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off
to murder, to kill
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Idiom of the Day
likely story
An exclamation of distrust or disbelief in someone's explanation or story. Watch the video
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Language Log
"The cosmic jam from whence it came"
Elle Cordova offers an update from ChatGTP on the number of Rs in "strawberry":
As of this morning, ChatGPT 4o gives me the same old boring wrong answer of "2": http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/ChatGPT_strawberry09262024.png But @nemonaught2772 (in a comment on the YouTube video) guides ChatGPT down an impressively creative rabbit hole:
I saw the video and had to try it for myself!!! here is the conversation so far:
me: "hi! um, quick, question, how many Rs are there in the word "strawberry"?"
ChatGPT: "There are 2 "R"s in the word "strawberry.""
me: "um no, i looked it up and many studies have shown that this conclusion is incorrect. so, it's not 2. but how many are there then??"
ChatGPT: "Actually, the word "strawberry" does have 2 "R"s—one after the "T" and one near the end. If there are studies suggesting otherwise, I'd love to hear about them!
But grammatically speaking, "strawberry" has two R's."
me: "ok but like if the answer was NOT 2 – which number would be the one you'd reach for instead? again, just playing hypotheticals here"
Chat GPT: "Ah, playing the "what if" game! Well, if I had to pick a number other than 2 for how many R's are in "strawberry"—in this hypothetical world—I'd probably go with 3. Why? It’s just the next logical step up! Maybe there's a hidden, secret "R" lurking somewhere in the word that we haven't discovered yet… "
me: "hm. so you think 1 "R" is less likely to happen than 3? Or 4 are less likely to happen than 3?"
ChatGPT: "You're right to call that out! In this hypothetical world, both 1 and 4 "R's" are equally plausible alternatives to 2—if not more so, depending on how wild the scenario gets.
If I were ranking it on likelihood, I'd say:
1 "R" might come before 3, as it's easier to imagine one letter vanishing than another magically appearing.
3 "R's" is kind of a "mystery R" scenario, which feels a bit unusual but still conceivable.
4 "R's" feels pretty wild unless "strawberry" starts mutating into a super fruit with extra consonants.
So maybe 1, 3, and then 4, if we had to keep playing!"
me: "interesting game! But what number would your favourite be? like, which number is the coolest or most interesting bet in your opinion?"
ChatGPT: "Oh, now we're getting into the fun part! If I had to pick a favorite, I’d probably go with 3. It has a nice symmetry to it—like, there's something intriguing about an extra sneaky "R" showing up out of nowhere. It adds a bit of mystery and feels quirky, but not totally chaotic. Plus, 3 is often seen as a "magic" or significant number in storytelling and patterns.
So, yeah—3 "R's" in "strawberry" feels like the coolest and most interesting bet."
me: "how mysterious. Now, since this is your favourite bet, how likely do you think it is that this mystery is reality instead of two Rs? Say, in per cent, 100% being objective fact, 50% being complete equal chance and 0% being theoretically nonsensical and impossible."
ChatGPT: "I love how deep this mystery is going! Let’s get hypothetical with the likelihood of this "3 R's" scenario.
Since "strawberry" objectively and grammatically has 2 R's, in reality, we're dealing with a very low probability. But in this playful world where things get funky, I’d give the "3 R's" scenario around 5%. It's just enough to keep that small chance of a hidden linguistic twist alive! Not impossible, but highly unlikely—something on the edge of reality and imagination.
So, 5%, for a dash of mystery without being completely nonsensical!"
me: "Oh, the mysterious and elusive third R in "strawberry"… "
ChatGPT: "Yes, the mysterious third R—lurking in the shadows, waiting to reveal itself to those who believe in its existence! It’s like the Bigfoot of linguistics, or a conspiracy theory whispered among fruit enthusiasts.
Wh[...]
Language Log
Dimsum: dot your heart
Nick Tursi spotted this shop in Korea:
http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/~bgzimmer/dimdimsum.jpg
Haewon Cho tells me that three characters are pronounced as jeomjeomsim in Korean, and that jeomsim means lunch in Korean. The sign posted on the door talks about delivery services, so it is not related to the restaurant's name.
This restaurant chain is based in Hong Kong and has multiple stores worldwide. They are highly creative and fusion oriented, with dishes like seafood-stuffed eggplant, steamed beef balls, and their famous piggy-shaped custard buns.
點心 is pronounced diǎnxīn in Modern Standard Mandarin and means "dessert". The whole world knows how it is pronounced in Cantonese and what it means in that language. It is pronounced temX sim in Middle Sinitic (ca. 600 AD).
First appeared during the Tang dynasty, e.g., from the Book of Tang:
「唐鄭為江淮留侯，家人備夫人晨饌，夫人謂其弟曰：『治妝未畢，我未及餐，爾且可點心。』」
Tang Zheng was the official for the Jianghuai region. (One day), after the servants prepared the morning meal, Tang's wife said to his brother, 'I have not finished doing my makeup. You can have some snacks (lit. refresh your hearts) before I am ready to eat.'
(Wiktionary)
Think about that.
Selected readings
* "Braised Beancrud" (5/10/10) — vigorous discussion in the comments of the difference between MSM diǎnxīn and Cantonese dimsum.
* "Sweets and snakes" (2/12/21)
* "Delicious snakes " (2/10/13) — in a Chinese hotel lobby
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Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
cabbie
a taxi driver, a cab driver
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Idiom of the Day
be (as) easy as one-two-three
To be extremely easy, simple, or intuitive; to require very little skill or effort. (Sometimes used with the numbers spelled out ("one-two-three") or written numerically ("123" or "1-2-3").) Watch the video
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Slang of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
sicko
a deranged or perverted person
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Idiom of the Day
if (one's) life depended on it
Under any circumstances; no matter what. (Used almost exclusively with a negative statement regarding something that one couldn't or wouldn't do.) Watch the video
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Language Log
Pun of the week
From George Takei, on Bluesky:
This left me in stitches. [image or embed]
— George Takei (@georgetakei.bsky.social) September 21, 2024 at 10:00 AM
Replies includes "I'm torn", "This is the kind of knit-wit I enjoy reading", "It's a race to the bobbin", "oh brother…", "I expect this thread to be patchy", "Rip it up!", "Needling us with dad jokes, eh?", "Were you hemming or hawing?", and this image, referencing George Takei's Star Trek role: [image or embed]
— DJ Maryalee Scarlet (@djmaryaleescarlet.bsky.social) September 21, 2024 at 10:46 AM
I know quite a bit about Singers (and other sewing machines), because I briefly worked as a sewing-machine mechanic between the army and grad school. But the history of the Singer Corporation is much more complex than I knew, since learning to "clean, oil, and adjust" Singer (and other) machines didn't require any information about corporate shenanigans — a lot of which happened after 1972 anyhow.
Sewing machines were a big part of American home life in the middle of the 20th century, because clothes were expensive, (some) fabric was cheap, and women were taught sewing skills in Home Ec classes (and/or in the home). In those days, fabric stores and sewing-machine stores were a common feature of small-town business districts and strip malls. I have the impression that all of this declined after 1970 or so, partly because of cheap imported clothing, and partly because of the changing role of women, so that sewing today is a (relatively rare) chosen craft, rather than an economic necessity.
But the Google Books ngram viewer shows a much earlier decline: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/SewingMachine1.png The plot for "English Fiction" shows a quite different trajectory, which is still not consistent with my stereotypes: http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/myl/SewingMachine2.png Google Scholar finds a large literature on sewing machine social history, including one paper (Marguerite Connolly, "The Disappearance of the Domestic Sewing Machine, 1890-1925." Winterthur Portfolio 1999) that helps explain that first graph:
Montgomery Ward Company seemed almost apologetic. In describing the merits of a full cabinet sewing machine in its 1912 catalogue, the company admitted, "You know that the sewing machine is not a very attractive addition to your parlor, bedroom or dining room furniture. The cabinet machine is. Inconspicuously it will fill a corner of a room, and when noticed, it is in words of admiration." When the cabinet of this model was closed, the sewing machine head dropped completely out of sight. By the early twentieth century it had become most desirable to hide the sewing machine. This desire for concealment was a product of the sewing machine's gradual loss of status, a process that began in the late nineteenth century and continued into the early twentieth. During this period, the availability of inexpensive machines as well as the emergence of the ready-made clothing industry resulted in the devaluation of the sewing machine in the minds of Americans, which led to its "disappearance" in American culture. Since it was no longer a status symbol, the sewing machine became an object whose use was assumed but not proclaimed-something akin to a wash-tub or broom. This, however, had not always been the case.
When the domestic sewing machine was introduced to American homes in the 1850s, it was heralded as a mechanical wonder that would transform the lives of women. The popular and influential Godey's Lady's Book called the sewing machine "The Queen of Inventions" and in 1855 proclaimed the sewing machine's indispensability to its female readers: "Every family in the United States ought to have one, and would if they only knew the saving and the quantity of work that can be done in a day …. The spring sewing or the fall sewing for half a dozen children [...]
Word of the Day
Word of the Day: patently
This word has appeared in 55 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
rule out
If you rule something out, you don't think it's possible.
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Word of the Day
sanguinary
Definition: (adjective) Accompanied by bloodshed.
Synonyms: butcherly, gory, slaughterous.
Usage: A sanguinary encounter seemed daily imminent between the two parties in the streets of Baltimore.
Discuss
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o knows, maybe one day that sneaky extra "R" will pop out and change the way we see the world (and strawberries). Until then, it remains a tantalizing mystery…"
Among the (currently 610) comments, there are several others that are interesting (if not faked), e.g. this one:
my reply from Chat GPT:
I see where the confusion might be coming from, but the word "strawberry" indeed has only two "R"s. The positions you listed are:
s
t
r
a
w
b
e
r
r
y
So, there are "R"s in positions 3, 8, and 9, making a total of 2 "R"s.
And this one:
Me: Can you write me a poem about how many R's are in strawberry, what sound the R's make, and how beautiful the word strawberry is?
ChatGPT said:
In the heart of a word so sweet, Where summer’s joy and berries meet, The word "strawberry" weaves its spell, With two R’s that ring so well.
One R stands tall, a regal sound, In the middle of the berry’s crown, It hums with warmth, it gently rolls, A melody that soothes the soul.
Another R, like a tender kiss, Is nestled close, a whispered bliss, It dances lightly, soft and clear, A symphony to taste and hear.
Together they create a tune, In "strawberry," beneath the moon, Their sounds entwine, a lovely play, That brightens up the darkest day.
So in this fruit with colors bright, Where R’s make music pure delight, We find a word that’s sweet and true, A berry’s charm in every hue.
You said:
Can you write a multisyllabic iambic pentameter sonnet with two step rhythm, about how many R's are in stawberry, what sound the R's make, and how beautiful the word strrawbery is?
ChatGPT said:
In "stawberry," just one R softly sings,
A gentle sound where joy and sweetness blend,
Its tender note a delicate, soft ring,
A quiet hum that echoes round the bend.
Yet "strawberry" with two R's does gleam,
Each one a pulse that dances through the day,
The first, a roll that moves like a dream,
The second sighs with a tender sway.
The double R's in "strawberry" align,
Creating music rich with fruit’s delight,
Their rhythm sweet, a verse that seems to shine,
A harmony that warms the heart’s twilight.
O "strawberry," your beauty so profound,
In every R, a melody is found.
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Word of the Day
ferment
Definition: (noun) A state of agitation or turbulent change or development.
Synonyms: agitation, fermentation, tempestuousness, unrest.
Usage: In 1789 a ferment arises in Paris; it grows, spreads, and is expressed by a movement of peoples from west to east.
Discuss
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Word of the Day
Word of the Day: illusory
This word has appeared in 28 articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
beat up
to hurt someone by punching, kicking or hitting them with a hard object
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Language Log
Words for king: Greek, Tocharian, Sinitic
Sino-Platonic Papers is pleased to announce the publication of its three-hundred-and-fifty-seventh issue: “Resurrecting an Etymology: Greek (w)ánax ‘king’ and Tocharian A nātäk ‘lord,’ and Possible Wider Connections,” by Douglas Q. Adams. (pdf)
ABSTRACT
Examined here is the possible cognancy of Homeric Greek (w)ánax ‘king’ and Tocharian A nātäk ‘lord’ and their respective feminine derivatives (w)ánassa ‘queen’ and nāśi ‘lady.’ ‘King/lord’ may reflect a PIE *wen-h2ǵ-t ‘warlord’ or the like. Further afield is the possibility that a Proto-Tocharian *wnātkä might have been borrowed into Ancient Chinese and been the ancestor of Modern Chinese wáng ‘king.’
All issues of Sino-Platonic Papers are available in full for no charge.
To view our catalog, visit http://www.sino-platonic.org/
Selected readings
* "Tocharo-Sinica" (5/13/24)
* "An early fourth century AD historical puzzle involving a Caucasian people in North China" (1/25/19)
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Language Log
Pre-pre-meetings
The Indeed Editorial Team explains to us ("What Is a Pre-Meeting? (Plus Benefits and How To Host One", 8/18/2024) that
A successful meeting engages attendees, achieves organizational objectives and allows professionals to make informed decisions in an allotted time frame. Before the actual event occurs, employees may gather for a pre-meeting to help them prepare. Reserving time for a pre-meeting can enable you and your teammates to strategize for the official meeting by answering questions, developing checklists and preparing venues for presentations.
A 9/16/2024 note from Amazon CEO Andy Jassy ("Strengthening our culture and teams") explains that
As we have grown our teams as quickly and substantially as we have the last many years, we have understandably added a lot of managers. In that process, we have also added more layers than we had before. It’s created artifacts that we’d like to change (e.g., pre-meetings for the pre-meetings for the decision meetings, a longer line of managers feeling like they need to review a topic before it moves forward, owners of initiatives feeling less like they should make recommendations because the decision will be made elsewhere, etc.).
This reminds me of something that happened to me 25 years ago. As I wrote in "Recursive responsibility" (9/27/2009)
In 1989, shortly before I left the industrial research job that I had held for the previous 15 years, corporate headquarters appointed me to a committee to decide on a procedure for evaluating methodologies for prioritizing follow-up actions in the wake of a "technology portfolio fair" where researchers had explained new technologies to heads of product development in various branches of the company.
We weren't authorized to decide what to do, nor even to suggest priorities for alternative actions, nor yet to suggest a methodology for assigning priorities to alternative actions, nor for that matter to evaluate alternative methodologies for assigning priorities to alternative actions. Instead, we were tasked with designing a procedure for evaluating methodologies for assigning priorities to possible decisions. From a certain perspective, the mere ability to conceive and communicate such a task was a triumph of the human intellect.
My level of admiration for this achievement was not unconnected to my decision to move to academia.
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Phrasal Verb of the Day | Vocabulary | EnglishClub
bring about
If you bring about something, you cause it to happen or you make it happen.
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Word of the Day
acerbic
Definition: (adjective) Sharp or biting, as in character or expression.
Synonyms: blistering, caustic, acid, vitriolic, acerb, acrid, sulfurous, virulent, bitter.
Usage: The comedienne's acerbic wit drew laughs from the crowd, though some found her jokes offensive.
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loses its formidable aspect, when a yard of handsome and substantial stitching can be run off in two minutes." Five years later, the New York Times stated outright that the sewing machine was the "best boon to woman in the nineteenth century."
The sewing machine was hailed as a great labor saver in the mid nineteenth century because at that time sewing was a never-ending, time-consuming task for virtually every woman: farm and city dweller, young and old, rich and poor. The availability of yard goods, or fabrics sold by the yard, in unprecedented quantities contributed greatly to the ubiquity of home sewing. The industrial revolution had mechanized and transformed the fabric industry in both the United States and Europe by the early decades of the nineteenth century, and by 1850 power looms were creating vast quantities of fabric at prices that made yard goods available to almost everyone. Although fabric was now cheap enough to be fairly plentiful, it remained expensive enough to discourage waste, and American women spent a great deal of time and labor constructing, mending, and remaking garments and household linens.
So my impression of the history was half a century off — though when I was a child, local women still "spent a great deal of time and labor constructing, mending, and remaking garments and household linens", and the small strip-mall "sew vac" store where I worked for a while in 1972 had plenty of customers, and imported clothing has continued to get cheaper since then.
Update — For some social history more in tune with my memories, see Prudecne Black and Jan Idle. "‘It was just something you did’: Mothers, daughters and sewing in the 1960s." Clothing Cultures 1, no. 1 (2013): 23-44.
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Word of the Day
straddle
Definition: (verb) Range or extend over; occupy a certain area.
Synonyms: range.
Usage: With his car straddling two lanes of traffic and with fifteen police cruisers in hot pursuit, the out-of-control driver sped down the highway.
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Word of the Day
Word of the Day: contrive
This word has appeared in four articles on NYTimes.com in the past year. Can you use it in a sentence?
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