Hide your students! Hide your TAs!
Economists are doing linguistics again. 🙄
Economists are doing linguistics again. 🙄
I worked for 15 hours today. But now I'm home and I got a glass of whiskey in front of me 🥃So buckle up, errybody! Let's do this!
To the author of this study:
Hey, I ain't met you
Your study's craaaazy
But there are linguists
So call one maybe?
Hey, I ain't met you
Your study's craaaazy
But there are linguists
So call one maybe?
Ooh, we're off to a rip-roaring start! "Recent research in economics suggests that economists don't know what the holy heck they're talking about when it comes to language." 
Shameless plug! andreadallover.com/2018/03/21/mis…
Ruh roh.
A whole buncha nonsense to unpack here. But remember...
THIS IS THE THIRD PARAGRAPH
THIS IS THE THIRD PARAGRAPH
"the English sentence 'I speak'"? That's... not a sentence, bro. I mean yeah I guess sort of. But when have you ever heard someone say "I speak"? Never. If someone asks you "Do you speak English?" and you say "I speak" then yeah, you speak. But you don't speak English.
Instead, to the question "Do you speak English?", you say
"Yes, I do."
or "Sure do"
or "Yeah"
Wait, where'd that pronoun go? It was just there and then it... dropped off. Hmmm....
"Yes, I do."
or "Sure do"
or "Yeah"
Wait, where'd that pronoun go? It was just there and then it... dropped off. Hmmm....
I ain't even gonna comment on "Ablo". I don't ablo espanol. Because no one ablo espanol.
I mean, for real?
But hold up! They got a source for that quote. And.... it's from an economics journal.
Goddammit.
Goddammit.
What the holy hell does this mean? "ancient cultural values"? "distant past"?
I'll bet you a million bucks that they don't look at any language history. No, make it a jillion.
I'll bet you a million bucks that they don't look at any language history. No, make it a jillion.
THIS IS THE FOURTH PARAGRAPH!!!!1!!
brb need more 🥃
brb need more 🥃
The Background section starts with a reference to Darwin. GTFOH.
Y'all mind if I skip this section?
Y'all mind if I skip this section?
Bonus points to all of you who work a ref to Adam Smith into your next linguistics paper.
This is why when you read Beowulf, you're like "It me."
What? You can't read Beowulf? You don't understand Old English? That's because you're not tapping into your "ancestral cultural traits", silly.
What? You can't read Beowulf? You don't understand Old English? That's because you're not tapping into your "ancestral cultural traits", silly.
Did you notice that slip in the last pic? I underlined it. "Because language shapes speakers' mental representation of reality..."
Well, I'm glad that's cleared up. I'll tell everyone over in the linguistics department. Boy, we really coulda used you economists back in the 60s
Well, I'm glad that's cleared up. I'll tell everyone over in the linguistics department. Boy, we really coulda used you economists back in the 60s
If you're wondering, the footnote in that last sentence is to two works by Hayek, which were published in *checks notes* the 1940s and 1960s. I wonder if anything has happened in linguistics since then. GUESS NOT*
*Damn, there goes that pronoun again. Always dropping off.
*Damn, there goes that pronoun again. Always dropping off.
Arabic = 1 language. Got that, linguists?*
(For real, y'all, I know I said I would skim the Background, but it was just so cringey. I don't know how long I can keep this up.)
*Where's that pronoun go? I saw it around here somewhere...
(For real, y'all, I know I said I would skim the Background, but it was just so cringey. I don't know how long I can keep this up.)
*Where's that pronoun go? I saw it around here somewhere...
You might be wondering what languages they studied. Well, they studied 103 languages, but they don't say what those languages are. Unless I'm missing something, it's not in the Supplemental Info. There are a bunch of countries tho so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You might also be wondering, hey English speakers can get away with dropping pronouns, they're not required to use a pronoun at all times in speech... so do English speakers drop pronouns or not?
Who knows? Not this article, that's for cot dang sure.
Who knows? Not this article, that's for cot dang sure.
"Johnson! I see that your research talks an awful lot about spoken language. Did you include any spoken language in your data? Did you study any spoken language norms at all?"
"No, sir."
"Weeeell, fuck it. Publish it anyway. Good work, Johnson."
"No, sir."
"Weeeell, fuck it. Publish it anyway. Good work, Johnson."
skip skip skip
scroll scroll scroll
(I'm not putting myself through this much longer)
scroll scroll scroll
(I'm not putting myself through this much longer)
"In conclusion, our garbage analysis and shitty methods confirm our bullshit notions that people who speak those *other* languages really are dumber than us. But it's not their fault (or ours). It's their *language*" 🙄
Surprise! Bet* you didn't think the paper was going there. (Just kidding, of course you did.)
Also, what's with the "we" in that paper? There's one author. Knock it off.
*That pronoun is gone now. I've totally lost it. Must've dropped somewhere back there.
Also, what's with the "we" in that paper? There's one author. Knock it off.
*That pronoun is gone now. I've totally lost it. Must've dropped somewhere back there.
That's all, folks. I wish the ending coulda been happier. But I'm out of 🥃and completely out of fucks. Time for bed.
Somebody go tell @KyklosReview to delete their account.
Somebody go tell @KyklosReview to delete their account.
