Is language a straight-jacket for thought?

To have another language is to possess a second soul.  Charlemagne

 

Language shapes the way we think, and determines what we can think about. Benjamin Lee Whorf

 

Infants are born with a language-independent system for thinking about objects. These concepts give meaning to the words they learn later. Elizabeth Spelke, a professor of psychology at Harvard

 

 

As we can see from the Charlemagne quote above, the notion that the language we speak somehow channels our thoughts goes back a long way. It clearly informed George Orwell when he created his fictional language Newspeak, the only language in the world whose vocabulary gets smaller every year. The rationale of Newspeak is if something can’t be said, it can’t be thought. Thus you can remove ideas such as freedom, rights and rebellion.

 

Newspeak seems to have been influenced by the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, which Wikipedia is “the idea that the varying cultural concepts and categories inherent in different languages affect the cognitive classification of the experienced world in such a way that speakers of different languages think and behave differently because of it.” This is a tantalising thought but is it really true? I am very sceptical; it seems to have causation in the wrong way. I am more convinced by the argument that concepts precede vocabulary.

 

What is clear is that different languages express things differently. But does that mean some thoughts can only be expressed in one language? Is it possible to have thoughts in one language that can’t be translated into another? I am a big fan of the quirks of language. A while back I did a piece on untranslatable words and they are a lot of fun. The Japanese have one word, kyoikumama: for a mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement and the Germans have backpfeifengesicht: for a face that cries out for a fist in it. Does the lack of one-word English equivalents mean that English speakers are incapable of recognising these concepts? In Spanish you haves conocer and saber where in English you only have know. Does this mean that Spanish speakers are somehow more attuned to the difference between knowing a person and knowing a fact than English speakers are.

 

A lot of the evidence in this debate comes from analysis of tribal languages such as Hopi, a Uto-Aztecan language spoken in north-eastern Arizona, USA. I am not a professional linguist so it can be a bit difficult to analyse the conclusions that the opposing sides come to. A lot of the motivation behind Whorf’s studies was to demonstrate that indigenous peoples were not “primitive.” And studies of tribal languages have shown that they are incredibly complex. But Whorf wanted to overcompensate. His description of Hopi seems to be trying to show that the Hopi language existed on a higher plane of thinking. Whorf also appear to have got the grammar wrong when he claimed that the Hopi had no words or grammar that refer to past or future time. But it appears that Hopi does have time markers.

 

Another tribal language that has come under the spotlight is Pirahã, an Amazonian language. This language has no words for numbers. They are incapable of performing even the most basic mathematical operation. This is said to be because their language has no words for number, they are prevented from doing maths. A more logical explanation is that it is the lack of need which explains both the lack of counting ability and the lack of corresponding vocabulary.

 

Some people say that they feel like a different person when they speak another language. I can’t say I have ever had that feeling. I wouldn’t want to say that language has no influence on our thinking but it is greatly exaggerated.

Put-pocketing and other new words

Here is a selection of new words I found on the Wordspy website:

 

put-pocketing

Putting an object into a person’s pocket without that person knowing it. Also: putpocketing.

 

mumblecore

An independent film genre characterized by low-budget production values, unknown actors, and a constant stream of low-key, semi-improvised dialogue.

 

digital nomad

A person who uses technology, particularly wireless networking, to work without requiring an office or other fixed address.

 

YIMBY

A person who favours a project that would add a dangerous or unpleasant feature to his or her neighbourhood. [Acronym from the phrase yes in my back yard.]

 

SPF creep

The gradual increase in sun protection factor (SPF) numbers in sunscreens and some cosmetic products.  In the US they now have SPF 100. Is this advanced protection…or advanced hype?

 

frequency illusion

The tendency to notice instances of a particular phenomenon once one starts to look for it, and to therefore believe erroneously that the phenomenon occurs frequently.

Illusion, to use the term coined by linguist A

 

intexticated

Preoccupied by reading or sending text messages, particularly while driving a car.

 

Wikipedia kid

A student who has poor research skills and lacks the ability to think critically.

 

carrotmob

An event where people support an environmentally-friendly store by gathering en masse to purchase the store’s products. Also: carrot mob.

Dan Brown’s 20 worst sentences

This week Dan Brown’s new novel The Lost Symbol came out and the Telegraph celebrated with a piece about Brown’s 20 worst sentences. The critics do not share the public’s enthusiasm. The article quotes Edinburgh professor of linguistics Geoffrey Pullum says “Brown’s writing is not just bad; it is staggeringly, clumsily, thoughtlessly, almost ingeniously bad.”  I’m sure the author won’t be too bothered and I have to confess I shall be one of those reading it. Anyway, here is the Telegraph’s top 20 with comments:

 

20. Angels and Demons, chapter 1: Although not overly handsome in a classical sense, the forty-year-old Langdon had what his female colleagues referred to as an ‘erudite’ appeal — wisp of gray in his thick brown hair, probing blue eyes, an arrestingly deep voice, and the strong, carefree smile of a collegiate athlete. They say the first rule of fiction is “show, don’t tell”. This fails that rule.

 

19. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 83: “The Knights Templar were warriors,” Teabing reminded, the sound of his aluminum crutches echoing in this reverberant space. “Remind” is a transitive verb – you need to remind someone of something. You can’t just remind. And if the crutches echo, we know the space is reverberant.

 

18. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: He could taste the familiar tang of museum air – an arid, deionized essence that carried a faint hint of carbon – the product of industrial, coal-filter dehumidifiers that ran around the clock to counteract the corrosive carbon dioxide exhaled by visitors. Ah, that familiar tang of deionised essence.

 

17. Deception Point, chapter 8: Overhanging her precarious body was a jaundiced face whose skin resembled a sheet of parchment paper punctured by two emotionless eyes. It’s not clear what Brown thinks ‘precarious’ means here.

 

16. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: A voice spoke, chillingly close. “Do not move.” On his hands and knees, the curator froze, turning his head slowly. Only fifteen feet away, outside the sealed gate, the mountainous silhouette of his attacker stared through the iron bars. He was broad and tall, with ghost-pale skin and thinning white hair. His irises were pink with dark red pupils. A silhouette with white hair and pink irises stood chillingly close but 15 feet away. What’s wrong with this picture?

 

15. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: As a boy, Langdon had fallen down an abandoned well shaft and almost died treading water in the narrow space for hours before being rescued. Since then, he’d suffered a haunting phobia of enclosed spaces – elevators, subways, squash courts. Other enclosed spaces include toilet cubicles, phone boxes and dog kennels.

 

14. Angels and Demons, chapter 100: Bernini’s Fountain of the Four Rivers glorified the four major rivers of the Old World – The Nile, Ganges, Danube, and Rio Plata. The Rio de la Plata. Between Argentina and Paraguay. One of the major rivers of the Old World. Apparently.

 

The Da Vinci Code, chapter 5: Only those with a keen eye would notice his 14-karat gold bishop’s ring with purple amethyst, large diamonds, and hand-tooled mitre-crozier appliqué. A keen eye indeed.

 

13 and 12. The Lost Symbol, chapter 1: He was sitting all alone in the enormous cabin of a Falcon 2000EX corporate jet as it bounced its way through turbulence. In the background, the dual Pratt & Whitney engines hummed evenly.  The Da Vinci Code, chapter 17: Yanking his Manurhin MR-93 revolver from his shoulder holster, the captain dashed out of the office. Oh – the Falcon 2000EX with the Pratt & Whitneys? And the Manurhin MR-93? Not the MR-92? You’re sure? Thanks.

 

11. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: Captain Bezu Fache carried himself like an angry ox, with his wide shoulders thrown back and his chin tucked hard into his chest. His dark hair was slicked back with oil, accentuating an arrow-like widow’s peak that divided his jutting brow and preceded him like the prow of a battleship. As he advanced, his dark eyes seemed to scorch the earth before him, radiating a fiery clarity that forecast his reputation for unblinking severity in all matters. Do angry oxen carry throw their shoulders back and tuck their chins into their chest? What precisely is a fiery clarity and how does it forecast anything? Once again, it is not clear whether Brown knows what ‘forecast’ means.

 

10. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 4: Five months ago, the kaleidoscope of power had been shaken, and Aringarosa was still reeling from the blow. Did they hit him with the kaleidoscope?

 

9. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 32: The vehicle was easily the smallest car Langdon had ever seen. “SmartCar,” she said. “A hundred kilometers to the liter.” Pro tip: when fleeing from the police, take a moment to boast about your getaway vehicle’s fuel efficiency. And get it wrong by a factor of five. SmartCars do about 20km (12 miles) to the litre.

 

8. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 3: My French stinks, Langdon thought, but my zodiac iconography is pretty good.

And they say the schools are dumbing down.

 

7 and 6. The Da Vinci Code, chapter 33: Pulling back the sleeve of his jacket, he checked his watch – a vintage, collector’s-edition Mickey Mouse wristwatch that had been a gift from his parents on his tenth birthday.

The Da Vinci Code, chapter 6: His last correspondence from Vittoria had been in December – a postcard saying she was headed to the Java Sea to continue her research in entanglement physics… something about using satellites to track manta ray migrations. In the words of Professor Pullum: “It has the ring of utter ineptitude. The details have no relevance to what is being narrated.”

 

5. Angels and Demons, chapter 4: learning the ropes in the trenches. Learning the ropes (of a naval ship) while in the trenches (with the army in the First World War). It’s a military education, certainly.

 

4, 3, and 2. The Da Vinci Code, opening sentence: Renowned curator Jacques Saunière staggered through the vaulted archway of the museum’s Grand Gallery.

Angels and Demons, opening sentence: Physicist Leonardo Vetra smelled burning flesh, and he knew it was his own.

Deception Point, opening sentences: Death, in this forsaken place, could come in countless forms. Geologist Charles Brophy had endured the savage splendor of this terrain for years, and yet nothing could prepare him for a fate as barbarous and unnatural as the one about to befall him. Professor Pullum: “Renowned author Dan Brown staggered through his formulaic opening sentence”.

 

1. The Da Vinci Code: Title. The Da Vinci Code. Leonardo’s surname was not Da Vinci. He was from Vinci, or of Vinci. As many critics have pointed out, calling it The Da Vinci Code is like saying Mr Of Arabia or asking What Would Of Nazareth Do?

Swearing: a guide

But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King.  Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black. But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.  King James Bible, Matthew 5:34-37:

 

…there is one word that is still beyond the pale. The concept it embodies is so revolting that the publication or broadcast of the word is utterly forbidden in all parts of the Galaxy except one, where they don’t know what it means. That word is Belgium. From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.

 

Some guy hit my fender the other day, and I said unto him “be fruitful and multiply. But not in those words. Woody Allen

 

We all swear a lot during our lives — it’s almost from the cradle to the grave. According to research by psychologist Timothy Jay, we swear on average from 0.3% to 0.7% of the time we engage in speaking. This may not seem much but frequently used personal pronouns occur at approximately 1.0% rate in speech). Men do it more than women. People with Type A personalities (A temperament marked by excessive competitiveness and ambition, an obsession with accomplishing tasks quickly, little time for self-reflection, and a strong need to control situations.) Swearing is not just for the uneducated or people of a lower socio-economic class; it cuts through these divisions.

 

There is something fascinating about bad language. I can still remember when I was 13 and one of my classmates brought in a dictionary that specialised in naughty French words – it was the only time we took a serious interest in the subject. Swearing is a fundamental part of language. There is a theory known as the “poo-poo theory” which argues that speech arose through people making instinctive, automatic sounds in response to pain, hunger, danger, etc. there is something very basic about swearing. Science has shown that the brain processes swearing in the lower regions, along with emotion and instinct and brain-damaged patients who are incapable of articulate speech often retain the ability to curse like sailors.

 

In his book The Stuff of Thought Steven Pinker lists five functions of swearing:

Dysphemistic swearing – Exact opposite of euphemism. Forces listener to think about negative or provocative matter. Using the wrong euphemism has a dysphemistic effect. (Example: He fucks her!)

Abusive swearing – for abuse or intimidation or insulting of others (Example: You motherfucking son of a bitch! Fuck you asshole)

Idiomatic swearing – swearing without really referring to the matter.. just using the words to arouse interest, to show off, and express to peers that the setting is informal. (Example: Fuck, man.)

Emphatic swearing – to emphasize something with swearing. (Example: It was so fucking big!)

Cathartic swearing – when something bad happens like coffee spilling, people curse. One evolutionary theory asserts it is meant to tell the audience that you’re undergoing a negative emotion[citation needed]. (Example: Aww, fuck!, Damn this coffee)

 

He also lists these five sources of swearing:

The Supernatural – Evokes emotions of awe & fear. (Examples: damn, hell, Christ)

Bodily effluvia & organs – Evokes disgust, since effluvia are major disease vectors. (Examples: shit, piss, asshole)

Disease, Death, & Infirmity – Evokes dread, fear of death or disability. These are words which are normally avoided or treated euphemistically. (Examples: A pox on you!, A plague on both your houses!)

Sexuality – Evokes images of revulsion at depravity. Profanity of a sexual nature conjures images of illegitimate or exploitive sexuality, jealousy, etc. (Examples: fuck, cunt, prick)

Disfavoured people or groups – Evokes hatred and contempt. Such groups include infidels, the disabled, enemies, or subordinated groups. (Examples:, gimp, fatso, fag, kiner , kike, kafkar, nigger, cracker, coon, raghead, niglet, chink, golly, wog, gollywog)

 

Most languages have a hierarchy of swearing, some things are more offensive than others. It’s something we have to learn as we grow up. We need to know in what company we can say what word. These things are different depending on the time and place. In a more secular world something like Damn you! is pretty mild. But when the prospect of hell was more real it was much more powerful. Pinker provides a modern version of what it would have felt like to be damned with this contemporary equivalent:

 

“I hope you are convicted of tax fraud and sentenced to twenty years in prison. I hope your cell is hot and humid and is crawling with roaches and reeks of urine and excrement. I hope you have three vicious cellmates who beat and sodomize you every night”:

 

Place is also important. For foreigners this can be tough. I remember Michael Swan in his Practical English Usage had a whole list of phrases and he would then put asterisks by them depending on their seriousness. Hell had one asterisk; cunt came in with five. This is very different to Spanish where coño is very mild. I know you hear those things like Japanese has no swearwords but I am a bit sceptical of this.

 

Swearing does have its uses. It can be very cathartic, allowing us to get rid of feelings of anger and frustration, and it is certainly better than resorting to physical violence. But we should not forget its ugly side because it can be a form of aggression. When it is used intelligently I am a big fan but too often it is used in a lazy way. There are some people who can only express themselves using expletives. I find it very off-putting. I am against censorship but we should be aware of the effect it can have on listeners. Language is a wonderful tool – we need to use all its possibilities.

The origins of human language

I found this list on the Internet; you may have seen it before. It looks at the different theories about the origins of language: How did we get from animal vocalization to human language? Here they are:

 

1. The mama theory.  Language began with the easiest syllables attached to the most significant objects.

 

2.  The ta-ta theory.  Sir Richard Paget, influenced by Darwin, believed that body movement preceded language.  Language began as an unconscious vocal imitation of these movements — like the way a child’s mouth will move when they use scissors, or my tongue sticks out when I try to play the guitar.  This evolved into the popular idea that language may have derived from gestures.

 

3.  The bow-wow theory.  Language began as imitations of natural sounds — moo, choo-choo, crash, clang, buzz, bang, meow…  This is more technically refered to as onomatopoeia or echoism.

 

4.  The pooh-pooh theory.  Language began with interjections, instinctive emotive cries such as oh! for surprise and ouch! for pain.

 

5.  The ding-dong theory.  Some people, including the famous linguist Max Muller, have pointed out that there is a rather mysterious correspondence between sounds and meanings.  Small, sharp, high things tend to have words with high front vowels in many languages, while big, round, low things tend to have round back vowels!  Compare itsy bitsy teeny weeny with moon, for example.  This is often referred to as sound symbolism.

 

6.  The yo-he-ho theory.  Language began as rhythmic chants, perhaps ultimately from the grunts of heavy work (heave-ho!).  The linguist A. S. Diamond suggests that these were perhaps calls for assistance or cooperation accompanied by appropriate gestures.  This may relate yo-he-ho to the ding-dong theory, as in such words as cut, break, crush, strike…

 

7.  The sing-song theory.  Danish linguist Jesperson suggested that language comes out of play, laughter, cooing, courtship, emotional mutterings and the like.  He even suggests that, contrary to other theories, perhaps some of our first words were actually long and musical, rather than the short grunts many assume we started with.

 

8.  The hey you! theory.  A linguist by the name of Revesz suggested that we have always needed interpersonal contact, and that language began as sounds to signal both identity (here I am!) and belonging (I’m with you!).  We may also cry out in fear, anger, or hurt (help me!).  This is more commonly called the contact theory.

 

9.  The eureka! theory.  And finally, perhaps language was consciously invented.  Perhaps some ancestor had the idea of assigning arbitrary sounds to mean certain things.  Clearly, once the idea was had, it would catch on like wild-fire!

To kettle and other new words

The other day I heard a report about the demonstrations at the G20 meeting mention something about a kettle. I didn’t that the police and the demonstrators were having a cuppa together so I went to the Wordspy website and had a look. It came up with an excellent explanation along with some other new words:

 

kettle

To manoeuvre protesters into a small area using a cordon of police personnel and vehicles.

 

ubi-comp

A computing model in which information technology is pervasively and seamlessly integrated into the objects and activities that people use in their daily lives. [From ubiquitous computing.]

 

zombie bank

A bank that cannot lend money because its liabilities are greater than its assets, but remains in business thanks to government support.

 

sexting

Sending a salacious text message. [Blend of sex and texting.]

 

torch-and-pitchfork

Adjective relating to an angry, unruly mob, particularly one seeking vengeance.

 

Twitterverse

The Twitter social networking service and the people who use it. Also: twitterverse, Twitter-verse. [Blend of Twitter and universe.]

 

wedsite

A website where a couple posts information about their upcoming or recent wedding. Also: wed-site, wed site. [Blend of wedding and website.]

 

ghost call

A silent phone call received from a person who has inadvertently dialled or selected the number on their mobile phone.

 

flashpacker

A backpacker who travels in style. Also: flash-packer. [Blend of flash and backpacker.]

 

niche dating

Dating people based on a single characteristic, or on a very limited set of characteristics.

 

crowd mining

Extracting useful knowledge from large databases of social information.

 

prebituary

An obituary composed or published prior to a person’s death; a prediction of failure, particularly of a political candidate.

Ignorance, narcissism, stupidity, hypocrisy and bad grammar

In last week’s Observer David Mitchell cited this blog It features a hilarious collection of ignorance, narcissism, stupidity, hypocrisy and bad grammar taken from the Have Your Say section of the BBC website. Here is a selection:

 

A military muslim interpretor, or translator makes the same money in one year that a contract security guard does in ten years. I think you see the incentive the military muslim interpretors, and translators have in keeping any lucrative muslim/ Christian conflict going-

 

The way the BBC go on about Obama you’d think he was standing as a candiate for PM of Britain, not President of the US. Where’s all your coverage of John McCain? Oh, he doesn’t fit the PC agenda does he. White man for US President doesn’t have the same multiculti ring as Half Black-Half Muslim for US President does it?

 

the best way to deal with knife crime in the UK is to invent a time machine and go back to the 1950’s and prevent them from allowing mass immigration. Sorry if people find that offensive but look at the statistics for who carry out most of these crimes, it’s not the indigenous white population is it?

 

Many here claim that gays are born that way! Let’s for a moment accept that. In a few years or many years later the following say that they’re born that way and are God’s children too:

Murderers, serial killers, mass murderers

Rapists, serial rapists, gang rapists

Paedophiles

Necrophiliacs

People indulging in bestiality

WHERE DOES humanity draw a line? Or is it just a case of ‘enough’ people of a particular type getting together and demanding acceptance from the majority? Tell me!

 

(Writing about “Doctor Who.) The doctor dies and returns as a black, gay, transexual, vertically challanged, doctor who has recently converted to Islam. Well I’m sure that’s how the pc BBC would really like it.

 

Iran and Syria are laughing at the world and so impressed with the liberal media and Hamas fighting their battle for them. Liberals and the liberal media are happy to insure the obliteration of Israel and the rise of Hamas and terror in the world. Wait till Hamas comes to your neighborhood, but don’t cry for hep.

 

There isn’t a shred of credible scientific evidence to support the idea that species evolve into other species. There is no plausible theory as to how life/matter/energy came to be out of nothing. Evolution is as scientifically unproven as creationism or any other “ism”. It is interesting to consider all the theories but it is time to stop the presenting evolution as “scientific fact”.

 

(On Michael Crichton’s death.) Its a strange world where a man who created so much pleasure for others writing medical fiction is struck down by cancer at a ridiculously early age. Makes no sense.

 

Marriage is, and always has been, a religious belief. Their marriage doesn’t effect my marriage. It does, however, take the societies moral scale and lower it another notch. Eventually the liberal left will be fully in support rampant free sex anywhere with anyone.

 

the only way that knife crime will be stopped is by hanging those who kill. There is no other way to control this. If these killers are standing over the trapdoor on the scaffold they would then know fear. At the moment there are no deterents and there are no judges that are prepared to put these thugs away for life and mean it. Young people need boundaries and need to have consequences there are none in our society now, l

 

I think most of the info in online maps is not accurate and correct. If I am wrong, than why dont they track Osama and other Alqada hide outs.

 

I haven’t heard any really good jokes lately – Political Correctness has killed them all.

 

It high time the UK people woke up and got rid of this Labour Goverment. There policy is spend spend , as they did in 1970. I really feel sorry for you UK people , because there will be no day light from this mess for ever. The UK will end up a third world country and will now have main problems to face from letting so main people arrive . I left the UK 3 years ago, what i once called my home and moved to Spain. I now have Spanish passport and given my Uk passport . I wish you all the best

 

Even though I am law abiding I find that my attitude to the Police has changed over the last decade or so. I now actually avoid and fear the police in case any interaction leads them to decide that they need to sample my DNA and add it to their database. When they have your DNA it’s creepy – almost like they can read your sole.

 

The lack of moral fibre at the BBC is a symptom of todays sick and vile society. Whatever happened to good, honest broadcasting? I for one do not want to see genetalia on my radio!

 

when I were a lad and we had weather WORSE than this, we were made to stand in front of our desks and jump up and down to get warm – the bottles of free school milk would be frozen

 

I find it frightening that a character was seen injecting alcohol into an orange. I feel that this could give ideas to terrorists about how to poison fruit.

 

Steve Wright said the temperature was 23 degrees Celsius. He should have said 78 degrees Fahrenheit, which I consider English.

 

this experiment is a complete waste of time. we cannot destroy the whole earth, only God can.

 

Why was this ‘built’ underground? Simple, it does not exist. It’s a big con. It’s the same reason India/Pakistan allegedly conducted nuclear explosions underground simply because they never happened in the first place. Why? Because nuclear bombs don’t exist and they never have existed. FACT! Hollywood and the people behind Hollywood (the rich elite race) came up with the propoganda to fool the ‘Sheople’. They’ll keep taking your money though to fund their lavish lifestyles.

 

Murder is murder and should be punishable by life in a proper jail, not the 5 star hotels they are kept in now. Anyone committing murder is scum and has no right to enjoyable life, the person they killed doesn’t get a second chance at life so neither should these people. No rehab, no time off for good behaviour, no privileges, just sit in a conrete cell until death because that’s what is deserved.

 

My husband has been trying to get into teacherrs training for 3 years now, there seems to be a brick wall at every turn, to be quite honest i think it is because they are looking for more enthnic minorities in our area rather than the educated working class white.

 

Gossip: a natural history

Show me someone who never gossips, and I’ll show you someone who isn’t interested in people. Barbara Walters

Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people.  This has sometimes been attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, but without a definite citation.

The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.  Oscar Wilde

No one gossips about other people’s secret virtues.  Bertrand Russell

If you can’t say something good about someone, sit right here by me. Mrs. Alice Roosevelt Longworth

 

Gossip is all around us. And I don’t just mean housewives chitchatting outside the supermarket, tabloid sex scandals or those awful programmes about celebrities on TV. If you could overhear a group of academics chatting in the staff room, chances are that they would be gossiping about their colleagues rather than discussing the latest research findings or the meaning of life. We are gossip machines. Academic research on conversations show that about two thirds of our conversation time is dedicated to social gossip. This has been replicated throughout the world in many different cultures

       Gossip has not generally had a good press. St. Paul called it a sin against charity. We know about its negative connotations but we enjoy participating in this group nastiness. Many people say that all history is basically well told gossip and it is undoubtedly an important weapon of political power. Does it survive because we get pleasure from scurrilous rumours or does it actually serve a purpose?

        Our prehistoric ancestors lived in relatively small communities where they knew everyone else face-to-face. They had to cooperate in order to protect themselves against external groups. But they also had to compete for limited resources within their own group. Living under such conditions, it was important to be able to distinguish between a reliable exchange partner and a free rider, find a good mate, and navigate friendships, alliances and family relationships. People who were fascinated with the lives of others would enjoy more success, and it is their genes that have come down to us through the ages. It was those individuals who possessed the ability to evaluate the temperament, predictability and past behaviour of individuals who are personally known to you that had an evolutionary payoff rather than those who were capable of abstract statistical thinking about large numbers of unknown strangers.

What is the function of gossip? If you look on Wikipedia, you will find a list of functions that gossip performs:

1. normalise and reinforce moral boundaries in a speech-community
2. foster and build a sense of community with shared interests and information
3. build structures of social accountability
4. further mutual social grooming (like many other uses of language, only more so)
5. provide a mating tool that allows (for example) women to mutually identify socially desirable men and compare notes on which men are better than others.
6. be used as a form of passive aggression, as a tool to isolate and harm others
7. provide a peer-to-peer mechanism for disseminating information in organizations.

We seek the type of information that will influence our social standing relative to others. We have a predisposition towards negative news about high-status people and potential rivals because we can exploit this to improve our relative position. We also prefer gossip about members of our own sex and age because they are our natural evolutionary competitors.

 We have this prehistoric mental equipment with which we have to deal with the modern world. Modern technology has completely revolutionised gossip. Gossip has moved away from its local roots to be about people we have never met. Our minds are being bombarded with  this macrogossip and our brains seem incapable of distinguishing between these celebrities and people who really have an impact on our lives. In a fast-moving  somewhat impersonal industrial society, celebrities have become our ersatz friends and acquaintances. They provide a common interest and topic of conversation between neighbours and co-workers, people who otherwise might have little to say to one another.

I have to say that this recent exponential growth of celebrities has passed me by. I can enjoy gossip but in very small doses. I can’t stand those sycophantic Hello stories – The Duke and Duchess of York Grant Us the Most Personal of Interviews and for the First Time Ever Throw Open the Doors of Their Home and Invite Us to Share Their Intimate Family Moments. Pass the sick-bag, please! (In fact there is a phenomenon, known as “the curse of Hello!” – a curse so powerful that the minute a couple appears in Hello!, especially if they are talking about how blissfully happy they are, divorce is inevitable.) I want real scandal, preferably with a bit of sex thrown in.

       There is nothing per se wrong with gossip; it depends on the intention behind it. However I do dislike that censorious gossip particularly that which seeks to condemn other people’s sexual mores. I think that it’s bad but that doesn’t mean I will be able to control my natural curiosity to find out more about the scandal. So the next time you find yourself attracted to some inane story about Paris Hilton or David Beckham, relax and enjoy this guilty pleasure. It’s what makes us human.

Untranslatable words

I’ve always loved words like Schadenfreude (for those of you who don’t know, it means delight in another person’s misfortune) which don’t have a simple equivalent in English. Here is a list I have compiled from different websites. I can’t vouch for the accuracy of these translations so if anyone sees any inaccuracies, feel free to suggest corrections.

 

Areodjarekput: To exchange wives for a few days only (Inuit)

Attaccabottoni: A bore who buttonholes people and tells sad, pointless stories. (Italian)

Backpfeifengesicht: A face that cries out for a fist in it. (German)

Bakku-shan: A girl who appears pretty from behind but not from the front. (Japanese)

Buaya darat: A man who fools women into thinking he’s a very faithful lover when in fact he goes out with many different women at the same time – literally, a land crocodile. (Indonesian)

Chaponner: To investigate digitally a chicken’s rear end to see if an egg is about to be laid (French)

Embasan: To wear clothes while taking a bath. (The Maguindanaon language of the Philippines)

Fensterln: for climbing through a window to avoid someone’s parents so you can have sex without them knowing. (German)

Gigi rongak: The space between the teeth. (Malaysian)

Ikibari:  A “lively needle” and describing a man who is willing but under-endowed. (Japanese)

Iktsuarpok:To go outside to check if anyone is coming. (Inuit)

Ilunga: A person who is ready to forgive any transgression a first time and then to tolerate it for a second time, but never for a third time. (The Tshiluba language of the Republic of Congo.)

Jayus: From Indonesian, meaning a joke so poorly told and so unfunny that one cannot help but laugh.

Kanjus Makkhichus: someone so tight that if a fly falls into their tea they’ll fish it out and suck it dry before throwing it away. (Hindi)

Katahara itai: The action of laughing so much that one side of your abdomen hurts. (Japanese)

Korinthenkacker:  A “raisin pooper” — that is, someone so taken up with life’s trivial detail that they spend all day crapping raisins. (German)

Kyoikumama: A mother who relentlessly pushes her children toward academic achievement. (Japanese)

Lalew: To grieve so much you can’t eat. (Filipino)

Mamihlapinatapei:  A wordless yet meaningful look shared by two people who both desire to initiate something but are both reluctant to start. (Yagan, the indigenous language of the Tierra del Fuego region of South America.)

Momma ko ene: Having red eyes from crying over your boyfriend marrying someone else. (Cheyenne)

Nakhur: A camel that won’t give milk until her nostrils are tickled. (Persian)

Nakkele: a man who licks whatever the food has been served on (Tulu).

Nito-onna: A woman so dedicated to her career that she has no time to iron blouses and so resorts to dressing only in knitted tops. (Japanese)

Oka-shete: Waterworks difficulties engendered by eating frogs out of season. (Ndonga language, Namibia)

Okuri-oka-mi: A man who feigns thoughtfulness by offering to see a girl home only to molest her on her own doorstep – literally, a “see-you-home wolf” (Japanese)

Pana po’o: To scratch your head in order to remember something (Hawaiian)

Pesamentiero: Someone who habitually joins mourners at the homes of the deceased to get at the free refreshments. (Portuguese) 

Pisan zapra: The time needed to eat a banana. (Malay)

Poronkusema: The distance a reindeer can travel without taking a comfort break.

Prozvonit:  To call a mobile phone only to have it ring once so that the other person would call back, allowing the caller not to spend money on minutes. (In both Czech and Slovak language)

Putzfimmel: A mania for cleaning. (German)

Puyugaktuq: To approach a sea mammal by crawling along. (Inuit)

Saudade: A feeling of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost. (Brazilian Portuguese)

Scheissenbedauern: The disappointment one feels when something turns out not nearly as badly as one had expected. (German)

Schlimmbesserung: a so-called improvement that makes things worse. (German)

Seigneur-terrasse: A person who spends much time but little money in a cafe (literally: a terrace lord) (French) 

Sjostygg: Someone so ugly the tide refuses to come in if they stand on the shore. (Norwegian)

Stroitel: A man who likes to have sex with two women at the same time. (Russian)

Tantenverführer: A young man whose excessively good intentions suggest suspicious motives. (literally aunt-seducer) (German)

Tingo: The act of taking objects one desires from the house of a friend by gradually borrowing all of them. (The Pascuense language of Easter Island),

Tlazlimquiztli: The smell of adulterers. (Aztec)

Torschlusspanik: The fear of diminishing opportunities as one gets older (literally: gate-closing panic), often applied to women worried about being too old to have children. (German) 

Uitwaaien: Walking in windy weather for fun. (Dutch)

Yubisakibijin: One who spends rather too much of her salary having her fingernails done. (Japanese)

 

Living in a metaphor

The metaphor is perhaps one of man’s most fruitful potentialities. Its efficacy verges on magic, and it seems a tool for creation which God forgot inside one of His creatures when He made him. Jose Ortega y Gasset

 

You don’t see something until you have the right metaphor to let you perceive it. Robert Stetson, an American physicist, one of the pioneers of chaos theory

 

Language is memory and metaphor. Margaret Storm Jameson an English writer, president of the British branch of the International PEN association

 

Space and force pervade language. Many cognitive scientists (including me) have concluded from their research on language that a handful of concepts about places, paths, motions, agency, and causation underlie the literal or figurative meanings of tens of thousands of words and constructions, not only in English but in every other language that has been studied. Steven Pinker

 

The American Heritage Dictionary defines a metaphor thus: “A figure of speech in which a word or phrase that ordinarily designates one thing is used to designate another, thus making an implicit comparison.” It comes form the Greek word for “carry across” or “transfer” and in Modern Greek a removal van is known as a metaphor. There are many very obvious metaphors such as “He’s a pig.” or Shakespeare’s “All the world’s a stage” But there are less obvious ones. You would probably be surprised to learn that coming to a head alludes to the building up of pus in a pimple. We have a conception that most everyday language is literal and that metaphor is something for linguists. Metaphors are a matter of cognition as opposed to language, and are fundamental to how we conceptualise the world. By using metaphor we map across conceptual domains, from source to target, allowing us to understand the abstract in terms of the concrete. Without this system, we would not be able to engage in abstract thought at all.

George Lakoff a professor of cognitive linguistics at the University of California, Berkeley came up with a fascinating way of categorising conceptual metaphors with names like DIFFICULTIES ARE CONTAINERS, LUST IS HEAT and TIME IS A LANDSCAPE WE MOVE THROUGH. Here is an example of one of these categories – MORALITY IS CLEANLINESS:

He’s Mr. Clean.

He has a blot on his past/ a clean past.

His reputation is besmirched.

He doesn’t want to get his hands dirty.

His record is spotless.

The magazine got the dirt about him.

            Lakoff is not universally popular and has been involved in academic spats with both Steven Pinker and Noam Chomsky. He has also entered the political arena, as an advisor to the Democrats. According to Lakoff liberals and conservatives use two different metaphors about the relationship of the state to its citizens – both metaphors relate to the family. These are not absolutes but they help orient us Conservatives have their “strict father model” with its family structured around a strong, dominant “father” (government), and assumes that the “children” (citizens) need to be disciplined to be made into responsible “adults” (financially and morally). Once the “children” are “adults”, though, the “father” should stay out of their lives In contrast, Lakoff argues that liberals have “nurturing parent model”, based on “nurturing values”, where both “mothers” and “fathers” work to keep the essentially good “children” away from “corrupting influences” (pollution, social injustice, poverty, etc.). Lakoff believes that political speech works primarily by calling to mind these metaphors. In recent years the Republicans have been winning the framing debate and have got the Democrats trying to use the strict father metaphor, which has been disastrous in terms of appealing to voters who may share their core values.

I am somewhat sceptical of these ideas. It is true that the conservative America has been successful, in the words of linguist Geoff Nunberg, in portraying liberals as “a tax-raising, latte-drinking, sushi-eating, Volvo-driving, New York Times-reading, body-piercing, Hollywood-loving, left-wing freak show.” However, some of Lakoff’s ideas are risible. For example, taxes would become “membership fees” and trial lawyers “public-protection attorneys“. This to me is what gives politics a bad name. The Democrats once again hold the presidency.  I don’t know how much Barack Obama was influenced by Lakoff’s work but he will be judged by results and not by his rhetoric.

 

Here is a link to Lakoff’s categories.