Editing 2390: Linguists
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To most people, the phrases "fell down a hole" and "fell in a hole" are paraphrases. To other people, however, the two sentences have a subtle difference that implies slightly different things; for example, whether one has fully or only partially fallen down/in the hole, how big the hole is, or whether the person has exited out of the hole yet at the time of speaking (see the paragraph on the title text below). Ponytail is thus asking whether the person chose to use 'down' over 'in' for those reasons. In either case, the joke here is that this is probably not the best time for Ponytail to ask. | To most people, the phrases "fell down a hole" and "fell in a hole" are paraphrases. To other people, however, the two sentences have a subtle difference that implies slightly different things; for example, whether one has fully or only partially fallen down/in the hole, how big the hole is, or whether the person has exited out of the hole yet at the time of speaking (see the paragraph on the title text below). Ponytail is thus asking whether the person chose to use 'down' over 'in' for those reasons. In either case, the joke here is that this is probably not the best time for Ponytail to ask. | ||
− | In the caption, Randall comments on the stereotype that linguists are obnoxious elitists who only love telling people how wrong they are ("{{w|Linguistic prescription|Grammar Nazi}}s"). A linguist might make a statement like this that ends with something like "linguists actually are only trying to describe existing grammar rules, not prescribe them." Instead, Randall takes the comment in an unexpected direction by saying not that linguists are better than expected but actually worse. He claims that seeking to extract exact information is worse than if they were pedants browbeating their audience, possibly because a pedant could prioritize the elements of a situation better than Ponytail is doing here | + | In the caption, Randall comments on the stereotype that linguists are obnoxious elitists who only love telling people how wrong they are ("{{w|Linguistic prescription|Grammar Nazi}}s"). A linguist might make a statement like this that ends with something like "linguists actually are only trying to describe existing grammar rules, not prescribe them." Instead, Randall takes the comment in an unexpected direction by saying not that linguists are better than expected but actually worse. He claims that seeking to extract exact information is worse than if they were pedants browbeating their audience, possibly because a pedant could prioritize the elements of a situation better than Ponytail is doing here, or possibly referencing [[2421: Tower of Babel]]. |
This is similar to the viewpoint dedicated to scientists in comic [[877: Beauty]], as in studying that field seems to be a cold and sad way to analyze the thing, but instead is an extreme form of child-like awe and inspiration. | This is similar to the viewpoint dedicated to scientists in comic [[877: Beauty]], as in studying that field seems to be a cold and sad way to analyze the thing, but instead is an extreme form of child-like awe and inspiration. |