language
Neuron Culture
Tag archives for language
Two-year-old Hamlet: A toddler takes on Shakespeare
Posted by David Dobbs on December 18, 2009 If you need a neurohook, think language acquisition, attention, mirror neurons, make your pick. No need. This one wins on entertainment value alone. via the twitter feed of the fine writer P.D. Smith. When you’re done, tune into RadioLab’s stunning piece on Hamlet’s last utterings.
Does the “orchid-dandelion” metaphor work for you? My duel with David Shenk
Posted by David Dobbs on December 14, 2009 Dear Readers, here’s your chance to weigh in: Over at the Atlantic, David Shenk, a sharp writer who keeps a blog there called “The Genius in Us All,” has posted a gentlemanly smackdown (“Metaphor fight! Shenk and Dobbs square off”) that he and I had via email last week regarding the “orchid-dandelion” metaphor I used…
Brandon Keim on The Language of Horses
Posted by David Dobbs on April 28, 2009 Brandon Keim, who is part of Wired’s ace science writing crew also keeps a blog, Earthlab Notes, where he recently put this nice post on The Language of Horses: In a few slender leg bones and fragments of milk-stained pottery, archaeologists recently found evidence of one of the more important developments in human history: the…
The flubby oath explained
Posted by David Dobbs on January 20, 2009 Today’s inaugural oath got bumpy, and I was among many who dropped the ball got confused about whether it was Roberts or Obama who originally dropped the ball. Benjamin Zimmer explains: Chief Justice John Roberts’ administration of the presidential oath to Barack Obama was far from smooth. … the error that emerged from their momentary…