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Chameleon Effect of Language

A listener named Kio from Los Angeles says she spent some time in England, and while her colleagues there claimed that her valley girl slang was rubbing off on them, she herself picked up plenty of English slang. This is a classic linguistic phenomenon called the Chameleon Effect, whereby people adopt the language and customs of those around themselves in order to feel like part of a group. This is part of a complete episode.

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