“Swearing helps us battle pain – no matter what language we curse in”

A replication (with Japanese-language speakers and English-language speakers) of the Ig Nobel Peace Prize-winning experiment (with only English-language speakers) about swearing and pain, described by one of the researchers, in The Conversation: Swearing helps us battle pain – no matter what language we curse in The new study is “Swearing as a response to pain: A […]

Comparative ‘iffiness’ of medical research articles

If one could know for sure how iffy things are for English-speaking doctors compared to how iffy things are for French-speaking doctors, one might reach the same conclusions as are reached in this study: “The ‘iffiness’ of medical research articles —A comparison of English if and French si,” Shirley Carter-Thomas [pictured here], in Language and […]

The hazard of being an English football league manager

Sports managers, the ones who operate at the highest levels, don’t manage to hang on to their jobs long, says this study: “The hazard of being an English football league manager: empirical estimates for three recent league seasons,” R. Bachan, Barry Reilly, and Robert Witt [pictured here], Journal of the Operational Research Society, vol. 59, no. […]

A confusing study: Chinese Sports Reports

Non-specialists may find the following study to be delightfully confusing. Here’s the citation, and a snippet from the whole thing. (Click on the image to see an enlargement of it. Click on the title link to obtain a copy of the entire article.): “A Study of Chinese-English Code-switching in Chinese Sports News Reports,” Chun-xuan Shen, […]