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By: [ Admin ] Asked from Denmark

Can language be packed up and sent in a letter?

Is it perfectly cromulent that language can used as another word for a body of text?

Example:

Feel free to include language on your site that says/does/indicates X, Y, or Z.

Context.

Sidenote: cromulent made it into Top 10 Made Up Words, published 2010-07-22. Quote: "Writers for The Simpsons created the word (along with another candidate for this list, embiggens) when they were asked to make up two words that sounded real."

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NN comments
donald remero
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The title should actually read “…sent in a letter?” or “Can you package language up and send it in….?” =)

donald remero
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Interesting. Doesn’t look like the Behind the Grammar site is updated all that often. …labors of love… =)

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1 answer

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donald remero [ Moderator ]

Leaving aside the question as to whether the embiggening of the English language with the word "cromulent" is in fact something up with we can put (along with such questions such as whether it is ever permissible to end a sentence with a preposition), the short answer is yes.

The word "language" used as a synonym for "text," "phrasing," "words," "diction," and so forth commonly appears in contexts such as:

We need to revisit the specific language in section C of the new contract.
Yes, I got the draft proposal, but the language in the introduction is not quite right.
I think we need more language around the issue of what exactly constitutes a defect.
The ad/advert looks great, but we need to refine the language to appeal more directly to kids.
Let's revise the language in the headings to match up better with our existing marketing.

In certain contexts, alternative choices to "language" might be more effective or more clear, but the usage itself is standard.

NN comments
peter mortensen
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Remero: except for the third example one could read language in the examples of a shorthand for [the quality of the language used in the text]; as being about the quality rather than a quantifiable tangible thing.

peter mortensen
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Remero: except for the third example one could read “language” in the examples of a shorthand for [the quality of the language used in the text]; as being about the quality rather than a quantifiable tangible thing.

peter mortensen
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Remero: except for the third example one could read “language” in the examples as a shorthand for [the quality of the language used in the text]; as being about the quality rather than a quantifiable tangible thing.

peter mortensen
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Remero: except for the third example one could read “language” in the examples as a shorthand for [the quality of the language used in the text]; as being about the quality of the thing rather than the quantifiable tangible thing itself.

donald remero
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: Yes, this is exactly right. It is meant to bring attention to the quality (specificity, appropriateness, etc.) of the words and phrases used. Even the third example, one could argue, also retains this basic connotation. Perhaps the most common phrasing is actually “crafting language,” as in “They are crafting the language of the senate bill right now” or perhaps, “Will you write me a draft of the text for the website tonight? And then, tomorrow, let’s sit down and work on the specific language we want to use.”

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