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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« Last post by rivka on November 01, 2023, 12:51:58 PM »Could be a good PhD thesis for someone.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« Last post by Jonathon on November 01, 2023, 11:39:30 AM »That is interesting, though I was hoping they'd go into more detail about specific changes. I wonder if anyone's studied it in depth.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« Last post by rivka on October 25, 2023, 01:08:18 PM »The surprisingly subtle ways Microsoft Word has changed the way we use language
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Similarly, the efficiency brought about by standardisation can shape how we write, not just what we write. When clarity is put ahead of stylistic or poetic flair – Word's grammar checker has a specific "clarity" refinement option – it can have implications for how we value forms of creativity.
Based on a quick, albeit arbitrary, experiment, if Harper Lee had used Word to write To Kill a Mockingbird, the software's clarity refinement would have suggested changing: "I never loved to read. One does not love breathing," to "I never loved to read. Breathing is necessary." Does this remove the poetry and depth of the original? The example is somewhat facetious, but it illustrates the effects using such tools can have.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Last post by Porter on October 12, 2023, 08:18:01 PM »85
English & Linguistics / Re: Funny English and Linguistics stuff...
« Last post by Jonathon on October 09, 2023, 02:29:07 PM »
Mouseover text: "My first words were 'These were my first words; what were yours?'"
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« Last post by rivka on October 05, 2023, 10:59:51 AM »87
English & Linguistics / Re: Quotes from work
« Last post by rivka on September 21, 2023, 07:46:05 PM »In a recent listserv discussion about sending term-start emails, there was this gem (as a fantasy, not an actual suggestion):
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Dear Faculty,
The year is about to start. Get your @#!$%! together, read your email and finish your grading on time.
Have a good year.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert
« Last post by rivka on September 11, 2023, 01:48:02 PM »89
English & Linguistics / Re: Dear Expert
« Last post by Tante Shvester on September 11, 2023, 11:11:19 AM » Why is the typeset lowercase "g" so messed up. I can't even draw it.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Word and phrase misuse
« Last post by pooka on August 24, 2023, 12:09:42 AM »Now this guy is saying Diphtheria starts with dif and not dip sounds. Though he also said Alabama borders Arkansas, which is not quite true, and if it were, there's a mile wide river between. (This is the chapter on infectious disease).
"Give him a hand! He's British!"
"Give him a hand! He's British!"