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Podcast: The Superhumanize Podcast
Episode: The Secret Language You Didn’t Know You’re Speaking: Dr. Valerie Fridland on Why ‘Bad’ English is Smarter Than You Think
Description: What if the words we mock the most—'like,' 'literally,' 'um,' and 'dude'—are actually the secret weapons of human connection, subtly shaping our relationships and identities? What if what we call 'bad English' is, in fact, linguistic evolution in action—evidence of how adaptable, intelligent, and deeply social we really are?Today, I’m sitting down with Dr. Valerie Fridland, a brilliant sociolinguist and professor at the University of Nevada, Reno, whose groundbreaking research challenges everything we think we know about language. In her fascinating book, Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad E...