer to "Does the English language have any infixes?" on my final linguistics exam paper before I dropped out.

[@incription]

Joe Llywelyn Griffith Blakesley did you get marks for it?

[@sjoerd809]

How did that work out for you?

[@harrytsang1501]

Also great to teach non native speakers in identifying stressed syllables

[@joeblakesley]

I never asked. But I really doubt it. I gather that whoever the professor was who wrote the paper was looking for the answer, "No", in their infinite and unquestionable wisdom.

[@joeblakesley]

To be clear, I didn't censor it with asterisks in my answer.

[@corny5068]

I saw you on the Christmas lectures and have been watching you ever since, love ur work, stay safe, a fan.

[@happyvirus6590]

1:02 Filipino language: Allow me to introduce myself.

[@scipio5916]

Imagine watching an action movie and the main character says to the villain “I am going to to cause to die you”

[@JonesNate]

There needs to be a pause and a point. "I am going to cause to die..." * Points * "You."

[@firstnamelastname3182]

Might I refer you to Backstroke of the West? You shan't regret it.

[@ZunarZulfiqar]

@@firstnamelastname3182 Shan't..... Good word.

[@AlmightyGammonsayssuckyourmum]

Zunar Zulfiqar you never heard of shan't before???

[@KoyasuNoBara]

"People die when they are caused to die"

[@EEVblog]

The optic angle distortion of the background ruled paper image disturbs me greatly.

[@mrosskne]

what distortion?

[@Jayqo]

Remember seeing your channel after 2 drums and a cymbal fall off a clif and thought it was a 1 off video but you have been around for 15 years and I am proud of you tom

[@azericthetraveller6355]

Unrelated to the video topic but still related to the video itself, I love that the source credits appear in a little box at the top or side of the screen when, and only when, they’re relevant. It doesn’t get in the way, but still puts it out there for the viewer to do their own research.

[@MartinOmander]

I like how Tom includes citations to the linguists, so anyone who wants to know more can follow up. Keep up the good work!

[@konohh]

I don't know why, but somehow the expression "solar freakin' roadways" comes to my mind...

[@fannyslam]

SOLAR. FREAKING. ROADWAYS.

[@empath69]

it's the same principle really, just for inserting the expletive into a phrase instead of into a word; not an infixation, but...well, I don't know enough linguistics, but the result is the same; increased emphasis.

[@isweartofuckinggod]

. 💥 SOLAR 💥 💥 FREAKIN' 💥 💥 ROADWAYS 💥

[@RClaffieJr]

Your restraint is admirable

[@angelalejandrohernandez9793]

I love you. I'm studying linguistics here in Mexico, and I had a Prosody assigment about these but I wasn't able to do it, because I'm not an original english speaker. So, I really thankful for finding these here, 'cause otherwise I would've been in serious trouble.

[@Blockinstaller12]

"You were likely never told in school by an English teacher but knew how it works anyways". I think you just described how I learned most of the english language perfectly. KZbin teaches better than any english lesson.

[@WiggaMachiavelli]

Reading books is the traditional method. (Not books teaching grammar.)

[@moondust2365]

True. You learn more English in the "natural way" by hearing a bunch of native speakers and learning from how they speak, then learning more of the linguistics of English by watching people explain what words are what, sentence structure, the etymology of certain words, the origin of the meaning of those words, etc.

[@jeremyamon24]

In the Filipino language, the way verbs change tenses are dependent on how they are affixed or infixed. "kain" which means "to eat" have conjugations "kumain", "kumakain", and "kakainin" which means "have ate", "eat" or "eating", and "will eat", respectively. The "um" in kumain and kumakain is a regularly used infix among others to use within verbs. Notice how the affixes used are just repetitions of certain syllables within the root word. This rule, informaly, can be applied to almost any word and it doesn't have to be a verb. "Sumasamsung" means a person is using a Samsung brand. It also doesn't have to be a Filipino word. "Pinost" means "have posted", with "in" as the infix. "Grumaduate" means "have graduated". Just a little fun fact for people who are wondering what other uses infixes have.

[@MinnesotaExpat]

Esperanto does the same thing with not just verbs, but adjectives and adverbs as well. It's not bloody likely I'll find anyone else to speak it with, but the grammar itself is fun.

[@Pluvillion]

To be fair, we have words in our language that doesn't have a proper Filipino term. We're stuck to using whatever word that was instead. Sometimes spelled the way how we pronounce it "cake" = "keyk", or sometimes just the words it. Fancy seeing you here, too.

[@helloakokuhol]

Inflixes are a common thing among Austronesian and Austroasiatic languages (Khmer was an example on the video) so Filipino isn't any different in this sense. What amuses me is our use of inflixes on English words, but that still doesn't set us apart from any other bilingual person mixing their vocabularies. 😆

[@minhaj_khan]

I feel edumacated

[@Liggliluff]

​@@MinnesotaExpat > _"Esperanto does"_ Easy example, the infix -in- meaning feminine. kato = cat or male cat katino = female cat katiĉo = male cat katido = kitten kateto = small cat Does that mean you can say katidino/katinido for female kitten?

[@erdurano]

I missed the linguistics videos. As a Turkish person who speaks English, they made me develop an inner sense of appreciation for world languages. Please keep them coming.

[@thesvet6969]

0:55 morphmeme When you morph a dying meme into a dead meme to make a relevant meme

[@sagyus]

I learned about these in my Latin class. Good to know a "dead" language still teaches something so in-bloody-valuable

[@Tim3.14]

Praelum I learned so much more about English grammar in 4-years of high school Latin than I ever did in English class! Subjunctive mood, future perfect tense, etc. As a native English speaker I grew up using these, but didn't understand that's what I was doing until learning a "dead" foreign language.

[@somefuckstolemynick]

Invalua-bloody-ble

[@brucewilliams8714]

And, when travelling in Italy, you can understand all the inscriptions on memorials and statues. Classy.

[@PvblivsAelivs]

I have found no examples of infixes in Latin.

[@5roundsrapid263]

Bruce Williams Obviously, it makes it very easy to read any Romance language, too.

[@islarf5095]

"there are some words that I can't use in this video". KZbin: 👀

[@safirasnh]

this….is so interesting to unfold….definitely added to my possible “lists” of things to learn about

[@GeekyGirl36]

I am so glad you are still making the linguistic videos! 💗 I know you said they take much longer to edit, so it is understandable that you do not do them as often, but I thought you said in a previous video that you were not going to make them anymore. Stay safe and healthy! 🙂

[@meej33]

One of the more fascinating things in linguistics are those rules that cannot be defined explicitly but native speakers use unerringly.

[@llearch]

There's that entry about adjective order and "great green dragons" and why they can't exist, and at least three people I've seen have seen that and explained that they'd been teaching teaching ESL, had been asked about it, and explained their response as "I bluescreened"; adjective order must be opinion-size-age-shape-colour-origin-material-purpose noun. And Everyone gets it right, and just about nobody is ever taught it, or can even list the sequence. Truly amazing.

[@alextaylor6773]

llearch n'n'daCorna I’m too high to make sense of that hyphenated phrase

[@FixTheWi-Fi]

@@llearch Is Great an opinion, size, or age in this case?

[@barbarat5729]

@@alextaylor6773 I'm not high (except for caffeine) and I'm lost.

[@JonesNate]

"explicitly"

[@TheBlargist]

"Ronald Mc-Goddamn-donald" - The Tourettes Guy

[@couldntmixapotnoodle]

Chicken mc-bloody-nuggets

[@clockworkkirlia7475]

It occurs to me that this works on most any Scottish patronym. Thus, you can make any stressed syllable both angrier and more Scottish by going "that's mc-frickin'-brilliant" or... similar... Wow. Apparently the "let's mc-frickin'-lose it" meme follows this rule too!

[@pattheplanter]

Ronald Mc-buggering-Donald seems more appropriate.

[@NickRoman]

I've never heard that before, but for some reason, I read that with some kind of Texan accent. Somehow it just fits.

[@sarnxero2628]

abso-mc-bloody-lutely

[@worldrummer]

Today I learned how to find the stressed syllable. Thanks Tom. 👍🏼

[@caznith]

"-help you deal with the state of the world" damn i felt that