Questions tagged [language]
The specifically human capacity for acquiring and using complex systems of communication.
92 questions
5
votes
0
answers
306
views
Do negative interactions with AI make us worse at interacting with people?
There have been a number of articles from credible sources suggesting that negative interactions with AI change the way that we interact with others. In each of the quotes below, I have added my own ...
- 2,378
1
vote
1
answer
4k
views
Is it true that "One-Eyed Willy" means "penis"?
I’d like to verify a claim found on several platforms, with regards to sexual innuendo in the movie "The Goonies".
The website states the following:
The boys are looking for the treasure of ...
5
votes
0
answers
878
views
Did Kyiv National Linguistic University publish a map showing that only a few Ukrainians (in the West of the country) speak Ukrainian at home?
Various Russian & other sources give this map (also on P.SE, but probably the most notable of these might be https://www.opendemocracy.net/ru/kto-boretsya-s-kem-v-ukraine-i-pochemu/)
Was that ...
- 66.1k
7
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Is "Mu" a more common last name than "Xi" in China?
Is "Mu", which has a coronavirus variant named after it by the World Health Organization, a more common last name than "Xi", which the WHO has avoided naming a variant after?
...
- 39.3k
16
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Are the ingredients listed in "Macbeth" common plants?
It is easy to find dozens of sites claiming, generally without attribution, that the ingredients in the famously gruesome witches' brew from Shakespeare's play Macbeth are herbalist jargon for common ...
- 3,003
8
votes
0
answers
690
views
Is Japanese language "cleaner" than English in terms of spreading coronavirus?
I was watching a video from Abroad In Japan channel where Chris Broad, the creator of that channel talks about a TV show in which "experts" discussed about the reasons why number of cases of ...
- 257
29
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Did Burmese typewriters contain an upside-down character, which subsequently became proper typewriter style?
I was reading about the Internet Archive's work to archive the materials of a famous New York City typewriter family:
http://blog.archive.org/2020/08/26/an-archive-of-a-different-type/
I was ...
- 489
9
votes
1
answer
620
views
Are North American children adopting British accents because of Peppa Pig?
Several news items have surfaced today which report that North American children are adopting British accents at a very young age due to watching Peppa Pig episodes. The only source quoted is Romper ...
- 2,157
9
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Does requesting a bilingual trial often result in dismissal?
Life hack sites like to claim that requesting a bilingual trial will cause minor cases to be dismissed. I have seen this on multiple sites, but it seems they have a tendency to shut down after a year ...
- 201
5
votes
1
answer
4k
views
In ritualistic use, did "virgin blood" originally mean "unused blood"?
I recently saw the following tumblr meme on Facebook:
This strikes me more as a fanciful reinterpretation than an actual etymology (a la the more recent interpretation of "blood is thicker than water")...
- 159
7
votes
1
answer
745
views
Can Rambo, the German shepherd, follow written commands?
An article on The Laughing Squid shows a German shepherd seemingly following written commands.
An impressively intelligent German shepherd named Rambo, who’s learning how to read with the help of ...
- 3,471
10
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Was this Harry-Potter themed text written solely by a computer program?
A YouTube video caught my eye with the title, "A Robot Wrote A Chapter To A Harry Potter Book, And It's Absolutely Insane." The video claims that a software algorithm created by Botnik Studios was ...
- 403
7
votes
1
answer
622
views
Does drinking alcohol improve foreign language skills?
An article in UK online newspaper The Independent has the following headline:
Alcohol can help foreign language skills
The article reports:
Dr Inge Kersbergen, from the University of Liverpool's ...
- 57.1k
2
votes
0
answers
258
views
Does the F-word constitute a third of all swearing on the internet?
This youtube video (created as part of a series of short programmes for the UK's Channel Four television called Susie Dent's guide to Swearing) claims (around 3:08 in) that the word "fuck" makes up ...
- 57.1k
3
votes
1
answer
506
views
Do eskimos have large numbers of words for snow?
The oscar-winning movie Arrival has prompted some new interest the the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis that language constrains or enables certain abstract concepts. The idea that an alien language can rewire ...
- 57.1k
22
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Can speakers of Kuuk Thaayorre navigate much better than Western speakers inside unfamiliar buildings?
Lera Boroditsky writes in the Edge article How does our language shape the way we think?:
Simply put, speakers of languages like Kuuk Thaayorre are much better than English speakers at staying ...
- 34.1k
8
votes
0
answers
1k
views
Is the Greek/French macaronic phrase written by an ancient author?
From Wikipedia article:
Occasionally language is unintentionally macaronic. One particularly famed piece of schoolyard Greek in France is Xenophon's line "they did not take the city; but in fact ...
- 4,525
27
votes
1
answer
3k
views
Did Germans receive corn instead of wheat and rye after WW2 due to a translation error?
After World War II, the U.S. army sent food supplies to Germany. There is a widespread legend that they delivered maize instead of wheat and rye because the Germans demanded "Korn" which means grain ...
- 373
17
votes
1
answer
7k
views
Is the origin of the phrase "suck it up" referring to WWII pilots?
I was reading this New Statesman article and was surprised to read this:
The origin of the phrase “suck it up” is quite gross. Allegedly, it’s what WWII pilots were instructed to do if they vomited ...
- 660
16
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Do 22% of Muslim women in the UK speak little or no English?
According to the BBC, the UK government claims:
22% of Muslim women living in England speak little or no English.
It also quotes a former Superintendent of the Metro Police as disputing this figure:
...
- 1,532
18
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Are people who love inspirational quotes less intelligent?
An article in the Daily Beast claims the following:
A new study finds that people who love bullshit inspirational quotes have lower intelligence and more "conspiratorial ideations".
Life ...
- 57.1k
6
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Does Burmese lack a word for "vagina"?
From Myanmar: women's fight against verbal taboo symbolises wider rights battle
In Myanmar there are no vaginas. Linguistically, at least, that part of the female body does not exist in Burmese – a ...
- 39.3k
6
votes
1
answer
754
views
Was the term "goosebumps" ever used to refer to venereal sores?
This Cracked.com article claims that "goosebumps" used to refer to venereal sores:
Well, it's thought that "Goosey" is referencing an old slang term
"goose" which was a nice but roundabout way of ...
- 18.8k
4
votes
1
answer
670
views
Is this how to say Steph Curry in American sign language
This tweet (retweeted over 2300 times) makes a claim about how to say "Steph Curry" in American sign language:
Is that claim true?
user16797
9
votes
0
answers
370
views
Does reading what you listen parallely improve your ability to speak English?
I can write English well, and can also understand it well (provided someone speaks i a known accent.)
For improving my spoken English I have got audio books. I can understand what I am being told by ...
- 1,085