This chapter describes one entry point into conversations about language: the “citizen sociolinguistic arrest,” that is, the act of calling someone out for their use of language. An arresting citizen sociolinguist might be heard saying, “Don’t speak Spanish!” “Please call me Professor,” or simply, “Watch your language!” We can learn from citizen sociolinguistic arrests – not by immediately presuming ourselves guilty or innocent, but by allowing the moment to launch us on a pathway of inquiry. The chapter then models this inquiry approach – this doing of citizen sociolinguistics – by exploring the multiple contexts of meaning for the word citizen. The chapter takes readers through a citizen sociolinguist inquiry of the word citizen, exploring conversations about the word citizen, face-to-face, in the research literature, and on internet-circulated social-media, focusing on the kind of expertise that comes from conversations (and disagreements) about the word. This tour through the dramatic differences in how people talk about the word citizen illustrates an important interplay not only among assumptions underpinning different understandings of the word citizen, but also about the implied contexts that afford and perpetuate those assumptions. Each of these views of the word offers a slice of situated expertise.

This chapter concludes the book with a call for language awareness for all: a roundup of approaches to exploring how we talk about language and an explanation for why we must. Any student, from pre-school through graduate school, and any human, of any age, can embark on this type of citizen sociolinguistic inquiry. This chapter calls readers to listen to their students, colleagues, children, and peers: What word, turn-of-phrase, or way of speaking has led to wonderment and sparked conversation? Hoagie? Lightening bug? Creaky voice? Eyebrows on fleek? Chinese? What sorts of citizen sociolinguistic arrests have you (or people you know) experienced? These experiences – good and bad – can be springboards to important citizen sociolinguistic inquiry. Over the years, I’ve developed the ideas in this book as a loose guide to push high-school, college and graduate students, and myself to explore language questions – whether sparked by wonderment, arrest, or something else, and to dwell with multiple possible answers to any of them. I provide examples of my own and encourage readers to build flexible and thoughtful habits with language, as citizen sociolinguists, and to share their discoveries through more acts of citizen sociolinguistics.