.....Dear Ruthie, we've gone through linguistics before--in another post. As far as "eggcorns" are concerned...well, they're cute, but will not last long in the science of linguistics. My BA degree lists me as a Bachelor of Science--a BS even though I have had a thorough road to travel through English literature. My major was linguistics, and I d9n/t think even my family knows this. Linguistics is a science and that's why my BA degree is a BS. If you get my meaning. My MA is really a Master of Arts, meaning I cas do "To be or not to B" by heart. And then, running the full gamut, my last degree describes me as a Doctor of Education...because, I suppose, the degree guys decided that my science of linguistics would be of more help in the classroom as a new way of teaching grammar, for heaven's sake! I don't teach grammar...I really can't label the curriculum that I taught--but it was more of a PhD than an EdD. And so, I'm a PhD--like Socrates and Plato. But
.....Students who major in linguistics acquire valuable intellectual skills, such as analytical reasoning, critical thinking, argumentation, and clarity of expression. Linguistics is a major that gives you insight into one of the most intriguing aspects of human knowledge and behavior. Majoring in linguistics means that you will learn about many aspects of human language, including sounds (phonetics, phonology), words (morphology), sentences (syntax), and meaning (semantics). Language, you know, is not how it's written, but how it's spoken.
......Getting away from the esoteric stuff, I'm sure you all (4 or 5 readers) know that President Obama has added to his legacy, the easing of our relationship with Cuba. By the same token, the GOOP Congress has added to their legacy of criticism of everything the President attemps to due. It's naturally what you might expect from a Plutocratic political party. What I did notice was te anger of Cubans who escaped from Batista and Fidel by landing here, sand the joyous reaction of the Cubans in Cuba. I suppose they were cheering the bit of freedom that Obama's plan has given them. As for me, I was joyous because the Marlins were assured of a star pitcher and second baseman.
Dear Baron, I'm so thrilled and flattered that once more you have addressed me directly in your blogpost! All you have said has been noted. Good job, though, that it was a BS you got, 'cos in Edward Albee's "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" a learned character says that ABMAPhD [BA, MA, 'n' PhD] is a wasting disease of the brain.
ReplyDeleteAs for your last para., I'm at a loss again. Not a total loss, because I've grasped that you're talking about baseball. But I'm afraid that I don't know who the Marlins are, nor exactly how they'll benefit from rapprochement with Cuba. Once more, I crave enlightenment of you.
It's quite clear, btw, why the Florida Cubans are upset. The new order signifies that they'll be sidelined by History from this day forth. Also, they might have to relinquish their claims to any property that had to be left in Cuba when they or their ancestors scarpered. The latter might well have been part of the deal, either explicitly or implicitly. Much love, Cuzzin Ruth
Dear Ruthie Cuz: The Marlins are the Miami baseball team. The Cubans are noted for their excellent players, so with the new rules perhaps the Marlins will benefit by landing a couple of Cuban baseball players. Thus attendance will increase because of the many Cubans in Miami. This will give them a chance to forget the Communist regime there for two or three hours.
ReplyDeleteWell, bully for them. We all need to take our minds off our troubles now and then somehow. But I read of the "damas de blanco" getting their white knickers in a twist about the rapprochement. Their ostensible reason is that the rapprochement will give the Cuban government the green light to go on being tyrannous, whereas, they really can't tell at this stage how things will pan out, because nobody can. As I suggested, what's making them really cross is being about to be shoved aside by the march of history. And with their being women, it's highly unlikely that a few hours a week of passive spectator sport will be enough to distract them.
ReplyDeleteAnd if the Martians can pick up good players cheap, well that's fine, except that I think that as a result, Cuba will produce fewer of their world-famous medics. Everyone knows that being a Cuban medic was the only opportunity the populace had to travel abroad and be allowed to come back again. I predict a fall in recruitment of medical students, now that the young of Cuba can go and join the Merlins, or go and be media consultants and phone sanitizers and marketing men/women and so forth. Cuzzin Ruth
A drabble is a fiction of 100 words.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Baron! (Note to everyone else: the Baron's last comment isn't a strange aberration, but a reply to a query I'd raised in e-correspondence.) I've now looked up the origin of the word "drabble, " and there's an Anglo-Saxon word, drabblaen, about paddling in the mire or something like that. The word for the game was invented, it seems, by the Monty Python team in the 1970s. Whether they had the Anglo-Saxon mud or the novelist Margaret Drabble in mind, or whether it just rhymed with Scrabble, or all or any of these explanations - these are all imponderables, it seems.
ReplyDeleteIt's the day after Christmas over here, and the snow lies deep and crisp and even....
Love to all, Cuzzin Ruth