[Cialug] [OT] Security and the browser

[Daniel A. Ramaley]

The Sapir-Worf hypothesis only partially explains how people think; 
people are capable of thinking of things outside their language's 
vocabulary. A well-known example is the German word "schadenfreude" 
which means something like taking pleasure in the misfortune of 
another. English doesn't have a single word with that meaning. But it 
doesn't mean the concept is absent in English speakers' minds.

Oh, and the idea that the Inuit have 20 words for snow is not entirely 
accurate. Many of the Eskimo languages are polysynthetic. Which means 
that the grammar allows for building arbitrary new words on the fly. 
Which means that they have an infinite number of words for snow, or 
alternatively, that the concept of a specific number of words for snow 
just doesn't make sense in those languages. Thinking they have 20 words 
comes from a very Anglo-centric outsiders view of the Eskimo languages. 
Here are a couple articles on the subject; Google can find many more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eskimo_words_for_snow
http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/263/what-are-the-nine-eskimo-words-for-snow

On Thursday October 23 2008 14:52, Ralph Kessel wrote:
>Linguist Benjamin Lee Whorf  made an observation during the 1930's
> that was collectively tagged the Whorf-Sapir hypothesis while working
> in an environment with drums filled with gasoline were not
> "flammable" but empty drums were. This to the view that
> linguistic/semantic factors determine how we view the world, eg the
> Eskimos/Inuit have over 20 words for snow. George Orwell, Adolph
> Hitler, and others  picked up this concept with "Newspeak".  Of
> course, our news media continuously pack new words and phrases into
> our language.  "Multi-tasking" had a very specific and precise
> meaning in computer science and now it is interpreted as doing
> anything at the same time. (Something impossible except under quantum
> mechanics).
>
>Check it out in the Wikipedia under the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis.
>
>----- Original Message ----
>From: Barry Von Ahsen <barry at vonahsen.com>
>To: Central Iowa Linux Users Group <cialug at cialug.org>
>Sent: Wednesday, October 22, 2008 1:00:57 PM
>Subject: Re: [Cialug] [OT] Security and the browser
>
>inflammable means flammable?!?  what a country!
>
>-barry
>
>Josh More wrote:
>> Just to take this really far off topic, I'd like to recommend that
>> everyone participating in this conversation read "The Meaning of
>> Everything: The Story of the Oxford English Dictionary"  (
>> http://www.amazon.com/Meaning-Everything-Oxford-English-Dictionary/d
>>p/019517500X/ ).
>>
>> It's very well written and fascinating, for those of us who
>> appreciate language enough to quibble about it on a technology list.
>>  :)
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -Josh More, RHCE, CISSP, NCLP, GIAC
>>  morej at alliancetechnologies.net
>>  515-245-7701
>>
>>>>> "Daniel A. Ramaley" <daniel.ramaley at drake.edu> 10/22/08 12:27 PM
>>
>> On Wednesday October 22 2008 12:04, Bryan Baker wrote:
>>>> It's one of those things where some people use it incorrectly, it
>>>> eventually becomes accepted practice to use it incorrectly.
>>>
>>> Exactly. It literally means to reduce by 1/10 and is now used as a
>>> synonym for total destruction (an almost 180*spin).
>>
>> I think that's getting close to the difference between prescriptive
>> and
>>
>> descriptive linguistics. I used to have a more prescriptive view of
>> language. These days i think (probably as a result of learning some
>> Japanese in a non-traditional program) that a descriptive view is
>> better. Languages change over time; words change meaning and new
>> grammar and vocabulary are developed while old are dropped.
>>
>> Prescriptivists will tend to think that language should be static
>> and not change. I think prescriptivists probably would make better
>> junior high language teachers since they are less accepting of
>> "errors". Descriptivists who simply try to divine the existing rules
>> of a language rather than enforcing some external rules are probably
>> better
>>
>> at accepting the change of language over time.
>>
>> Perhaps slightly more on topic: so what does the word "hacker" mean?
>> There's a good example of a word that has changed meaning, and did
>> so in a very short period of time.
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------
>>---- Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118, Drake
>> University
>> Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave
>> +1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311 USA
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-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dan Ramaley                            Dial Center 118, Drake University
Network Programmer/Analyst             2407 Carpenter Ave
+1 515 271-4540                        Des Moines IA 50311 USA