Here's a link to a story about the ghettoes of Mumbai, where Slumdog Millionaire was filmed. The neighborhoods and houses are being demolished. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104142078
Also, practicing English.
You guys are lucky. More resources than ever are available online. Use them! Because--look at youtube--they might disappear for a while. Right? Print off a story a week, or go to an internet cafe.
News Websites:
www.nytimes.com
www.npr.com
www.bbc.co.uk
Blogs about China:
http://www.mutantpalm.org/
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/?xrail
http://www.danwei.org/
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/by/james_fallows
and here is some music I love:
http://goodonpaper.org/upload/mix/Mix001.mp3
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
sections of speech
Obama:
1. My fellow citizens...threaten our planet
2. These are the indicators...rugged path toward prosperity and freedom
3. For us, they packed...work of remaking America
4. For everywhere we look...people and their government
5. Nor is the question...ready to lead once more
6. Recall that earlier generations...we will defeat you
7. For we know that our patchwork...we must change with it
8. As we consider the road...that finally decides our fate
9. Our challenges may be new...a most sacred oath
10. So let us mark...safely to future generations
JFK
1. we observe today...this much we pledge--and more
2. to those old allies...master of its own house
3. to that world assembly...absolute control of all nations
4. let both sides seek...the historic effort?
5. in the long history...must truly be our own
1. My fellow citizens...threaten our planet
2. These are the indicators...rugged path toward prosperity and freedom
3. For us, they packed...work of remaking America
4. For everywhere we look...people and their government
5. Nor is the question...ready to lead once more
6. Recall that earlier generations...we will defeat you
7. For we know that our patchwork...we must change with it
8. As we consider the road...that finally decides our fate
9. Our challenges may be new...a most sacred oath
10. So let us mark...safely to future generations
JFK
1. we observe today...this much we pledge--and more
2. to those old allies...master of its own house
3. to that world assembly...absolute control of all nations
4. let both sides seek...the historic effort?
5. in the long history...must truly be our own
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
the snakes are real
I wasn't kidding:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/30/python.patrol/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/30/python.patrol/index.html
They are huge, and, to me, scary....
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/30/python.patrol/index.html#cnnSTCVideo
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/US/03/30/python.patrol/index.html
They are huge, and, to me, scary....
easy reviewing
for those of you with good notes, reviewing and testing should be a piece of cake.
here are the questions we did today, plus some.
see you chickens next week.
~Marta
Marrakech is an example of what kind of writing? (exposition/expository essay)
In what two places does Orwell talk about flies in Marrakech?
What other meaning does “grope” have?
What is the status of old women in Marrakech? (lowest, beast of burden)
Erich Fromm comes from what school of thought? (Frankfurt)
What kind of writing is “The Worker As Creator or Machine”? (causal exposition)
What attitude does Fromm have toward the past? (romantic, idyllic)
What is it…and where do we see the main theme of the Worker As Creator or Machine? (para. 5)
What two thinkers highly influenced Fromm? (Marx and Freud)
What field of study did Max Weber found?
What is slum tourism?
What kind of writing is “The ones who walk away from Omelas”? (allegory)
T/F Fromm thinks that modern people are too busy and driven to work to make money. (F)
T/F The word “bliss” has a connotation of intense energy and explosive happiness. (F)
T/F there are many pythons, giant snakes, loose in Florida right now. (T—but not because of the economy, that was a joke. It’s because they got out during hurricanes and are breeding….)
T/F The thesis of Marrakech is that colonial empires are based on the fact that the colonizers do not see the colonized at humans (and the colonized are invisible).
T/F George Orwell uses a fluid, predictable structure in his essay Marrakech.
T/F Fromm thinks that machines taking the place of workers creates more productivity and free time.
T/F “Let’s go play/do you want to play with me?” has a sexual connotation
T/F there are over 2200 KFCs in China. 300 new ones open each year.
T/F Marta has never been to KFC.
T/F the child in the Ones who walk away from Omelas is locked in an attic.
T/F The people of Omelas are not upset about the child because they do not see themselves as responsible.
T/F Obama used the word “god” in his speech ten times. (F, 3x)
T/F JFK repeated the word “America” throughout his speech. (F—4x)
Grave - funny
Shimmer - dark
Dodge - head straight for/run into
Wind - walk straight
Banal – malignant. harmful
Puritanical - loose
Modest – brave/ open
Imperious - humble
Feeble – strong/ robust
Imbecile – brilliant/ smart
Abominable - wonderful
Figures of speech:
Or are they merely a kind of undifferentiated brown stuff, about as individual as bees or coral insects? (simile)
No gravestone, no name , no identifying mark of any kind. (rep)
Hummocky earth, like a derelict building lot
Piles of pomegranates
A good job Hitler wasn’t here. Perhaps he was on his way, however. (sarcasm)
Lines of women, bent double like inverted capital Ls.
Firewood was passing—that was how I saw it. (inversion)
Boots that looked like blocks of wood.
The wound up the road with a clumping of boots and a clatter or iron wheels. (parallelism)
It was like watching a flock of cattle.
The more his work develops, the more his individuality develops. (repetition)
Rightly, has he been defined as the ‘animal that produces.’ (inversion)
However primitive and simple his method of work may be, by the very fact of production, he has risen above the animal kingdom. (periodic)
He separates himself from nature, from the original unity with her (personification), but at the same time unites himself with her again as her master and builder. (antithesis)
The more it was possible to gain riches by work, the more it became a pure means to the aim of wealth and success. (repetition, parallelism)
What happens to the industrial worker?
Devoid of dignity
The most distinctly different toaster in the world (hyperbole)
He hates himself
Set the swallows soaring.
Word substitution:
I tore off a piece and he stowed it gratefully in some secret place under his rags.
A lifetime of sitting in this position left his leg warped out of shape.
Thanks to a lifetime of sitting in this position, his left leg is warped out of shape.
Still, a white skin is always fairly conspicuous.
Life is a back-breaking struggle to wring a little food our of an eroded soil.
All of them are mummified with age.
A vast load of wood.
Effortless learning, no more of the old drudgery.
Unless man exploits others, he has to work to live.
Man molds and changes himself.
Craftsmanship was one of the peaks in the evolution of creative work.
This puts a premium on slovenly work.
It is going to pay off someday.
The more his individuality develops.
There was profound satisfaction in work.
His role is a passive one.
Word roots:
Mummy
Desolate
Derelict
Capital
Clamor
Inverted
Subconscious
Primitive
Profound
Manipulate
Lucid
Rapt
This kind of thing makes one’s blood boil.
They were reduced to bones and leathery skin.
Are they merely a kind of undifferentiated brown stuff, about as individual as bees or coral insects?
The animal lowered its head and tried to butt me.
How much longer can we go on kidding these people? How long before they turn their guns in the other direction?
Every one of them looks on a cigarette as a more or less impossible luxury
Work became the chief factor in a system of “inner-worldly asceticism”
Work carried with it a profound satisfaction.
Work is also his liberator from nature.
There is no ulterior motive in work other than the product being made and the processes of its creation.
Man has risen above the animal kingdom.
There is no split of work and play, or work and culture.
A paycheck is not enough to base one’s self-respect on.
He is part of the equipment hired by capital.
The underlying idea can be formulated like this.
Pronunciation:
Shit sheet sin slim
Cat caught can Ken cart curt cut coat
River liver sliver
Rice lice slice
Ass ash
Rare lair
Tin ten
Bet bait bat bad
Worse worth
here are the questions we did today, plus some.
see you chickens next week.
~Marta
Marrakech is an example of what kind of writing? (exposition/expository essay)
In what two places does Orwell talk about flies in Marrakech?
What other meaning does “grope” have?
What is the status of old women in Marrakech? (lowest, beast of burden)
Erich Fromm comes from what school of thought? (Frankfurt)
What kind of writing is “The Worker As Creator or Machine”? (causal exposition)
What attitude does Fromm have toward the past? (romantic, idyllic)
What is it…and where do we see the main theme of the Worker As Creator or Machine? (para. 5)
What two thinkers highly influenced Fromm? (Marx and Freud)
What field of study did Max Weber found?
What is slum tourism?
What kind of writing is “The ones who walk away from Omelas”? (allegory)
T/F Fromm thinks that modern people are too busy and driven to work to make money. (F)
T/F The word “bliss” has a connotation of intense energy and explosive happiness. (F)
T/F there are many pythons, giant snakes, loose in Florida right now. (T—but not because of the economy, that was a joke. It’s because they got out during hurricanes and are breeding….)
T/F The thesis of Marrakech is that colonial empires are based on the fact that the colonizers do not see the colonized at humans (and the colonized are invisible).
T/F George Orwell uses a fluid, predictable structure in his essay Marrakech.
T/F Fromm thinks that machines taking the place of workers creates more productivity and free time.
T/F “Let’s go play/do you want to play with me?” has a sexual connotation
T/F there are over 2200 KFCs in China. 300 new ones open each year.
T/F Marta has never been to KFC.
T/F the child in the Ones who walk away from Omelas is locked in an attic.
T/F The people of Omelas are not upset about the child because they do not see themselves as responsible.
T/F Obama used the word “god” in his speech ten times. (F, 3x)
T/F JFK repeated the word “America” throughout his speech. (F—4x)
Grave - funny
Shimmer - dark
Dodge - head straight for/run into
Wind - walk straight
Banal – malignant. harmful
Puritanical - loose
Modest – brave/ open
Imperious - humble
Feeble – strong/ robust
Imbecile – brilliant/ smart
Abominable - wonderful
Figures of speech:
Or are they merely a kind of undifferentiated brown stuff, about as individual as bees or coral insects? (simile)
No gravestone, no name , no identifying mark of any kind. (rep)
Hummocky earth, like a derelict building lot
Piles of pomegranates
A good job Hitler wasn’t here. Perhaps he was on his way, however. (sarcasm)
Lines of women, bent double like inverted capital Ls.
Firewood was passing—that was how I saw it. (inversion)
Boots that looked like blocks of wood.
The wound up the road with a clumping of boots and a clatter or iron wheels. (parallelism)
It was like watching a flock of cattle.
The more his work develops, the more his individuality develops. (repetition)
Rightly, has he been defined as the ‘animal that produces.’ (inversion)
However primitive and simple his method of work may be, by the very fact of production, he has risen above the animal kingdom. (periodic)
He separates himself from nature, from the original unity with her (personification), but at the same time unites himself with her again as her master and builder. (antithesis)
The more it was possible to gain riches by work, the more it became a pure means to the aim of wealth and success. (repetition, parallelism)
What happens to the industrial worker?
Devoid of dignity
The most distinctly different toaster in the world (hyperbole)
He hates himself
Set the swallows soaring.
Word substitution:
I tore off a piece and he stowed it gratefully in some secret place under his rags.
A lifetime of sitting in this position left his leg warped out of shape.
Thanks to a lifetime of sitting in this position, his left leg is warped out of shape.
Still, a white skin is always fairly conspicuous.
Life is a back-breaking struggle to wring a little food our of an eroded soil.
All of them are mummified with age.
A vast load of wood.
Effortless learning, no more of the old drudgery.
Unless man exploits others, he has to work to live.
Man molds and changes himself.
Craftsmanship was one of the peaks in the evolution of creative work.
This puts a premium on slovenly work.
It is going to pay off someday.
The more his individuality develops.
There was profound satisfaction in work.
His role is a passive one.
Word roots:
Mummy
Desolate
Derelict
Capital
Clamor
Inverted
Subconscious
Primitive
Profound
Manipulate
Lucid
Rapt
This kind of thing makes one’s blood boil.
They were reduced to bones and leathery skin.
Are they merely a kind of undifferentiated brown stuff, about as individual as bees or coral insects?
The animal lowered its head and tried to butt me.
How much longer can we go on kidding these people? How long before they turn their guns in the other direction?
Every one of them looks on a cigarette as a more or less impossible luxury
Work became the chief factor in a system of “inner-worldly asceticism”
Work carried with it a profound satisfaction.
Work is also his liberator from nature.
There is no ulterior motive in work other than the product being made and the processes of its creation.
Man has risen above the animal kingdom.
There is no split of work and play, or work and culture.
A paycheck is not enough to base one’s self-respect on.
He is part of the equipment hired by capital.
The underlying idea can be formulated like this.
Pronunciation:
Shit sheet sin slim
Cat caught can Ken cart curt cut coat
River liver sliver
Rice lice slice
Ass ash
Rare lair
Tin ten
Bet bait bat bad
Worse worth
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
pronunciation
Yes! Awesome job everyone!
Here is the chart that shows Where and How words in English are formed.
Remember: The column (list that goes down) shows HOW words are formed with your tongue and air. The row (list that goes across) shows WHERE in the mouth the sounds are formed.
There is also a map of the head and the main parts used to form speech sounds. It is not as pretty as my drawing in class ;-)
Words for "Breakfast of Champions"
Here are words that will be helpful for "The Breakfast of Champions" (the story you're reading this weekend) and a few links on the pronunciation we did today. Notice, I forgot a column in "how" (just after nasal, before approximates, is "lateral" which includes the letter L as n alveolar).
Words:
Disparage=to ridicule
Defunct=not working
Bawdily=rudely
Syphilis=a sexual disease
Idling=resting, sitting still
Goiter=enlarged thyroid
Brink = edge
Balderdash=nonsense
Quadrillion= 1024
Gibberish=nonsense
Motto=an old saying
Baroque=ornate/decorative (exaggerated)
Truncated=shortened
Radiant=glowing
Listless=lethargic (really tired)
Velocity=speed
Projectile=thing flying through the air
Incipient=just beginning
Tour de force=great work
Jeu d’esprit=witty (smart/clever) comment
Camisole=shirt
For next week:
Hoist=lift
Assurance=certainty
Plight=situation
Spurt=spray
Vitality=life force/energy
Pettiness=smallness
Livid=bruised
Shrill=sharp
Console=comfort
Stoically=without emotion
Incongruous=out of place
Snatch=grab quickly
Harrowing=terribly upsetting
Words:
Disparage=to ridicule
Defunct=not working
Bawdily=rudely
Syphilis=a sexual disease
Idling=resting, sitting still
Goiter=enlarged thyroid
Brink = edge
Balderdash=nonsense
Quadrillion= 1024
Gibberish=nonsense
Motto=an old saying
Baroque=ornate/decorative (exaggerated)
Truncated=shortened
Radiant=glowing
Listless=lethargic (really tired)
Velocity=speed
Projectile=thing flying through the air
Incipient=just beginning
Tour de force=great work
Jeu d’esprit=witty (smart/clever) comment
Camisole=shirt
For next week:
Hoist=lift
Assurance=certainty
Plight=situation
Spurt=spray
Vitality=life force/energy
Pettiness=smallness
Livid=bruised
Shrill=sharp
Console=comfort
Stoically=without emotion
Incongruous=out of place
Snatch=grab quickly
Harrowing=terribly upsetting
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Gray Skies
"All the leaves are brown/and the sky is gray/and the sky is gra---ay...I went for a walk/on a winter day...."
- "California Dreamin" by The Mamas and the Papas
They were big in the 1960s. So we call them "oldies" (oldies but goodies). I like them =)
Marrakesh story from the New York Times in full here.
**IF I were to ask you about the tone, what do you think it would be?
What words/sentences point to the tone of the author?
The NYT is a newspaper for an educated demographic. Usually newspapers in the United States are at an 8th grade reading level. The NYT is a little higher.
- "California Dreamin" by The Mamas and the Papas
They were big in the 1960s. So we call them "oldies" (oldies but goodies). I like them =)
Marrakesh story from the New York Times in full here.
**IF I were to ask you about the tone, what do you think it would be?
What words/sentences point to the tone of the author?
The NYT is a newspaper for an educated demographic. Usually newspapers in the United States are at an 8th grade reading level. The NYT is a little higher.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Modern World
Erich Fromm doesn't seem too happy with the modern world, or technology, or the way it's changed the relationship of man/woman to work.
And thus I remembered an awesome song, which deals with this same issue. Wolf Parade's "Modern World."
Here are the lyrics:
I'm not in love with the modern world
I'm not in love with the modern world
It was a torch driving the savages back to the trees
Modern world has more ways
And I don't mention it since it's changed
While the people go out and the people come home again
It's gotta last to build up your eyes
And a lifetime of red skies
And from my bed saying you're haunted, hissing in my bed
Modern world don't ask why
Cause modern world will build things high
Now they house canyons filled with life
Modern world I'm not pleased to meet you
You just bring me down
* If you liked the song during break, it was by Ratatat. Here's another song, "Seventeen Years."
And thus I remembered an awesome song, which deals with this same issue. Wolf Parade's "Modern World."
Here are the lyrics:
I'm not in love with the modern world
I'm not in love with the modern world
It was a torch driving the savages back to the trees
Modern world has more ways
And I don't mention it since it's changed
While the people go out and the people come home again
It's gotta last to build up your eyes
And a lifetime of red skies
And from my bed saying you're haunted, hissing in my bed
Modern world don't ask why
Cause modern world will build things high
Now they house canyons filled with life
Modern world I'm not pleased to meet you
You just bring me down
* If you liked the song during break, it was by Ratatat. Here's another song, "Seventeen Years."
Radio Lingual
Hi Guys!
I just learned one of my friends from college started a radio program back in the US about language. This is a perfect chance for us to use English and discuss what is difficult/interesting. The link is: http://www.jackstraw.org/radiolingual/ and you can even record a short greeting to say hello.
I will be recording people about their thoughts on English and Chinese. Feel free to join in!
Very cool.
Marta
I just learned one of my friends from college started a radio program back in the US about language. This is a perfect chance for us to use English and discuss what is difficult/interesting. The link is: http://www.jackstraw.org/radiolingual/ and you can even record a short greeting to say hello.
I will be recording people about their thoughts on English and Chinese. Feel free to join in!
Very cool.
Marta
skit words
Group 1:
Look at the mourners, wailing sadly and flinging dirt over your corpse into a derelict, oblong coffin.
Group 3:
Group 4:
Clergyman: Boy! Can't you see the mourner--your friends--wailed with grief? They love you. No matter if you live in a luxorious house or a derilect one, the small oblong place will bring you to paradise. God bless you! For your eternal life. Amen!
A: Several minutes ago, you were alive, but now, you are a corpse. Tell me why. (fling something) Let's fling flowers on him.
another:
It is a cluster of prickly pears.
They are trapped in a desolate desert.
They are groping for their way out.
I will drink anything, even a bottle of urine.
It's conspicuous, but we'll get through the desert.
马行 is very keen on this smell.
Look at the mourners, wailing sadly and flinging dirt over your corpse into a derelict, oblong coffin.
Group 3:
It was taken when you were one of the infantry.
How mummified you are!
You were glittering in my heart.
Marriage needs to be well cultivated.
The paper is inverted.
They give a contemptuous laugh.
Group 4:
Clergyman: Boy! Can't you see the mourner--your friends--wailed with grief? They love you. No matter if you live in a luxorious house or a derilect one, the small oblong place will bring you to paradise. God bless you! For your eternal life. Amen!
A: Several minutes ago, you were alive, but now, you are a corpse. Tell me why. (fling something) Let's fling flowers on him.
another:
It is a cluster of prickly pears.
They are trapped in a desolate desert.
They are groping for their way out.
I will drink anything, even a bottle of urine.
It's conspicuous, but we'll get through the desert.
马行 is very keen on this smell.
My heart is now pulsing 300 times per min!
Mr 马 I feel exalted when I see you here!
Mr 马 will never be lagged by trivial things.
I assert that nail polish will illuminate you greatly.
Our great leader gave us a mission to cultivate us.
We must do something to invert people's opinions. (*usually we would say "convert")
It's mummified.
I'm contemptuous.
Assemble, infantry!
Something is glittering.
Here is a desolate desert.
In front of us is a cluster of cactus; it's very conspicuous.
I heard that cactus is prickly.
...We're going to see the waterfall, darling...
Actually, it's the sound of a camel urinating!
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Omelas
Here's a little help for you guys as you read this story.
Omelas is an imaginary city. The story is an allegory; it is a giant metaphor and stands for something else. In the first part of the story, we get a general description of the city, and the author is trying to convince us that the city is real. When the author says you, she means you, the reader. Each of you.
Questions:
1. In paragraph 1, what is the dominant theme? What's going on?
2. In paragraph 3 and the top of 143, what does the author say about happiness? Do you agree (why)?
3. In paragraph 8, what kind of place is the child in? What is the child like? Why is it there?
4. Paragraph 10, What do you think the ending means?
Words to help you:
avenue = small road, lane
mauve = purple
grave = somber
merry = happy
shimmer = sparkle (bright lights, twinkling)
dodge = to avoid (move out of the way
lithe = flexible, agile (moves well)
halter and bit = equipment for riding horses
flare = to open
prance = dance/skip
archaic = prehistoric
litter = bed
pendant = friend/equal
sophisticate = intellectual
treason = betrayal
naive = ignorant
puritanical = strict without any vices (bad habits)
languor = laziness
arcana = ancient mysteries
trivial = unimportant
seep = trickle
clotted = clustered
fumble = touch, hold
hunch = slump, crouch
festered = irritated (a festered wound is a really bad wound)
excrement = poop
impotence = weakness
vile = wicked, evil
paradox = puzzle
imbecile = stupid person
vapid = empty
snivel = to cry
Omelas is an imaginary city. The story is an allegory; it is a giant metaphor and stands for something else. In the first part of the story, we get a general description of the city, and the author is trying to convince us that the city is real. When the author says you, she means you, the reader. Each of you.
Questions:
1. In paragraph 1, what is the dominant theme? What's going on?
2. In paragraph 3 and the top of 143, what does the author say about happiness? Do you agree (why)?
3. In paragraph 8, what kind of place is the child in? What is the child like? Why is it there?
4. Paragraph 10, What do you think the ending means?
Words to help you:
avenue = small road, lane
mauve = purple
grave = somber
merry = happy
shimmer = sparkle (bright lights, twinkling)
dodge = to avoid (move out of the way
lithe = flexible, agile (moves well)
halter and bit = equipment for riding horses
flare = to open
prance = dance/skip
archaic = prehistoric
litter = bed
pendant = friend/equal
sophisticate = intellectual
treason = betrayal
naive = ignorant
puritanical = strict without any vices (bad habits)
languor = laziness
arcana = ancient mysteries
trivial = unimportant
seep = trickle
clotted = clustered
fumble = touch, hold
hunch = slump, crouch
festered = irritated (a festered wound is a really bad wound)
excrement = poop
impotence = weakness
vile = wicked, evil
paradox = puzzle
imbecile = stupid person
vapid = empty
snivel = to cry
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Ha Jin
From an interview, Ha Jin's views on writing:
"You can get into a short story and get it out easily. If I work on a novel, I have to immerse myself in it for a long time completely. You are just absorbed by the work, so it is a very hard process, and sometimes I don't have the time and leisure to do that. As for poetry, it's pure luck. You don't know whether this will work, and you just try and try. I abandon a lot of poems, so I think it is a high order of writing. It's harder and it depends on luck. Sometimes you write a poem without much effort but it works well and sometimes you just work for months on one but it doesn't work."
For more information and interviews, check out:
www.guernicamag.com/spotlight/258/post/
www.powells.com/authors/jin.html
www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/11/novelist-ha-jin/
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1246_the_forum/page17.shtml
"You can get into a short story and get it out easily. If I work on a novel, I have to immerse myself in it for a long time completely. You are just absorbed by the work, so it is a very hard process, and sometimes I don't have the time and leisure to do that. As for poetry, it's pure luck. You don't know whether this will work, and you just try and try. I abandon a lot of poems, so I think it is a high order of writing. It's harder and it depends on luck. Sometimes you write a poem without much effort but it works well and sometimes you just work for months on one but it doesn't work."
For more information and interviews, check out:
www.guernicamag.com/spotlight/258/post/
www.powells.com/authors/jin.html
www.onpointradio.org/shows/2007/11/novelist-ha-jin/
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/specials/1246_the_forum/page17.shtml
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Save the English Language!
That's right! Just like some animal and plant species that are endangered, some words--and languages--are about to become extinct as well!
Ah! What a sad day, the day when fucivorous cannot be used in conversation or exclamation! Or when humans have lost the ability not only to translate, but to think about reality in different langauges.
You can all be joblers (people who do small jobs =) and "adopt" a word to keep it from going extinct! This may sound silly, but there is a standard for how much a word must be used and appear in print to be in a dictionary. That is why there are new words that come into existence every year. Little baby words.
But you can save the ones that need a Mom and Dad. Words that have no one to speak or write them. What? Why do this?
In a world of economics and fear about the future, which is mediated by too much information, understanding each other will be more and more important. Countries will probably close themselves off to others for a while, in terms of trade. Talking about commonalities and issues that pertain to humans everywhere will be more important.
And these silly words that are almost dead?
Maybe they represent ideas that need to be saved, too.
Good luck. Go adopt a word.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)