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Why linguists hate being asked how many languages they know

allthingslinguistic:

“So you’re a linguist. How many languages do you know?” Every linguist hears this question a lot. There’s even a meme about it. And in addition to over-use, there are several contradictory reasons why it’s deeply frustrating. 

1. Linguistics isn’t about learning lots of languages. Except when it is. 

Linguists as scholars work to analyze language and figure out how it works and why we can speak it. Unfortunately, there’s also another meaning for linguist which is a translator or person who speaks a ton of languages. Academic linguists refer to the latter as polyglots or hyperpolyglots. But, for example, the US military job descriptions use linguist to mean polyglot/translator. It’s a real meaning, but it’s like asking a baseball player if they hit balls using a small winged mammal. Not so much.  

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I don’t like this expression ‘First World problems.’ It is false and it is condescending. Yes, Nigerians struggle with floods or infant mortality. But these same Nigerians also deal with mundane and seemingly luxurious hassles. Connectivity issues on your BlackBerry, cost of car repair, how to sync your iPad, what brand of noodles to buy: Third World problems. All the silly stuff of life doesn’t disappear just because you’re black and live in a poorer country. People in the richer nations need a more robust sense of the lives being lived in the darker nations. Here’s a First World problem: the inability to see that others are as fully complex and as keen on technology and pleasure as you are.
Teju Cole (via semperes)
montereybayaquarium:

Remember the runaway red octopus that hid in our Shale Reef exhibit for a year before getting caught wandering across the Aquarium in the middle of the night? After a brief period behind the scenes, the celebrity cephalopod is now on exhibit in our upstairs Kelp Zone! 
Get the whole story. 

montereybayaquarium:

Remember the runaway red octopus that hid in our Shale Reef exhibit for a year before getting caught wandering across the Aquarium in the middle of the night? After a brief period behind the scenes, the celebrity cephalopod is now on exhibit in our upstairs Kelp Zone! 

Get the whole story

smalldemonsblog:

Yumeji’s Theme, from In the Mood for Love. Perfect song, perfect film.

Perfect everything is perfect.

In May I truly think it best
To be a robin lightly dressed
Concocting soup inside my nest
Mix it once, mix it twice
Mix that chicken soup with rice
Maurice Sendak, Chicken Soup With Rice
foodonmydog:

Pancakes.

foodonmydog:

Pancakes.