Semantics
Semantle! Word/Language Game
Game Description: Each guess must be a word (or short phrase like San Juan or id est). Semantle will tell you how semantically similar it thinks your word is to the secret word. Unlike that other word game, it's not about the spelling; it's about the meaning. The similarity value comes from Word2vec. The highest possible similarity is 100 (indicating that the words are identical and you have won). The lowest in theory is -100, but in practice it's around -34. By "semantically similar", I mean, roughly "used in the context of similar words, in a database of news articles."
FAQ addresses UK spellings of words (thinking about Standard Language Ideology here): The data seems to be normalized to US spelling. Semantle tries to automatically Americanize your spelling (in the cases where only the American version is in the data set). Of course, they probably couldn't normalize some words, like 'biscuit', 'lift', or 'pants', so for those you're on your own.
Why we say "OK"
Play video"How a cheesy joke from the 1830s became the most widely spoken word in the world." A short video about the origin of the word OK and how it rose in popularity.
Languages affect how we physically perceive the world
A recent study has proposed that humans have different ways of perceiving the world around them depending on the language they speak. For example, when native English speakers were asked to describe the taste of bitter-flavored water, responses varied from "bitter, to salty, sour, not bad, plain, mint, like ear wax, medicinal, and so forth." Meanwhile, when Farsi speakers were asked to describe the same drink, it was nearly unanimously "talkh," the Farsi word for bitter.
Some languages are more equipped in describing smells, for instance, than other languages -- and that affects how we, as users of language, perceive the world around us.
[Published on 02-27-2019]
How Technology Has Changed the Meaning of Words
This infographic made by Decluttr, gives examples of how technology has changed the meaning of some words. Technology has progressed at such a rapid rate, that the semantic change of words has also moved at a very fast rate.
New Slang
This article talks about how slang in incorporated with each new generation. We were talking about this in class and this is a little bit more.
Everybody uses singular they, whether they realize it or not
Linguist Geoff Nunberg weighs on in singular they after it was voted 2016 word of the year. [Published on 12-30-2016]
The Doge Meme
Fun Fact: it is the 12 year anniversary of the term doge. An internet famous canine known to many, one of the original meme phenomenons: the "doge." Originating with a picture of perplexed Shiba Inu, this picture was one of the first to get the meme movement going. Somehow, this photo of a dog evolved into the same picture with a smorgasbord of random phrases on it in juvenile neon comic sans font. Phrases such as "very wow" "such fun" "so perplex" "much doge" which are obviously not grammatically correct, nor do they make any sense, but for some reason everybody understands and laughs along. There are countless versions of the doge that apply to any situation, and the use of doge language is still relevant and understood 12 years later. [Published on 02-06-2014]
Latinos Guess Urban Dictionary Terms
Play videoThis video is interesting because it is asking Latinos specifically what they think certain slang words mean that are often used today. The words are slang words that most young adults and teenagers know but a few of the words were aimed at the Latino community. An interesting aspect of the video was that they included slang words related to the presidential race of 2016 and you can see how the Latinos react to certain words or what they assume one might mean.
The Specialized Language of Sports
This is a link to a blog post describing the specialized language of sports. This post highlights the various terminology used in a variety of sports. The author describes some of his favorite terms in both American sports as well as terms used in European countries. He likes these terms for the actual sound the words make when uttered.
Tags: Community of practice, British, French, Portuguese, Italian, Slang, semantics [Published on 08-11-2010]
Who is really “American”?
Play videoPeople from North, South and Central America discuss the use of the term “American” as an identifier by people from the United States. "Americans" have a linguistic ideology about what it means to be one and seem to ignore the fact that it excludes people from all other regions in the Americas.
Linguistic study proves more than 6,000 languages use similar sounds for common words
A study from Cornell recently found that 6000 languages around the world used similar phonemes in words that represent the same thing. The researchers found that words used to describe “nose” are likely to have the sounds “neh” or “oo” in them, and words for “sand” are likely to begin with the “s” sound to name a couple. [Published on 09-13-2016]
Brits And Americans Don't Speak The Same Language In The Kitchen
The Author, a U.K. native moves to the United States. She attempts to make cookies with her child and learns, due cultural disconnect in wordage, she is actually making biscuits. [Published on 10-13-2011]
'Thug Life' and the Effect of Hip-Hop on Language
This audio talks about how hip hop influence today's language. The word "Thug" is discussed and explained how the words meaning has changed over time.
The Semantics of "Literally"
Play videoThis clip from the television show Frasier demonstrates discourse over the semantics of the word "literally".
President Bill Clinton Grand Jury testimony: Meaning of the word "is"
Play videoWhat do words mean? It depends on how you think about it.
Debunking Whorfianism
This powerful message about identifying with Veganism principles shows a correlation between the discrimination of diversity in relation to language and Whorfianism. Marla Rose supports some core ideas from John McWhorter's book "The Language Hoax: Why the World Looks the Same in Any Language". [Published on 02-11-2015]
The US Supreme Court legally defines our words
Play videoThe United States Supreme Court defines the word "marriage" in a legal and social context by defining the "Equal Protection" clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.
Blood Orange
Play videoOur discussion of colors and different names for colors on Thursday reminded me of this popular Project Runway quote.
"Phrenetic Phonetics"
A little comic on how words got their meaning.
The rise of "No" meaning "yes"
Discussing the idiosyncrasy of using "no" to mean "yes" [Published on 04-13-2015]
Can "Y'all" Mean Just One Person?
This blog post explores the idea of the singular "y'all". The post entertains the idea that this form of "y'all" comes from a style-shift used around non-Southerners in an attempt to differentiate themselves and assert their identity (similar to Kara's Jersey vowels being more commonly heard outside of Jersey). [Published on 10-03-2014]
Lexicon of Baltimorese
List of lexical items considered unique to Baltimorese, includes some altered spellings to demonstrate phonological features.
English has a new preposition, because internet
A 2012 post on the "because + noun" construction
XKCD: Cautionary Ghost
An XKCD comic on prescriptivism and the use of "literally" to mean "figuratively."
conflicting definitions of "terrorism"
Describes different definitions of "terrorism" in use by U.S. government agencies, the general U.S. public, and other places.
Girl vs. Woman
A 2013 Harvard Crimson article about the terms "girl" and "woman" as terms of reference.
New England Lexicon
A list of "words unique to New England," compiled by www.worcestermass.com.