Against “phobia”
There's two uses of this common word: Fear or anxiety of something. Dislike of some group, usually left-wing aligned. The first is the original as it is just the Greek…
Is language dumbing down?
In the media, we can read that political speeches are getting simpler (2013): This kind of article is typically used to bash the current right-wing president if such exists. E.g.,…
Example of how one’s language influences one’s thinking: Calculating with different bases in math
Read this exchange. Calculating in non-base 10 is so very hard, even for bright individuals. However, it has not always been like this. I think that I will rite a…
Quote: Archibald A. Hill (maybe)
"A speaker of the language should be able to pronounce correctly any sequence of letters that he may meet, even if they were previously unknown, and secondarily, to be able…
Worth reading: Mark Twain, “The Awful German Language”
This essay on the german language is definitely worth reading. Especially if one has ever taken a german class as I recently have. I found the text here. I made…
“Stop raping language!”
I love when people use the phrase "Stop raping language!". It's a bloody inconsistent performative.
Semantic Analysis and meaning
Again I'm quoting Paul Ziff's Semantic Analysis: 41. [...] Consequently, if my contention about meaning is correct, then the first 'do' in 'Please do not do it!', unlike the second…
Quote: Paul Ziff
[Discussing the type/token distinction or ambiguity] "I shall not in general try to eliminate these ambiguities by explicitly stating which sense is intended. Sometimes both senses are intended, sometimes not.…
Negating sentences in english
Abstract I invent and explore a terminology about degrees of sentences, I explore how to negate sentences and sentence parts in english, I distinguish between verbs that can be used…
Language, the modal fallacy and the symbolic representation of a conditional
"[W]hat follows from a true premiss must be true" (The Problems of Philosophy, p. 60, link) Wrote Russell as an example of a principle of logic that is more self-evident…