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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by Tante Shvester on December 01, 2023, 12:23:43 PM »What is the opposite of contraband? Proband?
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by Jonathon on November 29, 2023, 08:04:46 AM »Huh indeed.
From the Online Etymology Dictionary
Quote
On old manuscripts, "descent" was indicated by a forked sign resembling the branching lines of a genealogical chart; the sign also happened to look like a bird's footprint. On this theory the form was influenced in Middle English by association with degree. This explanation dates back to Skeat and Sweet in the late 1800s. The word obviously is of French origin, and pied de gru is the only Old French term answering to the earliest English forms, but this sense is not attested in Old French (Modern French pédigree is from English). Perhaps it was a fanciful extension developed in Anglo-French. Other explanations are considered untenable.
From the Online Etymology Dictionary
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by rivka on November 28, 2023, 05:21:37 PM »Huh.
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English & Linguistics / Re: The random etymology of the day
« Last post by Tante Shvester on November 28, 2023, 04:58:49 PM »I was thinking about pedigree, and whether the "ped" part was like the food "ped" or the child "pedo", and figuring that it was probably the latter, because of genealogy, but it turns out it as actually the former and pedigree comes from the French "pied de gru" (crane's foot).
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« Last post by Jonathon on November 02, 2023, 08:54:28 AM »I actually wrote a chapter last year on editors and dictionaries for an edited volume that's coming out next year, and I briefly discussed spellcheckers. I didn't do a super-deep dive into the literature, but I found surprisingly little on that specific topic, so my guess is that nobody's really done any research in that area.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« Last post by rivka on November 01, 2023, 03:51:41 PM »I did a ProQuest search and was unable to find anything. I found a few that were about using Word (sometimes with another option as a comparison) as a method to teach various groups of students writing skills and the like.
So either it hasn't been done, or my ProQuest search skills are lacking. Probably both.
So either it hasn't been done, or my ProQuest search skills are lacking. Probably both.
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English & Linguistics / Re: Interesting language stuff
« Last post by Jonathon on November 01, 2023, 01:22:27 PM »Definitely.
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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
Quote
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.