Similarly, we’ve all seen newcomers to a social group suffering through a kind of linguistic struggle: they’ve paid attention to how the group converses, they’ve picked up a few keywords, but when they try to use them they don’t get the expected response. They’ve used one of the approved words, but not at the right time, or in the right context. There’s a curiously musical element to the sociology of keywords, a kind of group harmony that develops: the newcomer is prone to missing her cue or singing off-key. It takes a while to find your way into the Inner Ring, and the socially tone-deaf
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