Do you speak a language that less than 1000 people know?
I speak at least 2.
- I have a unique set of words that only my girlfriend and I understand. Anyone else would have a hard time working out what goes on in a conversation between us.
- At work, my team and extended team has a similar, but smaller vocabulary.
These languages give us power. They demarcate a group. They show us that we’re inside the boundary of that group. They are a mark of our shared history.
Just like a language is a strong national identifier, subcultures have their unique discourse as a strong cultural identifier.
Language binds us together. It moulds our perceptions. It builds connection between people.
There’s definitely a flipside hiding somewhere here. If a team of 5 people has build up a strong and complex web of custom vocabulary over several years, it’s a little harder for someone new to join in. There’s more of a learning curve. It’s invariably less of a challenge than the expat life of course, so perhaps it’s not too bad.