language and thought

Cratylus: Are Names Arbitrary?

Is the word "cat" purely random, or does the sound itself carry the essence of the animal? We revisit Plato’s…

5 days ago

Paralipsis: The Rhetoric of Mentioning by Ignoring

Paralipsis is the ancient rhetorical art of emphasizing a subject by significantly pretending to pass over it—exemplified by phrases like,…

5 days ago

Total Physical Response: Learning by Moving

Why do we remember commands like "stand up" better if we actually perform the action? This post explores Total Physical…

5 days ago

Semantic Priming: Why ‘Butter’ Unlocks ‘Bread’

Have you ever noticed how hearing the word "Salt" instantly makes you think of "Pepper"? This isn't a coincidence; it's…

5 days ago

Kennings: The Metal-Crushing Metaphors of Old English

Explore the metal-crushing metaphors and poetic riddles of Old English known as Kennings. From the "whale-road" to the "bone-house", discover…

5 days ago

Incubus: The Horror Cult Classic Filmed in Esperanto

Explore the bizarre history of *Incubus* (1966), the horror cult classic starring William Shatner that was filmed entirely in Esperanto.…

5 days ago

A Century of Change: Azerbaijani’s 4 Script Swaps

In the 20th century, Azerbaijani speakers were forced to change their official alphabet three times—from Perso-Arabic to Latin, to Cyrillic,…

5 days ago

Broken Plurals: Why Arabic Rejects Suffixes

Unlike English, which relies on suffixes to denote plurality, Arabic utilizes "Broken Plurals"—a system where words are shattered and rearranged…

5 days ago

From LEGO to Hygge: The Danish Words You Already Know

From the nursery to the design studio, Danish words like LEGO and Hygge have infiltrated the global consciousness, yet their…

5 days ago

A Measure for Everything: How Mandarin Categorizes the World

In Mandarin Chinese, you cannot simply say "three books"—grammatical rules force speakers to categorize the world through specific classifiers based…

5 days ago

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