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kclee18

We need to talk about Trump's choice of words in a tragedy | British GQ - 1 views

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    In the article, Stuart McGurk talks about how in Trump's tweets, the words that be used that is usually used in the empathic way, does not communicate Trump's actual feelings. In the article, it is stated that Trump used the word sorry in 72 tweets, but never actually used in the ways were someone would feel sorrow for something. Instead, for example, he used it in a way were if Obama said sorry, he would have more respect for him. See how he was able to use a sympathetic word but not in the way that he is feeling sorry. Also, in certain circumstances, the wording that Trump uses is not appropriate. For example, in light of the Las Vegas shooting, Trump tweeted, "My warmest condolences and sympathies to the victims and families of the terrible Las Vegas shooting." No one would use the phrase "Warmest Condolences" in this situation.
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    Yikes: "warmest condolences"! Our president: Master Malaprop. LOL!
tburciagareyes21

Profanity's Roots in Brain Chemistry? Damn Right - 5 views

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    Over the years, we have found that our words come from different parts of the brain. In addition the part of the brain which we use to formulate thoughts into sentences, we also use the part of the brain that deals with emotion when we swear. Researchers discovered that patients with neurodegenerative diseases like a stroke, were still able to swear. Studying patients with Tourette syndrome have also proved that swearing uses many areas of the brain. Since swearing involves the emotional part of the brain, we know that profanity is used to express intense emotions.
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    Regular speech is generated in the left hemisphere, in an area of the brain close to the surface. The cerebral cortex, or "gray matter," is often associated with higher thought processes such as thought and action. "It's sophisticated," says Bergen, "and comports with the idea of what it means to be human." Swearing, on the other hand, is generated much deeper in the brain, in regions that are older and more primitive in evolutionary terms, says Bergen. These regions are often found in the right hemisphere in the brain's emotional center, the limbic system."These are words that express intense emotions-surprise, frustration, anger, happiness, fear," says psychologist and linguist Timothy Jay, who began studying profanity more than 40 years ago."[Swearing] serves my need to vent, and it conveys my emotions to other people very effectively and symbolically," he says. "Where other animals like to bite and scratch each other, I can say 'f*ck you' and you get my contempt-I don't have to do it physically." Profanity serves other purposes, too. Lovers use it as part of enticing sex talk; athletes and soldiers use it to forge camaraderie; and people in positions of power use it to reaffirm their superiority. Profanity is even used as a celebratory expression, says Adams, citing "F*ck yeah!" as an example. The meaning of a profanity, like any other word, changes with time, culture and context. While swear words have been around since Greek and Roman times, and maybe even earlier, the types of things people consider offensive have changed. "People of the Middle Ages had no problems talking about sex or excrement, that was not their hang-up," Adams explains. "Their hang-up was talking about God disrespectfully...so that was what a profanity was."
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    The left hemisphere of the brain is responsible for emotions like happiness, sadness, and anger. The part of the brain that we use to formulate thoughts into sentences is that part that we also use to deal with emotion when we swear. Different studies done on people found with brain issues/diseases allowed researchers to understand that profanity is used to express the extreme emotions.
Harrison Jeong

Tips for Writing Your College Admissions Essay - 11 views

    • Lanson Yamamoto
       
      I think this is the best idea.  If you can write like how you speak you can be yourself which in return makes your paper original and people can see who you truly are.  
  • Use short sentences and simple words. According to a recent study at Stanford University, individuals who use complicated language are viewed as less intelligent than individuals who use simpler, more concise language. You want your readers to understand your essay. If you use obscure terms needlessly, they won’t be impressed.
    • Harrison Jeong
       
      I feel that this particular tip stands out the most because while the other tips are common tips we are given, this tip is not one that we normally take into account. People tend to want to use big vocabulary words in order to make themselves look smarter, but after looking at this we may want to think again. Our teachers always tell us to be concise, so in fact we had this tip with us the whole time.
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    I thought this article was great because it added onto the other previous articles posted onto Diigo. It gave me even more tips on how to write my College Essay. 1. Write as you speak. 2. Be original. 3. Show genuine enthusiasm. 4. Create some mystery. 5. Focus. 6. Use active verbs. 7. Use short sentences and simple words.
kiaralileikis20

"I luv u:)!": A Descriptive Study of the Media Use of Individuals in Romantic Relations... - 1 views

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    In this study, we address the communication technologies individuals within romantic relationships are using to communicate with one another, the frequency of use, and the association between the use of these technologies and couple's positive and negative communication.Participants consisted of individuals involved in a serious, committed, heterosexual relationship. The Relationship Evaluation Questionnaire instrument was used to assess a variety of relationship variables. The majority of individuals within the study frequently used cell phones and text messaging to communicate with their partner, with ' ' expressing affection ' ' being the most common reason for contact. Younger individuals reported using all forms of media (except for e-mail) more frequently than older participants. Relationship satisfaction did not predict specific use of media but predicted several reasons for media use. Additional analyses revealed that text messaging had the strongest association with individuals ' positive and negative communication within their relationships. Specifically, text messaging to express affection, broach potentially confrontational subjects, and to hurt partners were associated with individuals' view of positive and negative communication within their relationship. Implications of the results are discussed.
jeremyliu

How Using Emoji Makes Us Less Emotional - 3 views

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    A few weeks ago, after I said goodbye to a friend who was moving across the country, I texted her an emoji of a crying face. She replied with an image of chick with its arms outstretched. This exchange might have been heartfelt. It could have been ironic.
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    Use of emoticons varies by geography, age, gender, and social class-just like dialects or regional accents. Friend groups fall into the habit of using certain emoticons, just as they develop their own slang. Emoji have undoubtedly changed the way we text, Gchat, and tweet-but are they changing language itself? While emoji are more popular than ever, the idea behind them is actually quite old. "There's an old utopian ideal that we could create a kind of a universal pictorial language," says linguist Ben Zimmer. Emoji could even mark a return (regression?) to a more pictographic script. However, Ben Zimmer suggests that emoji help convey tone and emotion and enrich written language.
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    This article discusses both emoji use, and emoji effects in language and expression. The vast majority of web users use or have used emojis, and the emojis that we use can yield information about us such as our general age and interests. Furthermore, emojis may be a form of language simplification and a return to pictogram communications.
Lisa Stewart

Like a Scene from the "Godfather," Toys "R" Us Tells Smokes R Us, "Don't Mess with the ... - 2 views

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    Toys R Us routinely sues any companies who attempt to trademark "R Us" as part of their name.
shirleylin15

Catherine Jones on what language reveals about us | Life and style | The Observer - 1 views

  • people unconsciously shift their speech and voice style to more closely match those of people in powerful or authoritative positions
  • Similarly, people who are depressed, suicide-prone or experiencing a traumatic event tend to use "I" more
  • Our words express the metaphors which underpin our thinking, which in turn express who we are, our values and our life experience.
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • reveal many of their values in the metaphors they use
  • senior management teams to describe what they're like when they're working at their best, they often use competitive, sporting metaphors - "we're like a gold medal-winning team" - because winning is important to them
  • teachers and the metaphors are startlingly different - "it's like tending a garden, or bringing up a family" - because nurturing is an important value for this group
  • tone of voice, the pauses in our speech, the role we take in conversations and our use of fillers - for example, "um" or "you know" - to reach many more conclusions
  • older people tend to refer to themselves less often, use more positive emotion words, more future tense verbs and fewer past tense verbs
  • status
  • fewer emotion words and first person singular pronouns we use, the higher our social class.
  • "Freudian slips"
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    What our speech reveals about us
Lisa Stewart

Early Human Evolution:  Early Transitional Humans - 0 views

  • Early transitional humans had brains that on average were about 35% larger than those of Australopithecus africanus
  • chimpanzees 300-500 australopithecines 390-545 early transitional humans 509-752 modern humans 900-1880
ssaksena15

What unusual phrases does YOUR region use? Interactive grammar map reveals bizarre lang... - 4 views

ttp://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3047678/What-unusual-phrases-does-area-use-Interactive-grammar-map-reveals-bizarre-language-differences-US.html#ixzz3ZZodPrKg Researchers at Yale Un...

started by ssaksena15 on 08 May 15 no follow-up yet
jushigome17

Why Do We Swear? | World of Psychology - 4 views

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    Swearing expresses many different types of emotions. Kinda like when people use their car horns.
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    This article explores into depth the reason why and when we swear. One reason we swear is to insert a direct emotional component into the discussion to express frustration, anger or surprise. Swearing frees us of the feelings of anger or frustration we hold inside of us and provides an alternative from physical violence. The second use of swearing is in the form of jokes and humor, sex talk, story telling and social commentary. Our word choice is dependent on the people we are surrounded by, the relationship we have with that group of people and the setting of the situation. For example, people are less likely to use swear words in mixed company or in the work place. We are more likely to swear with people of the same gender or with our sexual partners. This article also describes the amount of swearing in our lives.
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    Why do people swear? Why does using a swear word make us feel better? How do we choose which word we use? Luckily for you, the Association of Psychological Science's Perspectives on Psychological Science just published an article that answers these important scientific questions in an article by Timothy Jay (2009).
Lara Cowell

Letting a baby play on an iPad might lead to speech delays, study says - 0 views

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    A new study, conducted by Dr. Catherine Birken, a pediatrician and scientist at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Ontario, revealed the following: the more time children between the ages of six months and two years spent using handheld screens such as smartphones, tablets and electronic games, the more likely they were to experience speech delays. In the study, which involved nearly 900 children, parents reported the amount of time their children spent using screens in minutes per day at age 18 months. Researchers then used an infant toddler checklist, a validated screening tool, to assess the children's language development also at 18 months. They looked at a range of things, including whether the child uses sounds or words to get attention or help and puts words together, and how many words the child uses. Twenty percent of the children spent an average of 28 minutes a day using screens, the study found. Every 30-minute increase in daily screen time was linked to a 49% increased risk of what the researchers call expressive speech delay, which is using sounds and words. Commenting on the study, Michelle MacRoy-Higgins and Carlyn Kolker, both speech pathologists/therapists and co-authors of "Time to Talk: What You Need to Know About Your Child's Speech and Language Development," offered this advice: interact with your child. The best way to teach them language is by interacting with them, talking with them, playing with them, using different vocabulary, pointing things out to them and telling them stories.
Lara Cowell

Our Use Of Little Words Can, Uh, Reveal Hidden Interests - 3 views

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    John Pennebacker, a University of Texas-Austin psychologist, found that language could successfully predict speed dating successes, as well as the relative longevity of such matches.. When the language style of two people matched, when they used pronouns, prepositions, articles and so forth in similar ways at similar rates, they were much more likely to end up on a date. "The more similar [they were] across all of these function words, the higher the probability that [they] would go on a date in a speed dating context," Pennebaker says. "And this is even cooler: We can even look at ... a young dating couple... [and] the more similar [they] are ... using this language style matching metric, the more likely [they] will still be dating three months from now." This is not because similar people are attracted to each other, Pennebaker says; people can be very different. It's that when we are around people that we have a genuine interest in, our language subtly shifts. "When two people are paying close attention, they use language in the same way," he says. "And it's one of these things that humans do automatically." Pennebacker also says that by analyzing language, you can easily tell who among two people has power in a relationship, and their relative social status. "It's amazingly simple," Pennebaker says, "Listen to the relative use of the word "I." What you find is completely different from what most people would think. The person with the higher status uses the word "I" less.
Lisa Stewart

Without Miracles: The Development and Functioning of Thought - 0 views

  • it might come as somewhat of a surprise to learn that some scholars reject natural selection as an explanation for the appearance, structure, and use of language.
  • to use Darwin's term, the roll film of the still camera was preadapted, although quite accidentally and unintentionally, for use in the motion picture camera. To use Gould's more neutral and more accurate terminology, this feature of the still camera was exapted for use in motion picture cameras. So, in effect, Chomsky and Gould assert that the human brain is analogous to roll film in that it evolved for reasons originally unrelated to language concerns; but once it reached a certain level of size and complexity, language was possible.
  • All mammals produce oral sounds by passing air from the lungs through the vocal cords, which are housed in the larynx (or "Adam's apple"). The risk of choking to which we are exposed results from our larynx being located quite low in the throat. This low position permits us to use the large cavity above the larynx formed by the throat and mouth (supralaryngal tract) as a sound filter. By varying the position of the tongue and lips, we can vary the frequencies that are filtered and thus produce different vowel sounds such as the [i] of seat, the [u] of stupid, and the [a] of mama.[9] We thus see an interesting trade-off in the evolution of the throat and mouth, with safety and efficiency in eating and breathing sacrificed to a significant extent for the sake of speaking. This suggests that the evolution of language must have provided advantages for survival and reproduction that more than offset these other disadvantages.
Kristen Ige

Admissions Essay Ordeal: The Young Examined Life - New York Times - 14 views

  • filled whole grocery bags with crumpled efforts at expressing his adolescent essence in 500 words or less.
    • Jenna Frowein
       
      This is actually kind of creative and poetic.
  • And though they seem to have more collaborators than ever before
    • Jenna Frowein
       
      It's true! I think that we have so much help! We just need to start and get writing!
  • ''No adult is ever asked to do that.''
    • Jenna Frowein
       
      I think it's cool that they ask us to do this, write about what makes us unique, and adults don't do it. I think it's kind of like a test to find yourself and who you are; when that happens, you are ready for college, I guess.
    • Kristen Ige
       
      But most students going into college don't know who we are yet. We often apply undecided becuase we don't know what we want to be. I think part of the college experience is finding who we are. Maybe writing the essay is the first step.
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  • 'I wrote about racism toward myself
    • Jenna Frowein
       
      Wow, this is a really interesting comment. My first thought was that he thought he was worthless, and maybe the important thing that he wrote about was how he overcame that and realized that he is a valuable and unique person.
  • This is the season of that excruciating rite of passage that requires college-bound seniors to take what has often been a blessedly uneventful existence and transform it into something extraordinary, intriguing, distinctive.
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    "Few students are as lucky as Chris Bail [...] When I was about 11 or so, a group of kids threw stones at me, and that stuck in my head. That was just a big, big experience for me, and I guess I'm really lucky to have that because I know kids that are writing about, like, concerts they went to and stuff like that.'' I am disturbed greatly. What does not kill us will only make us stronger... Scary thought: Students trying to get into college will take extremes for more interesting topics to write about. What if it happens? Pressure. It exists. But don't let it RULE or RUIN your life.
  • ...2 more comments...
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    Don't we all have some special experience in our lives, it's just that we need to look for them.
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    As many students across the world struggle to individualize themselves on paper in order to get into college, they often write about drastic situations that they often think are unique only to them. This however is not the case as these situations have also happened to thousands of other students and the people reading over the essays probably already have read something like that. The only true way to express yourself in your paper is to just write how you normally would instead of hyping yourself up, using big words that you normally would never use in an attempt to seem smart, or blowing your achievements out of proportion to what they really are. Just be your self and let your voice shine through your paper.
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    I find it quite sad that students will go to the extremes and seek something that they think admissions officers will find intriguing rather than it coming from their gut and what is important to them. In my opinion the best advice I could give to someone writing their college essay is, be yourself. Don't try to be someone you're not.
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    "And though they seem to have more collaborators than ever before, from cooperative English teachers to new Web sites that offer successful essays for sale, the competition seems tougher than ever, now that so many early applicants have whittled the number of available slots." To me the college application is sounding more and more deceptive. By the time you take that raw essay written by purely yourself and it goes through multiple English teachers and websites, and other peers, it goes from your writing to like your teacher's writing. I feel that after all of the processes it goes through, all the people who review it, the finished product really doesn't show the college who YOU are.
lnakao-yamada18

It's Time To Stop Using These Phrases When It Comes To Mental Illness | HuffPost - 0 views

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    Words have more meaning than just their definition, and the use of words can give off emotions and more. People often use words to describe situations before thinking if what they're saying is considerate and politically correct. This article shows how the use of words can affect people's mental illnesses, and by saying the wrong thing can cause the person to feel ostracized and refuse to get theraputic help.
alisonlu20

Linguistic Differences Around US - 1 views

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    Even in America, there are different ways people speak English from different parts of the US. This article talks about some of the linguistic differences of people speaking in the US. There was a survey conducted by Harvard linguist Bert Vaux in 2003 to understand some of the differences in the way people talk. Generally, people in Atlanta call a sweetened carbonated beverage "coke" whereas in the Midwest, it's called pop, and it's called soda everywhere else. In New York, people say waiting "on line" rather than saying "in line." And the term "anymore" means different things in different parts of the country. Some people use it to mean "nowadays" and some use it to mean "already." In some parts of the country, there is a term for when it rains while still being sunny. People in the Northeast call it a "sunshower," but Southerners call it "the devil is beating his wife" and most of the rest of the country has no name for this at all. Finally, the northern half of the country is more likely to pronounce the second "a" in pajamas like "jam" whereas the southern half of the country is more likely to pronounce the second "a" in pajamas as "jam." This information is supposed to be useful in helping to figure out where the lines are between different American dialects and can also help to predict where someone is from.
karatsuruda17

Like, Uh, You Know: Why Do Americans Say 'You Know' And Use Other Verbal Fillers So Often? - 1 views

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    This article explains why filler words, such as "like," "um," "uh," "you know" and "yeah", are used so extensively when we speak in conversation. What studies have own through this article is that the use of filler words has increased over the past 30 years. There are many factors that contribute to the utilization of filler words. As we know, there is no actual need for filler words, but nervousness and lack of confidence does play a factor in why filler words are used so much . Another reason we use filler words is because we are unsure about the topic of a specific conversation. Studies showed that when talking about a topic that is complex or that the subject is unfamiliar with, they tend to use more filler words as opposed to when a subject is talking about themselves or a simple topic.
dylenfujimoto20

Forensic linguists explore how emojis can be used as evidence in court - 1 views

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    Ever used an emoji before? Most people have used an emoji in a text or message if they have a phone or laptop. The majority of emoji users are pretty harmless with the meaning behind the use of words. However not all have used it so positively. In fact, more and more law systems are bringing in linguist (emoji) experts as a witness to testify the meaning behind emojis given the context. Which is even more interesting is that some defendants have been convicted partially based on the meaning behind an emoji. For example there is one man who was convicted because of his use of a gun emoji which the expert witness testified the sinical, threatening meaning of the emoji. This article might make you think before you send your next emoji...
Lara Cowell

Canadians Love Poop, Americans Love Pizza: How Emojis Fare Worldwide - 3 views

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    What emoji do people use the most? That's the central question in a new study that looks at emoji use around the world. The company SwiftKey analyzed more than a billion pieces of emoji data, organized by language and country. According to SwiftKey's chief marketing officer, Joe Braidwood, the results were fascinating. Here's a sample of what researchers found: 1. 70 percent of all emojis sent are positive. 2. Canadians lead the charge in their use of money, violence, sports-related, raunchy, and even the poop emoji. 3. Americans are second behind Canada in their love of violent emojis, such as guns. But they also enjoy food emoji: pizza and the chicken drumstick are high-frequency. 4. Australians referenced drugs, alcohol, junk food and holidays much more than any other nation. 5. French really are hopeless romantics and use heart emojis four times more than anyone else. 6. Arabic speakers are big fans of the rose emoji, using it 10 times more than other language speakers. 7. Spanish-speaking Americans used sad faces more than any other language. "The most popular emoji that they used out of the sad faces was the crying emoji."
Lisa Stewart

Gestural Communication Paper - De Waal « Language Evolution - 0 views

  • “Gestures are used across a wide range of contexts whereas most facial expressions and vocalizations are very narrowly used for one particular context,”
  • Although all primates use their voices and facial expressions to communicate, only people and the great apes — chimpanzees, bonobos, orangutan and gorillas — use these types of gestures as well. De Waal noted that great apes first appeared about 15 to 20 million years old, meaning such gestures may have been around that long. “A gesture that occurs in bonobos and chimpanzees as well as humans likely was present in the last common ancestor,” Pollick said in a statement. “A good example of a shared gesture is the open-hand begging gesture, used by both apes and humans.” This last common ancestor may date to about 5 million to 6 million years ago.
  • He added that when the apes gesture, they like to use their right hands, which is controlled by the left side of the brain — the same side where the language control center appears in the human brain.
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