Language is our first line of communication is our species. While we do have dance, song, art and other forms of communication, we do not actively use those forms of communication in casual conversation. We use a set system of signs and sounds to get our points across, although what we say may not be exactly what we mean. In the Curzan & Adams piece, the speaker writes of various animals in the animal kingdom communicate, such as bees. Bees tell other bees where pollen is through the power of dance. Which is amazing! I remember learning this from a young age, and never having anyone elaborate it for me, so relearning this fact was astonishing. Most animals have an instinctual way of communicating to their species, whether it be for food, depicting danger, or the desire to mate. These are biological forms of communication, something that us humans have, but do not use as our primary form of communication. We have the ability to simply say what we mean. English, for example, could have been comprised completely different sounds and syllables. We created this language. It is not something we are born with, we learn it and tune it to fit our needs as we grow. 

The following text, Language Myth 14, explains the concept of a double negative. Double negatives are statements that I have apparently used all my life, and had no idea what they were! Thankfully, the writer inspects the concept of a double negative with fine toothed comb, both explaining and analyzing them. The text also describes how people respond to them, how people who use double negatives “wreak havoc” on the listener. Double negatives are phrases that essential cancel the other out. The classical two minus two is zero. In conversation however, two minus two is one, you arrive at a completely different meaning by combining the two terms. Double negatives can definitely be utilized in a conversation, but it is hard to use them colloquially in an academic piece. This goes back to the excerpt of Curzan & Adams, where conversation provides a different meaning when applied face to face. Language is subject, it is the context that depicts the meaning of words and phrases that are used. I did notice sort of a tone difference. The Language Myth is more skeptical and critical, this is due to the text disproving something. The first text is more so of an explanation and fascination with the language us humans use.