1. Ultracrepidarian (n):”Somebody who gives opinions on subjects they know nothing about.” Example: Too many ultracrepidarians discuss the conflict in Syria. 2. Snollygoster (n): “a shrewed, unprincipled person, especially a politician.” Example: Many consider Chris Christie a snollygoster after the Bridgegate scandal. 3. Zwodder (n): “a drowsy and stupid state of body or mind.” Example:…
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We tend to think of colors as ideas which all humans agree on – grass is green, flames are orange, the sky is light blue – even if different languages have different names for these colors. As English speakers, we also tend to think of color names in terms of the “basic” ones and the…
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English (and language itself) is a very narrow and limited thing. We cannot always say what we wish to say with the words we have. In other languages, though, there are words for things you may never have even thought about… Mamihlapinatapai (Yaghan, Tierra del Fuego) – Looking at each other hoping that either will…
DetailsI love language, but have yet to find a book that gives the 30,000 foot perspective. Still, I am finding some good stuff online… A reddit post worth a gander: Say a chinese man is reading a text out loud. He finds a character he doesn’t know. Does he have a clue what the pronunciation…
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