A current prominent translingualism strand in sociolinguistics has started paying increasing attention to linguistic ‘playfulness’. When language users are involved with translingual practices, they may often be identified through the ‘playfulness’ of their interactions and dialogues (commonly a euphemism for creativity, innovativeness and fluidity), where one’s repertoire is deeply connected with forms of playful exchange to create alternative linguistic lives and identities. Yet, this extensive spectacle of ‘playfulness’ seems to dwell more on conviviality than potential ‘precarity’, overlooking the fact that precarity has arguably always been a condition of human life and norm for most language users, who are deeply embedded in local economies of uncertainty, marginalisation and vulnerabilities. In this chapter, we aim to re-visit two key notions that are core to translingual experiences: ‘precariousness’ and ‘playfulness’. The key implication of this chapter, therefore, is that the next generation of sociolinguists needs to focus more on the precarity of the translingualism trend, not just the playfulness. The two concepts need to be treated with caution, so as not to assume that we understand too easily what is ‘precarious’ or ‘playful’ for whom. In so doing, we re-navigate the jubilant scenes of ‘playfulness’ and move towards the centrality of ‘precariousness’.

Translingual users recruit diverse linguistic and non-linguistic resources in fluid and playful ways within their daily linguistic and communicative repertoires. In so doing, they are often involved with ‘playful naughtiness’ that is marked by exuberant banter, mockery, jokes, and travesty. Yet this ‘playful naughtiness’ should not necessarily be the main focus of the analysis, as translingual repertoires may also be linked to precarious conditions of life through the multifarious politics of precarious reality. Translingualism can be fundamentally identified through the failing social, political, academic and economic networks that expose language users to varied critically precarious settings. First, translingualism may be linked with precarious working conditions, particularly for south-to-north migrants or international students who are situated in the Anglophone world. Second, in the precarious world of translingualism, one may find a ‘safe space’ with those who share a similar translingual space. The chapter concludes that understanding the social, political, emotional and ideological conditions for translingual precarity, and the effects of these on translingual users’ own subjectivities, social positions, language ideology and policy, is essential.

In this Afterword, I provide additional comments on Sender Dovchin, Rhonda Oliver, and Li Wei’s edited book’s central argument, namely that a rather romanticized view of translingualism as the celebration of playfulness despite the precarious conditions of life of translingual users needs to be addressed. The chapters in this book do an interesting reading of precarity in terms of ontology, social practices, and the conditions of inequality in today’s world. To further enrich the response to the critique that translanguaging scholarship ignores the actually existing conditions of precarity and suffering under neoliberalism, I draw on my own experience as an editor of an applied linguistics journal in Brazil and on the (in)securitization of everyday life experienced by interlocutors in my fieldwork in Rio de Janeiro favelas. I conclude that imagining forms of life that do not surrender to or freeze in the face of precarity seems to be an urgent task for sociolinguists.

This chapter examines the complicated relationship between irony and humor, primarily from the perspective of neo-Gricean pragmatics (e.g., an ironic utterance flouts/overtly violates the maxim of Quality). Not all irony is humorous, of course, in part because of the highly polysemous nature of irony. In this light, it is important to distinguish irony that is humorous from irony that is related to sarcasm, teasing, parody, and even playfulness. Dynel offers a formal test by which one may determine what forms of humor may be specifically viewed as “irony.” She also describes some of the reasons why irony sometimes expresses humor, focusing on the importance of contrast and incongruity in judgments of ironic humor, but extending this emphasis to include surprise, absurdity, and creativity as key facets of humorous irony. Even blindness to irony can elicit humorous responses in some interpersonal situations. Dynel’s chapter also considers some of the intricacies in the ways speakers use humorous irony to position themselves in various interactions with others.

Reading Byron's dramas through the conceptual framework of modern play theory helps us appreciate the works of 1820–2 as a unique experimental project. If we focus on Byron’s transgressive playfulness both in terms of genre expectations and the ethos of his original sources (ranging from the Bible and the apocrypha to historical accounts and popular fictional narratives), we may disambiguate some of the more persistent critical quandaries, such as Byron's unsystematic thinking or lack of dramatic rigueur. Rather than aloof carelessness, these dramas clearly attest to Byron’s critical insight into the limits of the authoritative, be it religious or historical, and form a key part of his lifelong exploration of liberty, where the personal is inextricably linked to the political. Play, and playing, for Byron, is one of the key concepts of cultural history.

MBT for avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) targets hypermentalizing and hypomentalizing modes along with the problems associated with mentalizing problems found in the polarities of self/other mentalizing which become apparent when the patient engages with their social world. Reducing overuse of the self is central to treatment. The experience of shame is activated during social interaction, and therefore avoidance of social situations maintains a sense of personal comfort and safety. The chapter discusses ways to help the patient to overcome this. Clinician counter-responsiveness, which often relates to feelings of helplessness and hopelessness, can also interfere with engagement and treatment, as the patient may avoid interaction in therapy.