Back in 2010, we partially examined the oeuvre of Emanuel A. Schegloff, Professor Emeritus at the Department of Sociology, University of California, Los Angeles. Specifically his work on the meaning of “Uh(m)”s. Perhaps now’s the time to revisit “um” in academia? So may we also recommend the following papers, all of which can be read […]
Tag: language
Watch and hear as “Improbable” spreads to every country
On the Wordmap web site you can listen as the word “improbable” is mechanistically translated into many languages, and then see which countries commonly use each of those translated words. The translations are performed by Google Translate. The country associations are performed using data from Wikipedia. It’s not just “improbable”. Wordmap will translate and map pretty much any word […]
Turgid and Obscure Language, from Roger Bolas
Turgid and obscure language impinges on the realm of medical ethics, apparently: “Turgid and Obscure Language,” Roger Bolas, Journal of Medical Ethics, vol. 2, 1976, p 151. The author writes: SIR, My reactions on reading ‘obverted contrapositive’ and ‘presuppositionless characterization’ (page 103, volume 2, number 2), were to sigh deeply and to reach for the […]
Medical Slang in British Hospitals
Medical Slang in British Hospitals is given a detailed examination by Adam T. Fox, Michael Fertleman, Pauline Cahill and Roger D. Palmer in : Ethics & Behavior, Volume 13, Issue 2, 2003. “The usage, derivation, and psychological, ethical, and legal aspects of slang terminology in medicine are discussed. The colloquial vocabulary is further described and […]