Today’s xkcd: The late philosopher H. Paul Grice tried to make some of these rules explicit; his most famous attempt to do this can be found in his essay “Logic and Conversation,” published in his book Studies in the Way of Words (Harvard U.P., 1989 and 1991, pages 22-40.) Grice there lays down a set [...]
All posts tagged Language Log
Charitable speech
Posted by acilius on August 31, 2011
http://losthunderlads.com/2011/08/31/charitable-speech/
Before Babel?
Fotb Maggie Jochild has reminded us of a study that was published in Science in April and publicized in The New York Times. Biologist Quentin D. Atkinson applied mass comparison methods familiar in genetic research to the analysis of phonemes, the sounds that languages use to distinguish one word from another. If a geneticist found [...]
Posted by acilius on August 15, 2011
http://losthunderlads.com/2011/08/15/before-babel/
Holiday season joke threads
Recently, two of my favorite blogs have featured comment threads that turned into lists of silly jokes. On her blog, Alison Bechdel promoted some prints by Diane diMassa; as one of the prints shows a person holding up a sign with the word “fuck” written on it, many commenters shared jokes involving that word. I [...]
Posted by acilius on December 17, 2010
http://losthunderlads.com/2010/12/17/holiday-season-joke-threads/
Acyrologia in the news
Yesterday, Language Log posted this cartoon. Click on the image to see it in full size on the cartoonist’s site: The poster, Professor Arnold Zwicky, at first remarked that he hadn’t seen the word “acyrologiaphobia” before; he then updated the post with the cartoonist’s explanation that “Acyrologia… seems be more or less synonymous with malapropism.” [...]
Posted by acilius on November 19, 2010
http://losthunderlads.com/2010/11/19/acyrologia-in-the-news/
Do you favor or oppose ___ serving in the military?
Thanks to Language Log for results of a CBS News poll showing these response rates: Do you favor or oppose homosexuals serving in the military? Strongly favor, 34%; somewhat favor, 25%; somewhat oppose, 10%; strongly oppose, 19% Do you favor or oppose gay men and lesbians serving in the military? Strongly favor, 51%; somewhat favor, 19%; [...]
Posted by acilius on February 13, 2010
http://losthunderlads.com/2010/02/13/do-you-favor-or-oppose-___-serving-in-the-military/
Some stuff on our daily reads
Yesterday at Ukulele Hunt, Al Wood opened a contest to award the title of best internet ukulele video of 2009. Each commenter is entitled to nominate five videos. My five nominees are: Ukulele Loki and the Gadabout Orchestra, “Prague:1998″; Poopy Lungstuffing, “Dolly Got a Haircut”; Ukulelezo, “When I Grow Up I’m Gonna Wear a Bikini”; Gensblue, “All That Ukulele Xmas”; [...]
Posted by acilius on January 29, 2010
http://losthunderlads.com/2010/01/29/some-stuff-on-our-daily-reads/
“Language Related Efforts to Help Out in Haiti”
A post at Language Log.
Posted by acilius on January 23, 2010
http://losthunderlads.com/2010/01/23/language-related-efforts-to-help-out-in-haiti/
What is a word for “grandparents of the same child”?
At Language Log, a post asks whether many English speakers use the expression “brothers-in-law” to refer to men whose relationship is that their wives are sisters and “sisters-in-law” to refer to women whose relationship is that their husbands are brothers. So would it be idiomatic to say that my wife and my brother’s wife are one another’s sisters-in-law? Commenters [...]
Posted by acilius on November 20, 2009
http://losthunderlads.com/2009/11/20/what-is-a-word-for-grandparents-of-the-same-child/
The Evolution of the Evolution Cartoon
Though it may seem otherwise, I do not in fact spend all of my time reading Language Log. But here’s a short essay that radio personality Richard Howland-Bolton linked to in a comment on a post there.
Posted by acilius on October 16, 2009
http://losthunderlads.com/2009/10/16/the-evolution-of-the-evolution-cartoon/
I make another attempt to engage in controversy
Yesterday, I tried to join a controversy on Language Log. The controversy was a lively one and comments I’ve posted there in the past have usually drawn some kind of response. So I was surprised that my offering was completely ignored. Today, I tried again.
Posted by acilius on September 30, 2009
http://losthunderlads.com/2009/09/30/i-make-another-attempt-to-engage-in-controversy/
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