The great German poet Johann von Goethe (1749–1832) once said that because people can speak they think they are entitled to speak about language.1 The point he was making is that because we have language we think we have the necessary knowledge to make pronouncements on language. However, this is not true. In order to make objective statements about the structure and use of language one needs training as a linguist. So why does one need technical vocabulary when talking about language? The reason is that, although we all speak our native language effortlessly, there is a lot of internal structure involved in this process and we are normally unaware of this. To describe all facets of language one needs an array of technical terms. Bear in mind that most of our knowledge of language is unconscious, like an iceberg where nine-tenths are hidden below the water’s surface.