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Word Nerd!

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DWill

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Re: Word Nerd!

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LevV wrote:The hiss is real enough in some snakes, and this clip may be giving you more than you want to know about the subject:

https://ca.search.yahoo.com/search?p=wh ... e=avastbcl

Maybe a bit off topic, but I thought this was interesting from the "ASK" site:
"A snake can also make a growling sound as a way to warn predators entering their space. They also spit, which is most commonly attributed to cobras. Even more surprising, the Sonoran coral snake can make a sound like a quacking duck by expelling air through its digestive tract."
I believe you about the hissing. I wondered about it because I had the usual--for that time--childhood experience with snakes and don't recall hearing one of them hissing. Maybe not all species hiss, I don't know. But it brings out the point that we assign sounds to particular animals as much by agreement as by confirming through experience that the sounds are accurate. Maybe that could help account for the differences we see in the ways different language groups "hear" the noises animals make, social convention having taken different forms. We're going to accept whatever we're told as far an animal sounds are concerned. It's likely many may not even hear the animals for ourselves--inner city kids never seeing any farm animals, for example.
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DWill

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Re: Word Nerd!

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DylanCallens wrote:
johnson1010 wrote:I'm a word nerd.

I'm interested in words and how they come to be what they are, where they came from, and how they are used.
English is so complicated because of the way it was created and how malleable it is. I love this video because it speaks to that:

Thanks for that, as it was a really great summary of of the reasons for English spellings. Looking at it, I find it hard to explain English becoming the world language. I mean, in terms of evolution, the language wouldn't seem to have the greatest advantage in attracting users, at least with regard to spelling. There must be something else about it that made it the "fittest." It could be in the near-absence of inflections and gender, which are so troublesome in learning the Romance languages, or in its willingness to raid other languages for vocabulary.
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Re: Word Nerd!

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DWill wrote: Thanks for that, as it was a really great summary of of the reasons for English spellings. Looking at it, I find it hard to explain English becoming the world language. .
I have to imagine that is the result of English-based countries being the victors in war and economics. Not to mention the development of the internet, which started primarily as an English-based platform. But that's really just a guess.
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Re: Word Nerd!

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Thanks Dylan for the history lesson. :) I also have wondered about some of our spellings, and why certain words are spelled and pronounced so differently. :? As an aside, have you ever heard that "fish" is spelled ghoti? gh as is tough or cough, o as in women, and ti as in nation? :lol: I bet if we all tried we could com up with some other weird spellings.
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Cattleman wrote:Thanks Dylan for the history lesson. :) I also have wondered about some of our spellings, and why certain words are spelled and pronounced so differently. :? As an aside, have you ever heard that "fish" is spelled ghoti? gh as is tough or cough, o as in women, and ti as in nation? :lol: I bet if we all tried we could com up with some other weird spellings.
I've always thought that it would be fun to dump in a bunch of silent ks or gs wherever we wanted. Just look at how beautiful it makes the first line of Howl by Ginsberg look:

I sagw the kbest mindgs of kmy generagtion destrokyed by madgness, starvingg hysterickal nakked. :)
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Re: Word Nerd!

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If we check Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary (10th edition) for definitions of each prefix, we find that although semi always means “half,” the prefix bi can mean either “every two” or “twice.” Thus, bimonthly can mean either “every two months” or “twice a month.”

http://www.getitwriteonline.com/archive ... bisemi.htm
Had to look up prefixes semi vs. bi (monthly), 'tis uglier than I remembered. The craziness extends to prefixes... :x
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Re: Word Nerd!

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johnson1010 wrote:I'm a word nerd. I'm interested in words and how they come to be what they are, where they came from, and how they are used. I'm always interested in language translations, for instance. Funny how a word serves two functions like that. Got any word nerd moments you want to share?
Here is one from ancient Greek
http://hermeneutics.stackexchange.com/q ... -among-you

Jesus Christ at Luke 17:21 (KJV) says, in relevant part, "the kingdom of God is within you." More recent translations give this much differently, for instance, as "the kingdom of God is among you" (NRSV) or "the kingdom of God is in your midst" (NIV).

The Greek Lexicon BDAG indicates ἐντος can mean either "inside" or "among", and prefers the latter for the passage in question. Even the KJV gives both readings.
This is actually a fascinating central question for understanding of the nature of God within Christian belief.

The clash between these translations, within or among, goes to whether we think the Christian vision is of a personal relationship to God (within) or a social practice in community of love of neighbour. Those who prefer a vertical individual theology will prefer within, while those who prefer a horizontal social theology will prefer among. It is like the two axes of the cross.

The problem goes back to Isaiah's prophecy that the messiah would be called Emmanuel. This is usually translated God With Us, but could equally be translated God Among Us. The Hebrew word Em allegedly means both within and among, although I could not confirm this. Again, the political implications of these conflicting readings are large. With has historically been used in an exclusive military way, while Among promotes a more inclusive, humble and welcoming theology.
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Excellent example of how important prepositions can be. It's interesting that 'within' equates to what we recognize as 'spiritual', whereas 'among' equates roughly to 'social.' So, too, religions may emphasize the individual's ability to advance spiritually, or they may stress instead a more superficial or social role for the adherent. Sometimes a religion recognizes both poles to some degree, but it seems mostly agreed that the distinction between Eastern vs. monotheistic religions is the former's attention to the 'inner work' by the individual and the latter's attention to a prescribed program of belief directed outward.
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