Translating Games

Grocery Checkers, by Scott Moore

Grocery Checkers, by Scott Moore

Is it possible to translate games as we translate language?  That is, can a particular instance of game- one round of table tennis, say-  be said to represent a particular instance of another game- say, one swim meet- in the same way that a particular sentence of English can be said to represent a particular sentence of Latin?  It would seem obvious that the answer is no, and it probably is.  But here’s an argument that the answer might not be so obvious.  Follow the argument to the end, and you begin to suspect that if games can’t be translated into each other, then metaphors in general might be trickier than they at first seem.

Convergence

Thanks to ukulelehunt for this video of “Hot for Words” on the origin of the word “ukulele.”

Etymology of First Names

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Multicultural and quite lengthy. Search for names, and search for “words in meaning” as well as “words in description” of the names.

http://www.behindthename.com/

A critique of Chomskyanism

Mark Rosenfelder reviews Michael Tomasello’s 2003 book, Constructing a Language, focusing on Tomasello’s critique of Noam Chomsky’s theories.

When language was first spoken, how many languages were spoken?

You might think it would be obvious- one.  Many theorists would agree with you, and you may all be right.  But you may not be.  Click here to see why.

Girly Man

Scary Halloween video!

The 86,800 Commonest English Words

Are these, apparently.

“Nerdview”

From Language Log, examples of what happens when writers talk to themselves.

Words ending in “ism”

Here‘s an attractively designed webpage listing a few words that end in “ism.”  I’m not sure what the guiding principle is behind his selection of words- there are just a couple of hundred here, out of thousands to choose from.  Even a onelook search limited to “*ism:belief” brongs brings up 280 entries.

A Trip to Dictionary Land

Alison Bechdel describes her recent visit to the office where they put The American Heritage College Dictionary together.