languages

  • When I read the CNN story headlined "Misplaced 'not' in Arkansas law allows babies to marry" the other day, I knew something was fishy. Language Log comes to the rescue, criticizing the media for caring more about bad language than bad thinking.
    It's hardly credible that moving the negation somewhere else in the statute would succeed in producing a piece of law that could conceivably have represented the will of the people.
    (0) #
    10/13/2007
  • Last night's The Daily Show, covering the Burmese protests and the government's violent response, pettily made fun of Bush for calling the country Burma instead of Myanmar, without hinting at any controversy. It is true that the UN has been calling the country Myanmar for the past few decades, but, as you can read in this Wikipedia entry, the name of the country is hotly debated and weighted heavily with politics. I was a little disappointed, as The Daily Show is usually on top of these things. (20) #
    9/27/2007
  • Prescriptivists take note: Language Log is a fun blog about language, specializing in debunking myths and making fun of those who misuse it. (2) #
    2/15/2007
  • Scott Adams, the creator of Dilbert, suffered from Spasmodic Dysphonia, which is a mysterious condition where the part of your brain that processes everyday speech is no longer accessible. He wasn't able to speak in certain contexts, but in others, like public talks, he was able to speak perfectly fine. A few days ago he realized that he could speak in rhymes perfectly, and soon afterwards his brain remapped his speaking process and the condition for the most part disappeared. Very strange stuff. (via kottke) (12) #
    10/25/2006
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