Linguistically Speaking

Linguist's humour

si1ja — 2009-06-09T10:47:00Z

Verbing weirds language - but it also funs it!

Teacher's Humour

si1ja — 2009-06-07T12:40:00Z

A curvaceous young phoneme called schwa
Said "I never feel strong. It's bizarre!
I'm retired and meek
And I always sound weak
But in frequency counts - I'm the star!"

ebonics

si1ja — 2009-06-01T16:44:00Z

love this!

How to Make a Swan

barbara... — 2009-05-31T09:51:00Z

To study the staging of an "Ugly Duckling to Beautiful Swan" transformation:

Susan Boyle in "Britain's Got Talent"
(Embedding unfortunately disabled)

(Again, works with students, too)

The right way to teach phonetics

si1ja — 2009-03-15T15:09:00Z

"The mill-wright on my right thinks it right that some conventional rite should symbolize the right of every man to write as he pleases" (Lashley, 1951).

Bilder, die lügen

barbara... — 2009-03-08T16:28:00Z

Retouchiertes Titelbild,

eindrücklich und schultauglich.

Happy New Year!

si1ja — 2009-01-04T11:02:00Z

Can you spot the celebrity?
Imagine the Bundesrat doing this - especially the holding hands part! ;-)

The Purist

si1ja — 2008-12-11T15:41:00Z

I give you now Professor Twist,
A conscientious scientist,
Trustees exclaimed, "He never bungles!"
And sent him off to distant jungles.
Camped on a tropic riverside,
One day he missed his loving bride.
She had, the guide informed him later,
Been eaten by an alligator.
Professor Twist could not but smile.
"You mean," he said, "a crocodile."

-- Ogden Nash

Reflections on Ice-Breaking

si1ja — 2008-12-11T11:52:00Z

Candy
Is Dandy
But liquor
Is quicker.

-- Ogden Nash

tholethithm

si1ja — 2008-11-30T08:21:00Z

"Nothingth changed!" he yelled. "By God, Thally, you're the meaneth, thtubborneth, bitchieth, mule-headedeth, vengefulleth cold-blooded therpent in the Thate of Vermont." (John Gardner, October Light)

What a pretty poem!

si1ja — 2008-10-05T09:11:00Z

obviously they don't

si1ja — 2008-10-01T08:12:00Z

An Orange!

si1ja — 2008-09-24T07:02:00Z

Good advice is rarer than rubies

si1ja — 2008-09-04T15:58:00Z

"Por favor no tomen licor hasta emborracharse. Se ven feos como esos indios que no tienen educación, ni pasado, ni futuro. Recuerden que estan representando a su país y a Popayán. [...]
Mis buenos hijos: bien juiciosos. No gritan. Dejan la cama tendida y la ropa recojida. Saludan. Se bañan y dicen gracias."

(from a letter by my host mother to me and other exchange students in Colombia in 1996)

Intellectual Love Story

si1ja — 2008-08-15T13:08:00Z

N: Yeah we met again /
C: Ah yeah this was the halloween _
N: halloween party _
C: I I never had a costume or so no //
I had like .. bin bags wrapped around me /
N: @@ <@ he was dressed up as .. the bin @> _
C: I I was like I was in my uh flat and they all all my flatmates had costumes /
and then they going and I never had one //
I was in my bed /
so I just got these .. bin bags and wrapped them around me you know /
just so I didn't like stick out /
cause everyone was dressed and I looked like the --
you know the the one who .. didn't want to join in /
you know /
So I put these bin bags around me and stuff and eh: --
she came in [later because] --
N: [because I] thought he was so interesting //
because of these theories about the abject @ and everything /
C: = yeah she [thought ... I was doing this in]tentionally \
N: <@ [I thought he was dressed up as the bin] @> @@ /
C: that I was making a statement \
you know /
but really I just didn't because I .. I never had a costume \