You asked. We answer.
Why do we talk the way we do? Where do our words and phrases come from? And why are they sometimes so very strange?
Linguist Daniel Midgley has something for everyone on this episode of Talk the Talk.
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Show notes
The Word Detective: Go Bananas
http://www.word-detective.com/2015/04/go-bananas/
The mystery of “going bananas.”
http://discovolonte.typepad.com/discovolonte/2007/12/the-mystery-of.html
First instance of “cool bananas”
Google Books link
Oxford Dictionaries: What is the origin of ‘banana’?
http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2014/08/origin-banana/
Why are し/ち transliterated as ‘shi’/’chi’, and not ‘si’/’ti’?
http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/19807/why-are-し-ち-transliterated-as-shi-chi-and-not-si-ti
The photo:
We might have a winner in the spelling stakes for 2016 #mediawatch pic.twitter.com/3blOzPueYb
— Media Watch (@ABCmediawatch) 30 September 2016
Grammarist: Lieutenant
http://grammarist.com/spelling/lieutenant/
Online Etymology Dictionary: Lieutenant
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=lieutenant&allowed_in_frame=0
Online Etymology Dictionary: Colonel
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=colonel
Sorry, it was Roman Jakobsen, not Otto Jespersen who said “Languages differ essentially in what they must convey and not in what they may convey.”
http://www.economist.com/blogs/johnson/2010/09/language_and_thought
Wikipedia: Elizabeth (given name)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_(given_name)
Lindsay Lohan Explains Her Unusual New Accent
http://www.vanityfair.com/style/2016/11/lindsay-lohan-new-accent-explanation
Ecosexuals Believe Having Sex with the Earth Could Save It
http://www.vice.com/read/ecosexuals-believe-having-sex-with-the-earth-could-save-it
Ecosexual Bathhouse at Melbourne’s botanic gardens arousing interest in the environment
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-05-10/ecosexual-bathhouse-in-next-wave-arts-festival/7396720
You Can Literally Have Sex with the Environment in This ‘Ecosexual Bathhouse’
https://broadly.vice.com/en_us/article/you-can-literally-have-sex-with-the-environment-in-this-ecosexual-bathhouse
On Otherkin and Trans People
https://thingofthings.wordpress.com/2016/01/25/otherkin-are-not-harming-the-trans-movement/
Otherkin
https://www.otherkincommunity.org/wiki/Otherkin#Awakening
Otherkin Are People Too; They Just Identify as Nonhuman
http://www.vice.com/read/from-dragons-to-foxes-the-otherkin-community-believes-you-can-be-whatever-you-want-to-be
“Compersion: A Polyamorous Principle That Can Strengthen Any Relationship.” And the word’s origin.
http://polyinthemedia.blogspot.com.au/2015/03/compersion-polyamorous-principle-that.html
How do you pronounce debut?
https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/news/view/editor/article/173/
Image credit: http://www.investmentu.com/assets/images/content/2014/03/rsz_dollarphotoclub_56153912-11.jpg
Transcript
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19 November 2016 at 9:38 am
I’m sorry for the impertinence, but I feel obligated to point out to you that it’s Roman JAKOBSON, not Roman Jakobsen.