Dr. Myers’ blog

graphic representations of cursing

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Myers) — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:35:47 -0700

Take a look at this analysis of cursing in cartoons:

http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005478.html

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

snow day?

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Myers) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 10:13:10 -0800

As many of you know, yesterday was a "snow day" for students in Fayette County. What kind of compositionality is this? Is snow day like snow shoe? like snow board? snow flake? what about rain day? rain delay?

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

on being pragmatic

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Myers) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:39:59 -0800

Now for the other topic- what does it mean when in everyday conversation something/someone is called "pragmatic"? For example, Richard Kelley has a "pragmatic solution" for the immigration issue:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5324967

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

"it's a matter of mere semantics"

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Myers) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:18:13 -0800

The term "semantic" comes up in everyday conversation- what do people mean when they say "it's just semantics"?

Two quick examples:

1) from NPR (listen to the short broadcast)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10699283

2) from http://game-face.tv/node/482. The bold and underlining is my own.

Why should game developers try do to art? Isn't gaming just about fun?
SIRI: Gaming is a profound way of experiencing art. Play, to me, it could be defined as the experience of becoming one with art. Think about a musician playing music with his guitar. A DJ playing music with his samples. An actor playing a role in a theatre play. Or how a goal in the World Cup makes a whole country unite to support their football players. Games are about bringing the joy of Play to the masses. Anyone can play with games – you don't need a special talent.

I always find myself a little bit uncomfortable with the term developer. That's because our industry has been a lot of time related to the software industry. But games have more to do with the cultural industries. It's just a semantic thing... game developers to me are artists.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Dude!

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Myers) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 10:20:12 -0800

This is one of the best ads on TV- and the humor relies on meaning and context.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WmFBOVZ6BLM

Disclaimer: I am not advocating drinking.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend

Welcome to Semantics and Pragmatics!

nobody@vox.com(Dr. Myers) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 06:47:59 -0800

This first post is going to be the least interesting of the semester. Looking forward to hearing from you.

Read and post comments | Send to a friend