Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘linguistics’

Firefly or Lightning Bug?

Posted in Science!, Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on June 2, 2023| 1 Comment »

I’m knee-deep in appliance shopping (yes, 1, 2, 3, 4 again), but I ran across a fun dialect survey and thought you, gentle readers, might find it amusing. There are fireflies (or are they lightning bugs?). There are drive-through liquor stores (or not). There are maps!

Word choice is also a useful dimension to consider when developing a character.

Here’s the source that tipped me off:

The Decade-Old Dialect Quiz You Should Take – Now I Know

And here’s a link to the survey:

And here’s a more in-depth look at firefly vs. lightning bug:

Why Some Americans Say ‘Firefly’ and Others Say ‘Lightning Bug’

* * *

Photo by Rajesh Rajput on Unsplash

Read Full Post »

Attention

Posted in Writing, tagged , , , , , , , on September 19, 2014| Leave a Comment »

So I’m chatting with my mother and somehow the topic of her graduate work comes up. Next thing I know we’re discussing linguistics, theories of form, elegance as a measure of validity, and how it’s possible to learn a language in a weekend (if you’re awesome, like my mom).

Not that I needed it with her, but it was a great reminder that everyone is interesting, everyone is complex and multi-layered and experienced in some way. Given the press of time and the tyranny of labels, it can be too easy to let this drift to the background. Mother, neighbor, mail carrier, teacher, gas station attendant. They are these things, yes. And much more.

Liking a person has less to do with it than you might think. The man who throws a huge stack of newspaper advertising against my front door every week, where it lands with a loud bang? His limp tells me he may not just be doing it to be annoying.

Everyone has a story. It’s important not to forget it, especially if you are a writer.

Pay attention. It’s all about paying attention. Attention is vitality. It connects you with others. It makes you eager. Stay eager.”
― Susan Sontag

Read Full Post »