Huh. Today in "always look up the etymology because sometimes you're just repeating a myth but sometimes it's weirder and more incredible than you could have possibly imagined"
www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/c...
Gretchen McCulloch
@gretchenmcculloch.com
26K followers 4.7K following 12K posts
Internet linguist. Wrote Because Internet, NYT bestseller about internet language. Co-hosts @lingthusiasm.com, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. she/her 🌈 Montreal en/fr 🇨🇦 gretchenmcculloch.com
![Experiment
Participants in the experiment were asked to taste four different chocolate pieces in sequence and to fill out a questionnaire about the taste of these pieces (n=24).
[Image of the five step experimental procedure with text that frankly is too small for me to read, sorry]
Experimental procedure
Bayesian analysis of the experimental result revealed that the Bouba-shaped chocolate pieces tasted sweeter than the Kiki-shaped pieces (p(Bouba-A6 > Kiki-A6) = 98.7%, p([Bouba-A6, Bouba-S6] > [Kiki-A6, Kiki-A10]) = 90 .0%). However, no differences were found in the ratings for sourness and bitterness.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreifkuv6hw5nn5mfeljit7f5qgxh4wnpboohqniijlopr7fsdp6dlgm)
![It is formed from the Japanese word for “tree,” 木, the word that means “to leak,” 漏れ, and the word for “sun,” 日.
Komorebi 木漏れ日 (pronounced kō-mō-leh-bē)
Literally, “sunlight leaking through trees,” this word describes the beauty and wonder of rays of light dappling through overhead leaves, casting dancing shadows on the forest floor.
[A photo of sunlight through trees and a path on the forest floor]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreieeshrofl4ee6rfhad7nmeh6fumqyvswaotglzdir2h5mpup24xse)
![Eight minizines on a table, with the following titles:
1. How do *you* say it? plus a drawing of an armadillo
2. [a string of coloured shapes followed by a question mark]
3. untangle- -ing with a ball of yarn
4. What is linguistic discrimination? with some stick figures of various shapes and colours
5. A quel point do you speak Canadian? plus a maple leaf
6. Why does my voice sound so WEIRD in recordings?
7. The Wonderful World of the Ontario French Immersion system plus a drawing of an official-looking building
8. Language Documentation and the value of Archiving with LDTC](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreiaeyv2dyhtbqo5y6adaztrcqklagpt5wd7n72viv24gekw3hqrsle)
![Solvitur ambulando on Wikipedia
Solvitur ambulando (Latin: [ˈsolwitur ambuˈlandoː]) is a Latin phrase which means "it is solved by walking", referring to an anecdotal, practical solution to a seemingly complex philosophical problem. It is often attributed to Saint Augustine in a refutation of Zeno's paradoxes of motion.[1]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreigztsaughyxvkkng6jhopbjtoqbhdgjm3w4l3k3r6vebdmpeufywy)
![Gretchen: We recently got a great book recommendation from a listener – shoutout to Trish B. – who asked us on Bluesky whether we’d read Hellspark by Janet Kagan and said it was a science fiction murder mystery and one of your top four books ever.
Lauren: Also, shoutout to the four other people who immediately replied and said they also loved this book – a book we’d never heard of.
Gretchen: With endorsements like that, I had to read it. I can tell you it was great. We are gonna structure a whole episode around it.
Lauren: If those initial endorsements weren’t enough, you told me there was a bunch of gesture stuff in it, and so I had to read it.
Gretchen: Let’s start with the basic premise of Hellspark. We’re not assuming anyone else has read it.
Lauren: Yeah, I guess it’s a murder mystery.
Gretchen: [Laughs] I honestly forgot about the murder mystery part. To me, this book was really about cross-cultural communication. We’re on a planet. There’s a survey crew of humans trying to figure out whether this alien species – which I pictured as sort of looking like an emu – is capable of intelligent communication.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreibal3shzxwatahesszhbxxzhyymqt2zm3aniclouhvnw7ovlef4b4)
![english: leather jacket
french: veste en cuir [normal translation]
Definitions of leather jacket:
(Noun) any of a number of tough-skinned marine fishes [wtf???]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreig6ip43w2mieibl26yjswfq64x2ei4d7tc74zrteyzdwwl2xoequu)
![William Jones was born in London; his father William Jones (1675–1749) was a mathematician from Anglesey in Wales, noted for introducing the use of the symbol π. The young William Jones was a linguistic prodigy, who in addition to his native languages English and Welsh,[3] learned Greek, Latin, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew and the basics of Chinese writing at an early age.[4] By the end of his life, he knew eight languages with critical thoroughness.[5]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreicbwznkajdcsexfdcnzvef3cwaruzvzsf6q775dic3x4kfobbseoi)
![Oh and maybe the hosts of Lingthusiasm? I forget their names.
posted by nat at 8:08 AM on February 26 [2 favorites]
Since you mentioned library science, might I suggest Ettarh, after the recently deceased library scholar? She coined the term “vocational awe” which was a pivotal moment in the field.
Also maybe Wilson for her recent groundbreaking translations of Homer.
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 8:11 AM on February 26 [3 favorites]
Gretchen "Because Internet" McCulloch & Lauren Gawne of Lingthusiasm
Schwa is a pretty name for a girl
Kiki, Bouba and . . . Gavagai.
L for Lancelot "Interglossa" Hogben
M for Morris "215 language universals" Swadesh: bird - come - drink - earth - foot - give - hand etc.
Local boy David "Holyhead" Crystal (The Story of English in 100 Words )
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:13 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxttw4f3ket2uyrrtc5ou4n2/bafkreihxuh7fra3n52p7lt7j64f5p4eeeqzyoprr3tp37uaemlsbv3tt74)
