On Swearing*
*contains some swearwords I have a theory on why words start sounding really weird if we repeat them over and over. Mostly, when we use language, we’re not actually thinking about the sounds that our mouths are forming, but the meaning attached to those sounds. Listening to a foreign...
The Blight of the Morning Grump
It has come to my attention that there are people who behave abnormally and in a totally unacceptable manner when they awake in the mornings. As any rational and well-behaved human should know, the morning is for being chipper, awake, breakfasting, and socializing. Unfortunately, we are faced with a...
Are We Using the Same Language?
Complex storytelling and how the masters use language differently One of my favorite moments is opening a new novel and experiencing the confusion of reading the first chapter. It’s not a bad confusion in which I’m lost or unable to parse the language. No, it’s like being plunked into...