Today I spoke to my mom about differences she has noticed between the way her and I talk. Some of her responses were really funny and I was laughing the whole time. She said that I use a lot of slang such as “bro” and “mad.” She also told me how her and dad grew up in different states so I adopted the way I say some words from my dad and some from my mom. My dad grew up in Pennsylvania and my mom grew up in New York so my mom has more of a New York accent and she said im more like my dad with a Pennsylvanian accent. She gave me examples such as how I say “orange” with an “o” sound, like my dad, and she says “orange” with more of an “ah” sound. Also, I say “Florida” like “floor-ida” and she says it like “flar-ida.” I also asked her about the prayers they say in church because whenever we go, she is always saying different words and saying how they changed the prayers. She said, “Yeah, they are totally different now.” She also said how my dad and my Grandpa say “milk” like “melk”, “oil” like “erl”, and “toilet” like “terlet.” This reminded me how I have always noticed that the older generation says “idear” and not “idea.” Another example my mom gave me of how we speak differently is how I say “fire” and “car” but she says it with a New York accent like “fiya” and “cawh.” Lastly, I asked my mom about any differences she has noticed in spelling and she said she hasn’t noticed any except for in texting. She said when phones first came out she would text in “full words” but now there are a bunch of abbreviations such as “ttyl”, “brb”, lmfao” etc.

My Dad, born in the 60s in a predominantly Urdu-speaking environment told me about the evolution in the usage of the word “love” (Mohabbat). He mentioned that in his youth this term was deeply embedded with reverence and solemnity. It was a word they used when they talked about poetry and serious conversations which almost embodied this timeless, and divine quality of love. He said that younger generations such as myself, use this word in a more casual manner. To us, this word is not reserved for epic tales or deep, philosophical discussions but is part of everyday language. He gave an example of social media posts, casual chats, and even in pop culture. He also mentioned something that was quite an informative insight, he said how my generation tends to mix Urdu and English seamlessly (he’s not wrong though), this causes traditional words like (Mohabbat) to broaden the interpretation of love which, he mentioned was absent in his formative years. While the core spelling and pronunciation are unchanged, this evolution of language mirrors changing attitudes towards relationships, norms, and openness to expressing emotions. It’s fascinating to see how language evolves with society, the word (Mohabbat) still means love, but the way we use it today shows how our relationships and social interactions have transformed over time. This evolution in language usage hints at changes in societal norms and individual expectations around relationships. This conversation has led me to believe how generational perspectives differ when it comes to the use of language.