Sociolinguist Erica Brozovsky. Photo: Dr Erica Brozovsky
You may have heard the saying 'Gossip is the Devil's radio', but does gossip actually deserve the bad rap it gets?
Dr Erica Brozovsky is a sociolinguist, and the host and writer of popular PBS YouTube series 'Otherwords', Her videos about language and linguistics have garnered thousands of views. They explore the weird and wacky lesser-known history behind words and language,
A former postdoctoral fellow in the English department at the University of Texas, Brozovsky argues that gossip is not only a part of human nature, it helps us build better social connections and community - and it could be the origin of language itself.
In small groups of primates, bonds of trust were formed through grooming each other, she says.
"But when you have a large group of primates or humans, you can't just depend on this back-scratching mentality. You need to think about how you can determine who is trustworthy - so that's where gossip comes in.
Many scholars have said humans developed bigger brains to keep track of more social relationships.
Brozovsky says humans can have meaningful relationships with about 150 people - and gossip helps disseminate information so they can take care of each other.
Her work at the intersection of sociology and linguistics examines words that exist in other languages, but not in English.
She says extra words are needed in English, such as the Mandarin 'mafan', which means annoying.
Another words she has adopted is 'pelinti' from the Buli language, meaning moving hot food around your mouth - like the bite of dinner you gobble before it cools enough to eat.
The Yamana word 'mamihalapanatapei' gives a much-needed name to the experience of two people looking at each other, hoping the other one will do something they both desire, but don't want to do first.
Brozovsky says the first colours described in languages around the world were black and white, words needed to differentiate day from night.
"The meaning of white was 'shine', that was from the proto Indo-European.
"Black came from the meaning for 'to burn', it's like the colour you get, the ash colour, that's the black."
Red came next - "berries are red and blood is red", she says.
Yellow and green were invented next, followed by blue, orange and brown.
Portuguese merchants in the 15th or 16th century brought the "exotic" orange fruit to Europe, called 'naranga' in Sanskrit, Brozovsky says.
Things began to be called "the colour of an orange", before the quicker version of "that thing is orange" came into common parlance.
For Brozovsky, place names are a treasure trove of information.
The first recorded place name is four symbols carved on a rock in Egypt - "this is my land" - denoting the domain of the Scorpion King, she says.
While dozens of places in the world have a name which consists of a single letter, a Māori place name is the longest place name in the world -Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu. It refers to the summit in Hawke's Bay where Tamatea, the man with big knees, played the nose flute to his lady love.
"History is built into names," she says.
Words that many people try to avoid loudly pronouncing in public are of special interest to Brozovsky.
She says swearing is more instinctive and reactional than other language and comes from a different part of the brain.
This means after brain damage, some people are only able to speak in expletives, or are unable to swear.
While Brozovsky says swearing is most powerful in moderation, it can indicate a person's speech is actually trustworthy.
"When people are a little too formal, then you don't know what they're thinking, but when you swear, you're a little bit more relaxed.
"It's the real you, versus the at-work you."
The future looks bright for Brozovsky's quirky explorations into language - season four of Otherwords has just been renewed and she is in talks about writing a book.
