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Most examples
My note this morning on "Most" stirred up some discussion:Geoff Nunberg: I think 'most' licenses a default generalization, relative to a bunch of pragmatic factors, …MattF: I think 'most' has a normative or qualitative sense in addition to a quantitative sense.John Cowan: For me too, "most" has a defeasible implicature of "much [...]
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Most
From this week's Studio 360, in an interesting interview with John Irving, this interesting evidence about the meaning of most:Kurt Andersen: I- I read somewhere that you said that now m- most of your audience, you believe, reads you not in English. They are not only overseas but people not in the United Kingdom or Australia. [...]
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Ghost fishing lobster
An especially poetical crash blossom, which conjures up a possible surrealist horror movie: "Ghost fishing lobster traps target of study", CBC News, 7/30/2010.(I mean, of course, the movie about the lobster fishing for ghosts, not the one about the ghost fishing for lobster.)The screenshot:
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Universal Grammar haters
It's bizarre. Suddenly every piece of linguistic research is spun as a challenge to "universal grammar". The most recent example involves Ewa Dabrowka's interesting work on the linguistic correlates of large educational differences — Quentin Cooper did a segment on BBC 4, a couple of days ago, about how this challenges the whole idea of [...]
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Lou Gehrig's crash blossom
Arijit Guha sent along this remarkable crash blossom from the CNN website (spotted by his wife Heather):The lead paragraph explains:Atlanta, Georgia (CNN) — A Georgia man suffering from Lou Gehrig's disease says he wants to die by having his organs harvested rather than wait for his degenerative nerve ailment to kill him.It's hard to read [...]
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World Wide Words
Weird Words: Curtain lecture [New]
It has nothing to do with talks in theatres. A curtain lecture is an unpleasant marital confrontation.
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Questions and Answers: Dilemma [New]
Why should so many people down the years have been taught that the word was spelled dilemna.
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The Onion
The Onion
Dear The Onion, I'd just like to say there's no reason to change your oil every 3,000 miles. Your car can make it to 5,000 easy. Don Schwarting, Saginaw, MI
Letters To The Editor: Oil Change
NEW YORK—Officials from the Hawks, Celtics, and Heat expressed interest in Shaquille O'Neal as a person Wednesday, confirming league rumors that they believed the free agent center would be highly suitable for a long-term friendship.
Several NBA Teams Interested In Shaq As A Person
DAVENPORT, IA—According to your Aunt Sharon, Jeffrey is his own boss, he can take vacation time whenever he wants, and people call him "doctor."
[audio] Area Man Breaks Out Dating Boxers
CINCINNATI—The Bengals reached a contract agreement with wide receiver Terrell Owens Tuesday, signing the outspoken six-time Pro Bowler to an excruciating one-year ordeal worth $2 million plus bonuses.
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