Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Ontologies and Analogies with Liqueur and Strings Attached

A dear friend recently introduced me to what may become my favorite libation of the summer.


Paolucci Limoncello
List Price $23.99
30% alcohol


However, being the bargain hunter that I am, I found a fairly tasty and less expensive alternative.






Lombardi Limonata
List Price $9.99
10% alcohol



When I first introduced this option to said friend, the response was, "so what do you call this, 'Limonviolin'?"

What a wonderful analogy. I laughed for a good ten minutes (and I had only had half of one drink at this point).

In other words, Limoncello is to Limonata as cello is to violin.

Limoncello is more expensive and has a larger alcohol content than Limonata.

A cello is more expensive and is larger than a violin.


Ontologically, this example groups together liqueurs that have similarities in flavor, and differences in price and alcohol content, and compares them to string instruments that have similarities in materials, and differences in price and size.

3 comments:

arnie said...

Oh dear.

Was it really necessary to explain in quite so much detail? If a joke needs to be explained it's no good, and I thought it was a good joke. I can't say I laughed for ten minutes, though.

Laura Payne said...

Arnie,
What can I say...I am a descriptive linguist and the joke presented a great oportunity to "describe" the analogy.

James Davis said...

The question is…

How do they taste? *eyes his local Specs*

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