March 22, 2011

Storch


A word gift from the Outer Circle (yeah, I'm talking about you, Jojo).

March 18, 2011

Toe the line


Toe the line
Tow the line?
No, toe the line!
I'm seeing ships
Sailors
Definitely nautical
Nautical?
Rope
Like, heavy rope
A.k.a. lines
That you tow
What about the party line
Tow the party line?
Toe the party line?
Toes on the line
Runners
Athletics
Now I'm thinking Capture the Flag
Toes
Lines
Taunting
No, wait, respecting the line?
Staying behind the line?
Or is it pushing it?
Like pushing the envelope?
The party envelope
A bunch of sailors toeing/towing lines and pushing envelopes
While playing Capture the Flag

I have yet to find an expressions that bears such a wondrous constellation of simultaneous divergence and convergence in associations in people's minds.

March 10, 2011

Language is not a thing


Canagarajah has a bone to pick with linguistics:

"To begin with, the field treats language as a thing in itself, an objective, identifiable product. The field also gives important to form, treating langauge as a tightly knit structure, neglecting other processes and practices that always accompany communication... Inadequate attention is paid to the way in which various language forms and varieties are embedded in diverse environments, perfectly adequate in their own way for the functions at hand."

--from "Ecology of Global English" (2007)