22 Words » Language

A good metaphor for life

Abraham Piper — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:00:51 +0000

From Poorly Drawn Lines…

Recursive, self-referential sidewalk signs

Abraham Piper — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:00:15 +0000

(via Hooked, Ian Brooks)

“Street name” is an ambiguous term

Abraham Piper — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 22:30:07 +0000

What a fantastic misunderstanding…

(via Reddit)

Girl can instantly say any word backwards

Abraham Piper — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 13:04:05 +0000

Silly but remarkable…

Spelling Bee contestant can’t hear the word… Awkwardness ensues.

Abraham Piper — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 21:15:30 +0000

A spelling bee participant is given the word heron to spell, but can’t make it out. After getting the definition and an example sentence, and after asking for it to be repeated a few times, he starts guessing what word the announcer is saying. I have no idea why he didn’t just say, “It’s really hard to hear up here on the stage.”

But we can all be glad he didn’t, because this is hilarious…

The kid in the video is the one who posted it, and in the YouTube comments he assures us this is real and that he couldn’t hear because the speakers were facing the audience not the contestants. He also says this happened to others during the bee as well.

(via The Daily What)

Robin Williams has a conflict about conflict on Sesame Street

Abraham Piper — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 19:15:18 +0000

(via Tastefully Offensive)

Truly unique baby names

Abraham Piper — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:30:29 +0000

From Pacific Rock…

(via Whole of the Internet)

102-year-old man creatively critiques English spelling

Abraham Piper — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:59:44 +0000

Usually, complaints about the inconsistencies of English spelling are cliche and uncreative. But this friendly rant from a very old man is pretty crafty (especially at the end)…

(via Voices)

Emergency breakfast

Abraham Piper — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 19:15:23 +0000

From Threadless…

(via Archie McPhee)

How circles get fat

Abraham Piper — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 21:45:42 +0000

From Cup of Joe…

(via Damn That’s Whack)

Scottish couple argues almost unintelligibly on daytime TV

Abraham Piper — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 19:15:10 +0000

I’m sorry about this couple’s relationship troubles, but I still like hearing them argue. It is both amusing and fascinating, and is a perfect example of how the lines between languages are nothing if not blurry…

(via The Poke)

A compilation of phrases you will never hear anyone say

Abraham Piper — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 16:45:41 +0000

Here’s a collection of things that you will probably never say or have anyone else say to you. Things like “My Bazooka gum still has flavor” or “We should move to Oakland,” for instance…

(via Reddit)

Deaf toddler has a signed conversation with her mom

Abraham Piper — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 16:45:38 +0000

This is a perfectly normal exchange between a 2-year-old and her mom, except it’s in sign language…

(via Irene’s Internet)

A supercut of rappers spelling their names

Abraham Piper — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 13:00:28 +0000

(NSFW language)

(via The High Definite)

Little Jamaican girl vents like a frustrated grown-up

Abraham Piper — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 20:30:02 +0000

This is cute. It gets especially good at about 1:00…

(via Doobybrain)

A supercut of movie critic Gene Shalit’s silly puns

Abraham Piper — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 13:00:38 +0000

(via Irene’s Internet)

Are you insane or on Facebook? We can’t tell…

Abraham Piper — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 21:06:44 +0000

From Jim Benton…

Chomsky and Halle with a picture of themselves with a picture of themselves

Abraham Piper — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 14:00:19 +0000

Here are ancient and awesome linguists Morris Halle and Noam Chomsky holding a 1988 photograph of themselves that pictures them holding a 1951 photograph of themselves…

(from Kai von Fintel, via meme-meme)

The history of the slogan “WWJD?”

Abraham Piper — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 18:00:29 +0000

From the BBC article “What Would Jesus Do? The Rise of a Slogan”…

The question has a long history. In 1896 the Kansas Congregational minister Charles Sheldon published a novel called In His Steps: What would Jesus do? in which a town is revolutionised when Christians “pledge themselves, earnestly and honestly for an entire year, not to do anything without first asking the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’”.…

One of its readers was Janie Tinklenberg, a youth leader at Calvary Reformed Church in Holland, Michigan. After re-reading it in 1989, she talked to her youth group about it.

She considered printing T-shirts for them bearing the slogan, but at the time friendship bracelets were all the rage, so she got a local company to print 300. She opted for the abbreviation WWJD. Tinklenberg asked the group to wear them for 30 days, they caught on locally, and more were needed.

Others with more of a commercial eye than Tinklenberg spotted the trend, made their own and took the marketing to the national level. By the time she attempted to register her trademark it was too late.

(via The Presurfer)