A normal spoonerism is when you take the first consonant cluster from one word, and switch it with the first consonant cluster of another word. But how does Fully (sic) spoonerise to become Silly Fuck? asks Aidan Wilson.
Language
The non-liberal Liberal party: isn’t it ironic?
It’s a rich world of irony in Australia’s political world, from the Labor Party who tries to end union power to a conservative party called the Liberals. Bill Collopy investigates our political language.
The dreaded fake Asian politeness
Japanese has a lot of obligatory politeness built into it. But each culture has its own set of manners and one joy of cross-cultural communication is the hilarious misunderstandings that it causes, explains Aung Si.
Bad bosses, bad news, bad plans: Abbott’s bad election
From “working families” to “a great big new tax”, Australian pollies love rolling out their trademark phrases. Tony Abbott’s got a new, snappy three letter one and it’s bad, very bad.
Why don’t you speak Orsrayun?
Is it rude when foreigners in Australia who can speak English choose not to? Try not to take it so personally, says Aung Si: they probably have a very good reason.
How do you pronounce Eyjafjallajökull?
Iceland’s Eyjafjallajökull volcano spews out consonants and vowels in its impossible-to-pronounce 16 letter name. Listen to a bunch of New Yorkers attempt to say it. The correct pronunciation is more like “Hey, ya fergot La Yogurt”.
Translating Sarah Palin’s speech
Language expert John McWhorter looks at “Palinspeak”: the unique linguistic stylings of Sarah Palin. Why does she speak the way she does? And why hasn’t it handicapped her meteoric rise to fame?
Daily Proposition: Learning German is a Stone’s throw away
It’s hard not to fall in love with Berlin, which is full of everything that is good and wonderful in the world (beautiful people, art, parties, fashion). But learning the language is a little more work, says Jess Hopcraft.
Signs: pretty darn interesting, actually
Slate’s six-part series on signs (yes: street signs, exit signs, railway signs) is unexpectedly fascinating: what makes a good map? Should exit signs be red or green? And could GPS spell the death of signs?
Can India learn to speak in a single tongue?
India has 1.7 billion people and 1600 languages and dialects, but many believe it’s time for a single lingua franca. But which language? Hindi? English? And is it even achievable?
Putting online translators to the test
The NYT pits Google’s new and improved translation tool against Yahoo Babel Fish, Microsoft Bing’s translator and a real-life human. Not bad. Not bad at all.
Why we need to stop saying the word ‘retarded’
We need a new civil rights movement, writes chairman of the Special Olympics, Timothy Shriver, and this time its to crush the rampant prejudices held against people with mental illness. ‘Retard’ shouldn’t be a hilarious insult for your friends.
Is it “looting” to feed your family?
How can the meeja say Haitians are “looting” when people are desperate for food, stores are collapsed and there’s a lack of aid, money and authorities? Be a bit more careful with the language, warns Jerry Lanson.
You know, like, whatever: the fiasco of filler words
Whether it’s used instead of um, a pause or just while you grasp around for something witty to say, Christopher Hitchen explores how the grammar battle was lost with uptalk and filler words. And it’s not just teens who are to blame.
“Let’s go to the video tape” and nine other phrases that will soon be dead
Steve Rubel looks at 10 common phrases that could soon be made redundant due to changing technology.
Oxford Word of the Year: Unfriend
Oxford University Press has named Facebook term “unfriend” as its 2009 Word of the Year. Other contenders included “hashtag”, “paywall”, “birther” and “zombie bank”.
Study: What kids nickname Lego pieces
Every household has its own set of words for describing particular Lego pieces, says Giles Turnbull: one kid’s “round flat one-er” is another kid’s “bronze jewel”. And so he set out to document the Lego dialects that are unique to different families.
Why is it called the Netherlands?
Radovan Karadzic is currently on trial at The Hague, not at Hague. Why do so many place names require a definite article? Just think of the Bahamas, The Bronx and The Gambia. Slate explains.
On the death of letter writing
Hand written letters may be dead, but that doesn’t mean the process of thinking, communicating and creating a sense of self has been abandoned, writes James Bradley. It’s just now tweets not post cards.
Chillax? Manscaping? Enough with the portmanteaus, already!
Simply taking two words and cramming them together isn’t clever; it’s insufferable. But portmanteaus have become such an epidemic in the media, we’re under a constant barrage of stupidity.
Nobel Prizes: the politics of language and literature
Who is Herta Müller, this year’s winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature? English-speaking audiences are baffled, because, surprise surprise, not of all the best literature is in English. Binoy Kampmark provides some answers.
Slacks, expresso and making love: words men should avoid
Esquire have released their list of the most overused and offensive words of 2009. The biggest culprits? Baby talk and sleazy speech. So no “tummy” and definitely no “panties”.
Miss, Ms., Mrs: the confusing mess of modern manners
While men deal with a simple ‘Mr’, women face the confusing titles of Miss, Mrs and Ms. Should women battle between using a title to define their marital status or is it okay not to care?
Speaka my language: a finalisation of the revitalisation of corporate communication
It’s no to next-generation scenarios and yes to plain English in business, especially since GFC blame is being laid on confusing corporate speak. Will Australia follow the US’s plans to introduce plain English rules?
Memo to the British Press: "husband" isn’t a dirty word
Gay boy band star Stephen Gately, who married in 2006, died this week. But why doesn’t the media refer to his husband as his husband? The language involving same-sex relationships is a political minefield.
