The Importance of Well-Worded Instructions

The village blacksmith finally found an apprentice willing to work hard for long hours. The blacksmith immediately began his instructions to the lad, "When I take the shoe out of the fire, I'll lay it on the anvil; and when I nod my head, you hit it with this hammer."The apprentice did just as he told. Now he's the village blacksmith.

Syntactically, these instructions should have used a word other that it.

Beautiful Northern Michigan

Code-Switching and Diglossia with the Yooper Dialect

As I mentioned yesterday, the difference between code-switching and diglossia is that diglossia is a more intentional changing of dialect due to situation and code-switching is a more subconscious change. Following is an example of how this works with the Yooper dialect -

A family friend who is a 60ish non-native Upper Peninsula woman, says that even though she was not born or raised in the Upper Peninsula, she married a native and now uses the dialect on a daily basis. She attributes this, initially to her repeated exposure to the dialect and wanting to fit in, but claims it is now out of habit. Though when she talks to her family in Lower Michigan she subconsciously switches back to her original dialect. However, with certain friends from Lower Michigan she will not automatically switch and with others she has to make a conscious effort to do so to fit back in with these friends.

The Difference Between Code-Switching and Diglossia

The term code-switching is used when examining how people speak in different situations. Code is thought of as a more neutral way of expressing dialect and there are generally thought to be two codes, a prestige code and an everyday code. The term diglossia is also used to describe a person’s ability to switch from one dialect or code to another. The subtle difference between code-switching and diglossia is that diglossia is thought to be a more intentional changing of dialect due to situation and code-switching is perceived as a more subconscious change.

The Linguistics Professor

A linguistics professor was lecturing his class the other day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn't a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative."A voice from the back of the room retorted, "Yeah, right."

Obscornicle Survey

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Psych Scrabble Words

One of my favorite tv shows to watch during the summer is Psych on the USA network. The show is very well written from a humor standpoint and the writers certainly know how to have fun with words. In a recent episode the main characters, Shaun Spencer, Shaun's father Henry and Shaun's friend Gus, are sitting in an interrogation room at the police station when the following exchange takes place.

Henry: “Not a word.”
A few seconds pass
Shawn very deliberately: “Bergulous”
Henry: “I said not a word.”
Shawn: “Oh I see, last week when we were playing Scrabble that was not a word, this week when it is convenient for you it is a word.”

The Great Chain of Being Metaphor System and ANIMAL for HUMAN metaphors

A little more about the Great Chain of Being Metaphor System ---

The mapping between HUMANS and ANIMALS is one of the most productive metaphors in the system. This can be seen by reviewing the large number of animal proverbs and clichés that exist in the English language: “The early bird catches the worm,” “When the cat’s away the mice will play,” and “There are plenty more fish in the sea,” to name a few. In fact, ANIMAL for HUMAN metaphor is so prominent that the Center for the Integrative Study of Animal Behavior at Indiana University has devoted an entire web page to lists of animal proverbs and clichés. (http://www.indiana.edu/~animal/fun/wordplay/proverbs.html).

Another example of the prominence of animal metaphor is found in fables. The OED identifies the most prominent sense of a fable as “A short story devised to convey some useful lesson; esp. one in which animals or inanimate things are the speakers or actors; an apologue.”
Some of the best-known fables are those by Aesop which date back to the 6th century B.C., they include: The Ant and the Grasshopper, The Boy who Cried Wolf, The Dog and the Bone , The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs, The Lion and the Mouse, The Tortoise and the Hare, The Wolf in Sheep's Clothing.

What is the Great Chain of Being Metaphor System?

The “Great Chain of Being” is a concept that was developed by ancient philosophers including Plato and Aristotle to help organize things in the universe by attributes and behaviors arranged in a hierarchy.
A version of the “Great Chain of Being” employed in semantics is as follows (Kieltyka and Kleparski n.d.):
GOD
HUMANS
ANIMALS
PLANTS
INORGANIC THINGS
The “Great Chain of Being” metaphor system maps of the attributes and/or behavior between different categories of the chain in order to better understand one domain in terms of another. Lakoff and Turner (1989: 172) more clearly define the metaphor system as, “a tool of great power and scope,” that “allows us to comprehend general human character traits in terms of well-understood non-human attributes; and conversely, it allows us to comprehend less well-understood aspects of the nature of animals and objects in terms of better-understood human characteristics.”

McDonald's Fruit Smoothies

I passed a McDonald's today and the sign in front read "Real Fruit Smoothies are Her." Did the last "E" fall off of the sign or did someone who does not follow prescriptive grammar remove the "E" to compliment his girlfriend and let everyone know that he thinks she is a real fruit smoothie?

Never Skip the Semantics

Mr. Smith was terribly overweight, so his doctor placed him on a strict diet.
"I want you to eat regularly for 2 days, then skip a day, and repeat this procedure for 2 weeks. The next time I see you, you'll have lost at least 5 pounds," his doctor promised.
When Mr. Smith returned he shocked the doctor by having lost nearly 20 pounds.
"Why, that's amazing!" the doctor said, "Did you follow my instructions?"
Mr. Smith nodded. "I'll tell you though, I thought I was going to drop dead that 3rd day."
"Why, from hunger?" asked the doctor.
"No, from skipping."

Evitable vs. Inevitable

Why is it that the word inevitable is used on such a regular basis but it is rare that you hear someone use the word evitable?

ABC and MC and BC

Seriously now...Did they plan it this way? An ABC Warehouse, an MC Sports and a BC Pizza all in the same strip mall right next to each other. Talk about fun with letters.

Michigan Unique Words and Phrases

Words and phrases unique to Michigan residents from MICHIGANNATIVE.COM

"Beeyemites": refers to residents of the city of Birmingham which is abbreviated "B'ham."

"Big BEEverr": pronouncing this major thoroughfare through the city of Troy almost always draws snickers from out-of-towners. It was originally named in the 1800's after a nearby beaver pond, long since paved over. Sadly enough, the fact that it is Exit 69 on I-75, and the old location for the Playboy Club, perpetuates its urban legend factor.

"The Bridge": Everywhere except for the towns of Port Huron or Detroit, "The Bridge" refers to The "Mackinaw" Bridge.

"Bulletproof Snow": A common occurrence at Michigan ski resorts, the continuous melting and refreezing of snow on the runs results in "bulletproof snow."

"A Cole One": a beer. Or several.

"Doorwall:" Sliding glass door.

"Euchre": a card game which is popular in Michigan and seemingly, no where else.

"Geez-o-pete!": Related: "Geez-Louise!" A Michigan expletive for polite company, having something to do with Jesus and St. Peter.

"Glovebox": US equivalent: glove compartment.

"A Good One": a good day. Proper Michigan etiquette is to say "have a good one!" to the checkout clerk when leaving the store.

"Hourlies": hourly factory workers, usually automotive.

"How'zit goin'?" In other parts of the world, the equivalent of "what's up?" or "how are you?"

"The Joe": Our energy-saving name for Detroit's Joe Louis Arena (thanks to DJ Clutch)

"Michigan Left": A right turn onto a boulevard followed by an immediate u-turn at the next available crossover. This keeps traffic from backing up at intersections with boulevards.

"Parking Deck": Alternate form: "parking ramp". Known elsewhere as a parking garage.

"The Plant": any factory (again, usually automotive).

"The Ren Cen": Detroit's Renaissance Center, which 1) hasn't ever been called by its full name, ever, and 2) didn't spark the "renaissance" that Detroiters had hoped for, and 3) wouldn't fit in as a place to hold a Renaissance Festival.

"SecretariahState": US equivalent: Department of Motor Vehicles.

"The Soo": Refers to the small Upper Peninsula town Sault Sainte Marie that weathermen across the nation love to refer to. Pronounced "soo saint marie".

"The Thumb": the thumb-shaped area of the Lower Peninsula "mitten".

"Up North": common for anywhere in the state north of the middle of Michigan's Lower Peninsula.

"The Windsor Ballet": Term used by Detroiters to say they're going to Canadian strip clubs in nearby Windsor. "Where ya'ff to, honey?" "Oh, the boss wants us to take a client out to the ballet. In, uhh, Windsor."

Red - What? Magazine

My son and I were in line at the store the other day when my son pointed out this magazine cover to me and said, "I can't believe there is a magazine called 'Redneck.'" I am so glad to see that my son has a sense of humor and wordplay of which I can be proud.

A Linguistics Quiz

If you love linguistics and have been reading this blog on a fairly regular basis, you will enjoy the August 2008 Reader's Digest Word Power page and you should be able to answer all of the "Words at Play" quiz questions correctly. Here are a few of the quiz questions to get you started:

1. A pangram is a - A. jumble of a word's letters. B. phrase using all 26 letters of the alphabet. C. person's surname used as a common noun.

2. A retronym is a - A. form of mirror writing. B. modified name for an old item. C. guessing game invented by bored astronauts.

3. A portmantaeu word is a - A. French word playfully Anglicized. B. sailors' slang. C. word blend of two other words.

The Fewer Words the Better

Reader's Digest recently cited two examples to illustrate the fact that it is best to use as few words as possible to achieve the most impact. The first example is from Churchill's opening line in a radio address after the fall of France in 1940: "The news from France is very bad." This could not be any more clear or concise. Their example of too many words is from a sign in a fish store window: "Fresh Fish for Sale Here Today." Reader's Digest states that the only necessary word for this sign is fish. I, personally, would like to know that the fish is fresh.

Phonetics, Phonics and Elephants

From an email I received, an oldie but a goodie...



My five-year old students, are learning to read. Yesterday, one of them pointed at a picture in a zoo book and said, 'Look at this! It's a frickin' elephant!' I took a deep breath, then asked, 'What did you call it?' 'It's a frickin' elephant! It says so on the picture!'

And so it does... ' A f r i c a n Elephant '

Hooked on phonics! Ain't it wonderful?

Prototype Semantics, Crossword Puzzles and Memory

Prototype semantics again. Just one final note. The reason prototype categories are so semantically useful in solving crossword puzzles has much to do with memory and the way the brain functions. It has been shown that categorization increases recall and recall is better for high frequency items in a category than items lower in frequency. High frequency items, as the term is used in the previous sentence, should be recognized to mean the more prototypical members of a category. In addition, long term human memory relies mostly on semantic coding, as opposed to short term memory, which relies more on phonemic coding. Following is a quote from Psychologist Endel Tulving (1972) that sums up rather well the mutual importance and cooperation of categorization, memory and word meaning; “Semantic memory is a system for receiving, retaining and transmitting information about meaning of words, concepts and classification of concepts.”