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Meta
Category Archives: language
prosody never travels well
Geoffrey Nunberg alerts us that in Arabic both Iraq and Qatar are accented on the first syllable. I wonder why we got it wrong. (Link from languagehat)
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a marriage of words
Do be-all and end-all always go together? Can something be a be-all but not an end-all, or vice versa?
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the language barrier
Leaving the house today, I heard a neighbor mention to a visitor that he had taken Russian in hi-skool. “So did I!” said I. So he asked: “Kogdá idú?” I remember just enough to know that this means When am … Continue reading
Posted in California, language, me!me!me!
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my favorite example of funny-foreigner-talk
Achille Talon: Le Roi des Zôtres ZOTRTRUPPEN! Mitt eine grosse Köningsdeklaraverdung, ich kanonnert vertradukverlang: Grenadiersoldaat Prumpf nicht mehr mit militär obligazionen verankikineerd ist, und Kolonel der zpezial personnäl Achille I.er Royalenkommando vernommert immediääterdung ist und vier semänen kongépayé kan mitt … Continue reading
Rock Names
Yesterday I picked up a remainder copy of Rock Names from ABBA to ZZ Top: How Rock Bands Got Their Names, by Adam Dolgins. Looking through such a reference, naturally one thinks about what to call one’s own hypothetical band; … Continue reading
Posted in language, music+verse
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it’s right there in black and white
Found in the archives — on 1999 May 20 I wrote: The Examiner today used the phrase “one-month anniversary” at least three times on the front page alone. What’s next? Will monthly magazines be described as “one-month annual”? (What happened … Continue reading
Posted in California, language
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inoculation
John Cowan writes: All transliteration systems for Arabic are shite in one way or another. When T.E. Lawrence was writing Seven Pillars of Wisdom, he made a point of being as inconsistent as possible throughout.
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