Until yesterday morning I had never heard of this phrase. Then all in the space of 24 hours I browsed through a post on The Guardian blog, read a comment made by Simon Amstell in an interview in Heat Magazine, and listened to Christian O’Connell’s breakfast show on Virgin radio. And all of them mentioned the words ‘jump the shark’. As the blog was the first thing I read, and as it had a link to the site from whence the phrase hails, I was able to find out pretty quickly what it means.

The site has been around for almost ten years now, (and hence I feel a little bit behind the zeitgeist on this one), and the phrase has obviously recently come into such popular usage that a quick google of it reveals the following results: 1 and 2 are direct links to the site. 3 is a wikipedia definition. 4 is a wordspy definition. 5 an urban dictionary one. 6 an article from USA Today discussing the sudden popularity of the word. 7 another online definition. In short, most of the articles are concerned with the etymology of the phrase.

At university, my linguistics tutor had a passion for the development of the English language. I will always remember him – a man who is viewed as one of the foremost worldwide authorities on Beowulf, a man who eschewed college functions and could, by all accounts, more regularly be found in the seedier pubs playing pool with the townies, a man who habitually wore black trousers, a white shirt and white trainers, with his shoulder length, receding hair tied in a pony tail to give him the look of Bill Bailey – leaning forward in his chair, jumping up to pull down a book from the thousands which lined his rooms, hopelessly trying to convey to a couple of hung-over, coming-down undergraduates the dynamic, vital nature of a language which has evolved and grown over so many thousands of years.

Perhaps this seed eventually germinated, but I gradually (and way too late for it to be of any use to me in my degree mark) developed a similar passion, and while with me it is not supported by much scholarly research, I still admit to a frisson of excitement when I spot a new trend in linguistic development. Having such an interest at times makes me feel as though my default position is one of deep conservatism. I refuse to abbreviate in text messages, find smileys abhorrent, and still bristle when I walk into a cafe to be confronted with a sign offering me ‘2 egg’s, bacon and sausage’s.’ The English language is a glorious thing, and if I were to be appointed guardian of it, (arrogant, perhaps, but this comes vertiginously close to topping my all time dream jobs list) I would allow only judicious and witty rule breaking when it comes to its evolution.

But the English language is also a completely organic thing, and has always been subject to change due to popular movements. The same tutor once set an essay on dictionaries – whether they were prescriptive or descriptive. Samuel Johnson tried to write ‘a dictionary by which the pronunciation of our language may be fixed, and its attainment facilitated; by which its purity may be preserved, its use ascertained, and its duration lengthened’. It was an admirable but completely misguided task to set himself, and he soon realised that it would not be possible, and instead concentrated for the first time in recording the usage of words in print, drawing his definitions from how they had been used, not how he felt they should be. In the end, he had altered his stance so radically that he believed that “to enchain syllables, and to lash the wind, are equally the undertakings of pride”.

So I have to accept, it would seem, that changes to the language which I won’t particularly like are bound to pass into common usage. And that they will happen precisely because it is such a progressive force. And I will have to keep my mutterings to a minimum if and when the cafe owners win out and the incorrectly placed possessive apostrophe passes into wider usage. And modulate my voice when I complain ‘egg’s what?’ But in the meantime I can also celebrate when something gets added or changed, of which I wholeheartedly approve. And ‘jump the shark’, because it is an interesting, vibrant coinage; because it describes a phenomenon which is particularly of-the-moment, and because it is memorable and unique, is one such addition.

The site’s quite fun too.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 29th, 2006 at 10:49 am and is filed under Internet, Levity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.