Devotion by a Statistical Researcher about an Efficient Mystic [research study]

Statistics an be compiled about anything, independent of the question: is there any point in gathering statistics about this thing? The following study may be good fodder for teachers who wish to discuss that question with students: “The Temporal Making of a Great Literary Corpus by a XX-Century Mystic: Statistics of Daily Words and Writing […]

A Face that Is Begging to Be Slapped

Words can be used to describe things. A study published in 2019 presents a striking example: “Transformative resources of the terminological internationalization (on the material of German and English),” Vladimir V. Elkin [pictured here], Elena N. Melnikova, and Anna M. Klyoster, in The International Conference Going Global through Social Sciences and Humanities, Springer, Cham, 2019. […]

Stretchable Words and the Dynamics of Mistypings and Misspellings

Loooooooooooooooook, if you like, at this study that explores stretchable words: “Hahahahaha, Duuuuude, Yeeessss!: A Two-Parameter Characterization of Stretchable Words and the Dynamics of Mistypings and Misspellings,” Tyler J. Gray, Christopher M. Danforth, and Peter Sheridan Dodds, PLoS ONE, vol. 15, no. 5, 2020, e0232938. This graphic from the study perhaps makes clear the main […]

Stories that only have six words. A valid category of ‘Narrative Genre’?

Stories that only have six words. Are they truly a ‘Narrative Genre’? David Fishelov, believes that they maybe. He’s a professor of comparative literature. At the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. See his essay on the subject. ‘The Poetics of Six-Word Stories’ * (It’s published in Narrative, January 2019.) The professor considers stories from websites. Such […]

The prevalence of prestigious

When you read news reports about science or medicine, you can amuse yourself by noticing how often the word “prestigious” crops up. You might notice which news organizations make frequent use of the word. You might notice which science-related or medical-related institutions (or whatever) are called “prestigious.” You might ask yourself which of those news […]