ABSTRACT
Words express not just our perceived realities, but also our feelings and stance in relation to such realities. That is, while there are many words which may mean similar things, it is the variations in nuance and register that can communicate a much richer picture about our stance in relation to what is being said. As discussed, the choice of words is becoming increasingly hard to predict. In the past, ethnicity, educational level, place of residence, exposure to foreign culture or involvement in subculture trends was able to help us to understand one’s lexical behaviours. Yet, increasingly, individuals’ lexical behaviour is getting diverse and hard to predict. Most people each day build up a linguistic repertoire with multiple languages and interact with others who are like them. The way in which they express themselves online is different from offline too. For instance, the range of expressions one chooses in their social media is quite different from the range of expressions one chooses in other registers.
