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| Grammar |
 Title text: Communication is one of the most popular ways to transmit information, ahead of rivals such as |
Explanation
Miss Lenhart is shown teaching a classroom about grammar, which is a system of rules describing how a certain language is structured. This is useful to make communication and meaning standardized and clear, with little to no difficulty in parsing. However, due to having many rules and structures to learn, the grammar of some languages can be viewed with annoyance by some people who wish it were 'simpler'. Miss Lenhart claims that grammar is "one of the most popular ways to structure a language" and presents two alternative methods, but this is odd, as grammar is how we structure a language. Also, if the names of these 'rivals' illustrate their use, they reflect their own rules, and thus imply their own grammar. She also presents two alternative methods (though it could be interpreted as a list of four items without commas to split it up) that competed to substitute grammar, yet evidently never took off to be implemented for practical use. Despite seeming nonsensical, they've gained their own linguistic terminology:
- Words order words random words words random good
- This alternate to grammar likely has very loose rules around structure, as it consists of simply stating words that relate directly to the idea being conveyed (as opposed to normal grammar, which focuses on linking together many words to form a single coherent idea). This is superficially similar to some languages, like Ukrainian, where word order does not matter. However, in these languages, its role in the sentence is simply replaced with more in-depth conjugation, which is also a form of grammar. The provided sentence, conversely, appears to have neither conjugation nor any meaningful ordering, which would make it difficult to convey more complex concepts.
- EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
- This might be referencing a scream as a form of communication. Screams are capable of communicating small amounts of information, primarily the fact that someone is attempting to draw one's attention, but cannot convey most concepts without use of complex, structured encoding patterns like Morse code (which do not appear to be present here). Alternatively, it could be made up of various random syllables, with others in the system too. (like 'AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH' & 'OOOOOOOOOOOH'). It may also be a reference to one of the questions recorded in Randall's What If? 2 book, in the Short Answers #5 chapter. The "question", posted by Nate Yu, was a string of 960 letters "E", to which Randall replied: "I feel you, Nate".
The title text continues Lenhart's lecture, as she moves on to communication and its rival alternatives, similar to the subject of grammar, but seems to cut off before naming the first one. Lenhart is self-demonstrating non-communication, as the sudden stop in the middle of the sentence could be a joke for how there are no other ways to convey information without communication. Still, this doesn't rule at least one other 'rival' to communication, as Lenhart implies that at least one more method exists. If communication is defined as successful transmission of information, it is possible she is referring to some sort of method(s) that attempts, but fails to transmit information. Nonetheless, demonstrating lack of communication would not be useful in this setting without further explanation, as abruptly ceasing to provide more information could instill confusion in her students.
Transcript
- [Miss Lenhart is teaching in a classroom. Two students can be seen sitting at desks in front of her, Cueball in the first row and Megan in the second row.]
- Miss Lenhart: Grammar is one of the most popular ways to structure a language, ahead of rival methods such as words order words random words words random good and EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.
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