"At the same time we overlap, because, I do linguistics, and Ben did a first degree in Linguistics at Lancaster University, so he knows some of my subject"
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Crystal is doing something educators do instinctively: building a bridge before anyone notices the gap. The sentence looks like mild biographical housekeeping, but its real job is social. He’s narrating overlap as a credential, a reassurance, a soft preemptive defense against the suspicion that two people in conversation (or collaboration) are talking past each other. “At the same time” is the classic throat-clear that signals, don’t worry, we’re aligned.
The wording is tellingly modest. “Some of my subject” downshifts what could be a status move into something closer to collegial courtesy. Crystal is a towering figure in public linguistics; he doesn’t need to flex expertise. So instead he frames Ben’s Lancaster degree as partial access rather than full belonging. That small hedge keeps the hierarchy intact while sounding generous: Ben is informed, not competing.
There’s also a subtle performance of interdisciplinarity as virtue. “We overlap” is a comfort phrase in contemporary knowledge culture, where collaboration is prized but specialization still polices borders. By foregrounding a shared academic lineage (Lancaster carries real weight in UK linguistics), Crystal evokes a common dialect of methods and assumptions. It’s less about the content of linguistics than about trust: shared training implies shared standards.
Contextually, it reads like a spoken aside from an interview or documentary segment: conversational, slightly repetitive, more concerned with relationship-management than prose elegance. Crystal’s intent isn’t to dazzle; it’s to license the exchange that follows.
The wording is tellingly modest. “Some of my subject” downshifts what could be a status move into something closer to collegial courtesy. Crystal is a towering figure in public linguistics; he doesn’t need to flex expertise. So instead he frames Ben’s Lancaster degree as partial access rather than full belonging. That small hedge keeps the hierarchy intact while sounding generous: Ben is informed, not competing.
There’s also a subtle performance of interdisciplinarity as virtue. “We overlap” is a comfort phrase in contemporary knowledge culture, where collaboration is prized but specialization still polices borders. By foregrounding a shared academic lineage (Lancaster carries real weight in UK linguistics), Crystal evokes a common dialect of methods and assumptions. It’s less about the content of linguistics than about trust: shared training implies shared standards.
Contextually, it reads like a spoken aside from an interview or documentary segment: conversational, slightly repetitive, more concerned with relationship-management than prose elegance. Crystal’s intent isn’t to dazzle; it’s to license the exchange that follows.
Quote Details
| Topic | Knowledge |
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