Wherever we go on the internet, we encounter CAPTCHAs, those twisted words that block or enable entries on websites. Need to post an ad on Craigslist or log into your email from a new device? You may meet a CAPTCHA. Want to comment on an article or blog post? CAPTCHA. So, why do we have them? How do CAPTCHAs work? CAPTCHAs were invented to block …
We have all heard how differently people in London, New York, or Baton Rouge speak English, but are those different speakers still fluent in English? Where does accent stop and fluency begin? What does fluency mean? Fluency is defined as “being able to speak and write quickly or easily in a given language.” It comes from the Latin word fluentem meaning “to flow.” What does accent mean? …
Last week the New York Times ran this headline: “Twitter Study Tracks When We Are : )” That little emoticon printed in a venerated newspaper suggests growing acceptance of abbreviations and pictographic communication. Of course, the article is about the internet and technology, so a nod to common electronic communication is appropriate and light-hearted.
Language shapes how we think about the world. Benjamin Whorf, a linguist in the early 1900s, called this phenomenon linguistic relativity. It is often said that the Eskimos have fifty words for snow, but it turns out that’s not true. Eskimo-Aleut languages have about as many words for snow as the English language. But the Sami languages spoken by indigenous people near the Arctic Circle …
As readers, we recognize prefixes, like dis-, in-, non- and un-, as expressing negation. We immediately know that “unfair” means “not fair.” However, there are some clear exceptions to these rules. Such anomalies can cause confusion for a few reasons. For one, the prefix in- also literally means in, such as inquire, inclose, and insure. The word impromptu for instance comes directly from the Latin …
No matter how clever, revolutionary, or poignant, the passage of time can render anything obsolete – even words. Recently, researchers for the Collins Dictionary released a list of words, such as charabanc and aerodrome, that are used so rarely that they are considered obsolete, and will no longer be included in smaller print dictionaries. The following are among the words that the Collins lexicographers have …
Didja ever think that there are ways of speaking that feel perfectly comfortable . . . but that would seem wrong if you wrote them down? Sorta like the way this sentence is written. Lemme tell you ‘bout this very phenomenon, relaxed pronunciation. Pronunciation is defined as “the conventional patterns of treatment of the sound and stress patterns of a syllable or word.” Relaxed pronunciation, …
Is “Rocket ‘88” by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats the very first rock and roll record? The question has inspired debate among musicologists for years. Another equally contentious question: Where does the term rock and roll come from?Rock is derived from the Old English roccain, related to the Old Nordic rykkja meaning, “to pull, tear, move.” The earliest recorded use of the term in literature can …
According to a Japanese proverb: “A crying child thrives.” A recent study that examines the complexity of an infant’s cries in relation to his or her language development seems to offer a scientific basis for this folk wisdom. For babies whose cries exhibited complex melodies by the age of two months, the study, published in the The Cleft Palate-Craniofacial Journal says the probability of a …
Long, long ago, typewriters made no distinction between the number 0 and the letter O. While the two share the same shape, the origin of both number and letter are quite different. Let’s look at the distinct astrological and optical inspirations that created these seemingly identical symbols. Derived from the Semitic letter ayin and inspired by the circular eye-shaped Egyptian hieroglyph for “eye,” the letter O …
The Los Angeles Lakers‘ Ron Artest has spent the majority of his basketball career stirring up controversy with his own brand of joie de vivre. The eccentric, at times rowdy, small forward and shooting guard now graces this column for a linguistic reason. Artest plans on officially changing his name to Metta World Peace. If, as our recent post conjectures, our given names play a part …
The final space shuttle mission has blasted off, launching the fascinating word mystery of “Atlantis” into our consciousness: How did the name of a mythical kingdom thousands of leagues under the sea become the moniker for a vehicle soaring thousands of miles into space? In two of Plato’s dialogues, Timaeus and Critias – both penned around 360 B.C., the Greek philosopher recites the tale of a lost …