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Sex-based differences in the form of English compliments and in the frequencies of various compliment response types are discussed. Based on a corpus of I,062 compliment events, several differences in the form of compliments used by women and men are noted. Further, it is found that compliments from men are generally accepted, especially by female recipients, whereas compliments from women are met with a response type other than acceptance.

This was a really interesting article about how language use impacted the amount of donations received by a hospital. It shows that by complimenting people and using positive adjectives, people will be more inclined to donate money. When trying to do fundraisers, complimenting potential donors and/or speaking to them with positive adjectives will, on average, increase the amount of money raised. In addition, even though many forms of communication are now online, people will be more inclined to donate if you send them a hard copy in the mail.

A recent study was conducted with 48 adults who were asked to perform a finger exercise as fast as they can. Some participants were given compliments after the task. The researchers concluded that, "To the brain, receiving a compliment is as much a social reward as being rewarded money." They have found scientific proof that people perform better after receiving a social reward such as a compliment.

"Researchers at Harvard Business School conducted three experiments. They all showed that compliments remind us of when we have done well and motivate us to succeed again, so could have a big effect at work. They found that participants who had been given positive notes from friends before a job interview out- performed those who were not. Fishing for compliments may annoy some people, but the self-serving action may boost your future chances of success, researchers claim."

An important area of the field of second/foreign language teaching and learning is pragmatics -- the appropriate use of language in conducting speech acts such as apologizing, requesting, complimenting, refusing, thanking. Meaning is not just encoded in word semantics alone, but is affected by the situation, the speaker and the listener.A speech act is, according to linguist Kent Bach, "the performance of several acts at once, distinguished by different aspects of the speaker's intention: there is the act of saying something, what one does in saying it, such as requesting or promising, and how one is trying to affect one's audience". Speech acts can be broken down into 3 levels: 1. locutionary: saying something 2. illocutionary: the speaker's intent in performing the act. For example, if the locutionary act in an interaction is the question "Is there any salt?" the implied illocutionary request is "Can someone pass the salt to me?"; 3. In some instances, there's a third perlocutionary level: the act's effect on the feelings, thoughts or actions of either the speaker or the listener, e.g., inspiring, persuading or deterring. The Center for Advanced Research on Language Acquisition (CARLA) at University of Minnesota provides a collection of descriptions of speech acts, as revealed through empirical research. The material is designed to help language teachers and advanced learners to be more aware of the sociocultural use of the language they are teaching or learning. These speech acts include: Apologies Complaints Compliments/Responses Greetings Invitations Refusals Requests Thanks

Being passive-aggressive doesn't mean you're a bad person. Often it's "a strategy we use when we think we don't deserve to speak our minds or we're afraid to be honest and open." The article reviews 7 tell-tale signs: 1. Making wistful statements 2. Doling out backhanded compliments 3. Ignoring or saying nothing 4. Procrastinating 5. Leaving someone out 6. Sabotaging 7. Keeping score

Dr. Dre is the person most responsible for creating gangsta rap. Gangsta rap started on the West Coast in the mid 1980s, specifically in Los Angeles, and was inspired by the rough life of street gangs. It has been a major genre of music in the US ever since. Dr. Dre created new terms in the English language from this music genre. "Gangsta" is slang for gangster or member of a gang; "G-Funk" (or "Gangsta-Funk") is a sub-genre of gangsta rap that originated in the 1990s that includes explicit lyrics, synthesizers and samples from 1970s funk; "chronic" is a slang term for high grade marijuana; and "word to" is a greeting or compliment.