Language Log

Pun of the week: From George Takei, on Bluesky: This left me in stitches. [image or embed] — George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) September 21, 2024 at 10:00 AM Replies includes "I'm torn", "This is the kind of knit-wit I enjoy reading", "It's a race… dlvr.it/TDcrcc

"Garbage time of history", part 2: This is a phrase that has been sweeping through China during recent months.  In Chinese it is "lìshǐ de lājī shíjiān 历史的垃圾时间".  The expression "lājī shíjiān 垃圾时间" started out in sports to characterize a… dlvr.it/TDb2J7

Political deepfakes: Daysia Tolentino, "Trump shares fake photo of Harris with Diddy in now-deleted Truth Social post", NBC News 9/20/2024: Amid the recent news of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ arrest, former President Donald Trump reposted a doctored image… dlvr.it/TDZgTr

"A fancy way to say 'fancy'": I was in a Salt Lake City shop called Caputo's that bills itself as a Market and Deli, Purveyors of Regional Italian and Southern European Foods.  It reminds me somewhat of the great Di Bruno Bros. in Philly, but more on the… dlvr.it/TDYGdT

Teeth as part of the vocal tract: The oral cavity is one section of the vocal tract.  Along with the tongue, lips, and hard and soft palates, the teeth help to form different types of speech sounds.  If any one of these components is missing or deformed,… dlvr.it/TDXpvy

International Talk Like a Pirate Day, again…: We missed it this year, but the New York Times didn't , and posted a link to Laurel MacKenzie's "Pirate Lingo 101": Past Talk Like a Pirate Day posts: "R!", 11/03/2003 "Type like a pirate day", 9/9/2004… dlvr.it/TDXpvR

Trump all-caps theories: From Lane Greene on Bluesky (link): I've been trying for a while to figure out a theory of Trump's capitalisation. It's mostly nouns like Country, but not always positive ones. I never did nail down the pattern. But I've got a… dlvr.it/TDXpsh

Genealogy rocks: Not only is it hard to spell, few people know what it means. As I mentioned in earlier posts, on my trip to SLC three or four days ago, I fulfilled three of my childhood dreams:  1. float in the Great Salt Lake; 2. hear the Mormon… dlvr.it/TDXDY8

Vanceism of the week: "Haitia": Back in the early 2000s, George W. Bush got a lot of flac for calling Greeks "Grecians" and making similar mistakes in the mapping from place names to ethnonyms. J.D. Vance recently went the other way, mapping the ethnonym… dlvr.it/TDWXCh

Can Google AI count?: Apparently not. Given this recent tweet, in which Google AI Overview explains that "October 21 is not a Libra, as the Libra zodiac sign is from September 23 to October 22", I thought I'd try for myself. The result had a different… dlvr.it/TDWXC9

Mormon Tabernacle Choir vowel variations: I departed a total of about 260 miles from my Route 30 / Lincoln Highway running route to come down to Salt Lake City for a few perduring reasons. 1. From the time I was a little boy, I have always wanted to… dlvr.it/TDTmDR

Is there evidence of senility in Trump's speech?: Sarah Posner on Bluesky, linking to a kamalahq tweet and a kamalahq Instagram post: In the thread below: a completely rambling, unhinged, incomprehensible quote from Trump at his Flint town hall with… dlvr.it/TDTPTb

Cultural literacy at The Guardian: There has been an enormous turbulence over the simultaneous explosion of Hezbollah pagers (some call them walkie-talkies) at 3:30 PM on September 17, 2024, involving as it does actors in regions as far flung as the… dlvr.it/TDRVfP

Font making for oracle bone inscription studies: "Jingyuan Digital Platform: Font Making and Database Development for Shang Oracle Bones (Part 1)", Peichao Qin, The Digital Orientalist (9/17/24) If you're wondering what "Jingyuan" means, it's a fancy,… dlvr.it/TDPwb7

Ask LLOG: Semicolons used as commas?: From Josh E.: I am a big fan of your posts on the Language Log and was wondering whether you often see semicolons used the way we might normally use commas to set off a dependent clause. Here is an example I just… dlvr.it/TDPBlK

AI-based DeepL is different: So says DeepL CEO Jarek Kutylowski. "DeepL translation targets Taiwan as next key Asian market:  CEO says AI-based model is aiming to refine nuances, politeness", Steven Borowiec, Nikkei staff writer (September 16, 2024)… dlvr.it/TDNrNG

How to say "AI" in Mandarin: An eminent Chinese historian just sent these two sentences to me: Yǒurén shuō AI zhǐ néng jìsuàn, ér rénlèi néng suànjì. Yīncǐ AI yīdìng bùshì rénlèi duìshǒ 有人說AI只能計算，而人類能算計。因此AI一定不是人類對手。 "Some… dlvr.it/TDLYyY

What did Rich Lowry say?: Yesterday, Alejandra Caraballo tweeted: The editor in chief of the National Review just said the N word in regards to Haitians and Megyn Kelly ignores it. Andy McCarthy responded: Ridiculous. @richlowry (not tagged here, natch)… dlvr.it/TDL9pp

The City of Angels in Latin: "The Best New Book Written Entirely in Latin You’ll Try to Read This Year:  Why Donatien Grau, an adviser at the Louvre, decided to write 'De Civitate Angelorum,' a book about Los Angeles, the Roman way."  By Fergus McIntosh,… dlvr.it/TDJfsP

“Weak point; holler louder!”: My debate analysis for The Economist included these charts: : …with the commentary The final charts show the average pitches of the two candidates and their variability within each speaking turn (which can be a rough proxy… dlvr.it/TDGzL2