Abstract
This discussion note offers a response to Judith Bridges’ focus article “Explaining
‘-splain’ in digital discourse”. We review some of the article’s core findings on the bound
morpheme -splain, utilised in words such as whitesplain, covidsplain, and thinsplain, and
expand on them by addressing three key concerns: we situate the construction and use of -splain
formations in a more expansive version of prescriptivism, what we refer to as ‘prescriptivism
2.0’; discuss them within the context of language policing and political correctness; and ask
whether forms ending in -splain are subject to moral gradience, highlighting directions and
opportunities for future research.
‘-splain’ in digital discourse”. We review some of the article’s core findings on the bound
morpheme -splain, utilised in words such as whitesplain, covidsplain, and thinsplain, and
expand on them by addressing three key concerns: we situate the construction and use of -splain
formations in a more expansive version of prescriptivism, what we refer to as ‘prescriptivism
2.0’; discuss them within the context of language policing and political correctness; and ask
whether forms ending in -splain are subject to moral gradience, highlighting directions and
opportunities for future research.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 55-60 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Language Under Discussion |
| Volume | 6 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published (VoR) - 27 Aug 2022 |
Keywords
- Linguistics
- gender