Language and Social Position As I sat in my never-so-comfortable seat in the theater watching "Titanic" for the second time on the big screen, a rather foreign thought occurred to me . me: good use of language. This film, based on the 1912 disaster, went to extreme detail to make everything in it evocative of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The language of the film was scripted as best as possible for the year 1912, as was the model of the ship itself. The film showed the language of both the upper class ("nobility" of America) and the lower class of different nations of the world. Focusing on the educated, wealthy upper class, their language was so pure, concise and definitive. The best example I can cite from the film is a line from young Rose, who was trying to make her thick-headed, snobbish mother understand that there weren't enough boats for everyone on board, in fact. less than half of the passengers. would get a place on a lifeboat. She said to her mother: “Not half enough!” In four words, Rose said what would have taken me at least ten words to say in our modern language, something similar to "There aren't enough [boats] even for half the people!" “Not enough for half” is a phrase that I easily understood, but I have never heard a phrase phrased this way in my life (in contemporary conversations, dialogues, speeches, etc.). It reminds me more of the diction of writings of the past, which authors such as Shakespeare or Benjamin Franklin may have used. Why isn't a phrase like "Not half enough" used in modern American English today? This sentence is clear, concise and not difficult to pronounce. Robert Hall would probably praise such a phrase as a fine example of good usage. It's... middle of paper ... I would have thought "groovy" and "crazy, man" would make a comeback, huh? Language usage should not be the standard by which we judge each other. . Language was created to communicate, and shouldn't we communicate in the simplest and most effective way? We should heed Robert Hall's advice and ensure that the rules of good usage based on "the most effective way of saying" (handout) govern our use of language. However, in reality, it seems that William Tanner's thoughts insinuate themselves into our view of proper etiquette and connect it to social etiquette, creating judgments of social class and distinction based on one's speech. We, as listeners and speakers, must make a conscious decision to stop judging others based on language usage and start becoming Hall followers (we will call ourselves Halloons) and give back our clear, concise and effective language..