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Meta
Category Archives: language
questions of emphasis
In Sherlock episode “The Lying Detective”, the phrase serial killer is uttered many times, always stressing the first word – as if the second were a given, even when (for the speakers) any killings are hypothetical. That impaired my enjoyment of … Continue reading
Posted in cinema, language
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a sort of conlang
I’m re-reading Strugatsky’s Hard to Be a God. (I read it thirty-odd years ago and forgot nearly everything.) This is a newer translation, by Olena Bormashenko. At one point the protagonist eavesdrops on conspirators, who say: “The chonted will shlake, … Continue reading
Posted in language, prose
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the death of English, part MMXVII
Here: Like much of the news that ekes its way out of the totalitarian state, the murder is equal parts scary, sad, and vaguely comical. I don’t think I had seen this extension of eke before. Once upon a time, … Continue reading
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pseudohistorical linguistics
I can’t remember how much I knew of Elvish languages before The Silmarillion, with a glossary, appeared in 1978. Can you tell from the text of The Lord of the Rings (not counting the Appendices) that Quenya and Sindarin are … Continue reading
Posted in fandom, language, prose
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place-names and personal-names
In my county there’s a village named Van —–. I think that if my name had a Van or equivalent, and someone proposed to name a town for me, I’d prefer they drop the particle. On another hand, Jan van … Continue reading
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limited voice recognition?
When I answer the ’phone, I generally say either “Yes?” or “Good day/evening, Sherwoods” rather than “Hello.” With cold-callers I often don’t get a response to that; I pause and try a variation or two of “Is someone there?” before … Continue reading
Posted in language, spam, technology
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a shifting role
The original Nikita (1990) and the American remake Point of No Return (1993) had a minor character called Victor the Cleaner — played by Jean Reno and Harvey Keitel respectively — whose specialty was making evidence, such as bodies, disappear. … Continue reading
Posted in cinema, language
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