A sudden, overpowering feeling of fear, often affecting many people at once. See Synonyms at fear. 2. A state of extreme anxiety, such as that involved in a panic attack. 3. a. A state of frantic activity, usually accompanied by extreme concern or anxiety: The office was in a panic as the deadline approached. b.
Language and Authenticity. 1  The problem of what is authentic when it comes to language, cultural productions, subcultures, etc. is a difficult one. 2  Various disciplines wrestle with trying to define, e.g. authentic jazz, or authentic culinary productions. When we do find authentic language in the media, it is either in documentaries of some sort, or perhaps in television interviews in emergency situations, where people are not monitoring, as, e.g. in the recent hurricane coverage. 2  In other kinds of interviews (talk shows etc.) people are more conscious of their speech.
Linguistic determinism. Linguistic determinism is the idea that language and its structures limit and determine human knowledge or thought, as well as thought processes such as categorization, memory, and perception. The term implies that people who speak different languages as their mother tongues have different thought processes.