The Economist: The decline of the abstract noun. What a reduction in abstraction says about the new France: “Of all the novelties of France under President Nicolas Sarkozy, one of the more arresting is the decline of the abstract noun. In the past, no French leader would make a speech without liberal doses of destiny [...]
Entries Tagged as 'language'
Nicolas Sarkozy and the decline of the abstract noun
December 14th, 2007
Tags: france · language · nicolas sarkozy
Steven Pinker and Rebecca Goldstein – Proud atheists
November 16th, 2007
Salon, Proud atheists: “Steven Pinker and Rebecca Goldstein, America’s brainiest couple, confess that belonging to one of America’s most reviled subcultures doesn’t mean they believe scientists can explain everything.”
Tags: atheism · language · rebecca goldstein · science · spinoza · steven pinker
Why We Curse. What the F***?
October 17th, 2007
“But perhaps the greatest mystery is why politicians, editors, and much of the public care so much. Clearly, the fear and loathing are not triggered by the concepts themselves, because the organs and activities they name have hundreds of polite synonyms. Nor are they triggered by the words’ sounds, since many of them have respectable [...]
Tags: cursing · language · psychology · steven pinker
The Gender Genie
April 19th, 2007
The Gender Genie voorspelt de sekse van de schrijver op basis van tekstanalyse; en haalde zojuist een score van 10 uit 10 in mijn steekproefje. (Via l-rs.org.)
An autistic woman “speaks” her language, then ours.
January 26th, 2007
“My language is not about designing words or even visual symbols for people to interpret. It is about being in a constant conversation with every aspect of my environment, reacting physically to all parts of my surroundings.” Een lange thread op MetaFilter, incluis een reactie van de vrouw zelf. Haar video staat op YouTube.