Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Pain in the English
Pain in the English

Unpacking English, Bit by Bit

A community for questioning, nitpicking, and debating the quirks and rules of the English language.

Username

tiki

Member Since

May 14, 2014

Total number of comments

1

Total number of votes received

1

Bio

Latest Comments

Social vs Societal

  • May 14, 2014, 7:53pm

Late to the party but I have a theory that makes societal a word that is redundant, yet made for a cognizable purpose.

Cold war affected political thinking much more in the U.S. than the U.K. - being one of the two superpowers that were the centers of gravity during the Cold War. While the USSR was "communist", another word that is used in similar contexts is "socialist". Thus, within the political lexicon, "socialist", and thereby, "social", becomes a dirty word. But, we still need a word to describe things having to do with society, without portraying them so negatively. Thus; societal. Explains why it came about only somewhat recently, though found to be in dictionaries at least forty years ago, mostly in the United States.