Steve Martin gave us 'happy feet' and he also gave us an appreciation of language after he went to Europe and then expressed his surprise on finding, wow, the French have a different word for everything.
I did learn a little bit of French but it wasn't enough to successfully specify which things I wanted on a sandwich although it was very funny for all of us as multiple Frenchmen tried to help my stumbling efforts. If I had only been in trying English, maybe they wouldn't have even turned around but they got a kick out of my butchered French.
Having a different word for everything adds tremendously to the color of the world and the charm of the people in it but that doesn't do much for the harried traveler who is trying to visit ten countries in ten days on a tour bus.
Ed: why would anyone do that?
They're retired and don't like what's on TV.
We have an answer tonight from the Jetsons, harried traveler, since the People of the Future solved the problem and now they have given the solution to us. (De Zeen: Waverly Labs' Pilot earpiece promises to translate languages in real time)
How about this magic, huh? Suddenly your monolingual world gets much larger.
At the bottom of this story, perhaps also at the bottom of many good stories, was a French girl and the creator of this technology wanted to talk to her.
Ed: I can't think of a better reason!
Unless it's Marine Le Pen.
Ed: oui
Let him tell you himself:
Maybe you're coming to a love the idea or hate it stage from this intro and I'm really not sure for my own life. I really do enjoy fumbling around with other people to figure out how to communicate with each other. That can make it difficult to order a sandwich but it adds so much more in other ways.
Ed: you can always turn the thing off if you prefer to sound like an idiot!
Fair enough but I suspect it would be difficult to stop using it after you have started.
I have deep concerns about this device since this goes directly toward Chomskyian matters regarding the efficacy of this language or that one in expressing various aspects of the world view. For example, using Kwakiutl, a language of the American Northwest Indian tribe, would not likely be effective for discussing matters of nuclear fusion. That's not due to lack of capability in the speakers but rather lack of language to describe such things when they never saw them previously.
Ed: those kinds of problems are eliminated immediately if we speak, in effect, one language.
Don't be quite so assured of that, Webster, since you may find there are subtle losses which you really don't want to give away.
Ed: stupid redskins couldn't handle it anyway!
Oh, really. The Northwest Kwakiutl were the ones who built the totem poles as that wasn't common to all Indian tribes. At best, you may have a flag on a crumby pole in your yard and will you really talk to the Kwakiutl about sophistication, Paul Revere?
If you want some respect, Paulie, put up one of these in your yard.
Ed: that will scare the bejeebers out of every kid in the neighborhood!
Look at the bright side; at least they won't walk on your grass.
I did learn a little bit of French but it wasn't enough to successfully specify which things I wanted on a sandwich although it was very funny for all of us as multiple Frenchmen tried to help my stumbling efforts. If I had only been in trying English, maybe they wouldn't have even turned around but they got a kick out of my butchered French.
Having a different word for everything adds tremendously to the color of the world and the charm of the people in it but that doesn't do much for the harried traveler who is trying to visit ten countries in ten days on a tour bus.
Ed: why would anyone do that?
They're retired and don't like what's on TV.
We have an answer tonight from the Jetsons, harried traveler, since the People of the Future solved the problem and now they have given the solution to us. (De Zeen: Waverly Labs' Pilot earpiece promises to translate languages in real time)
How about this magic, huh? Suddenly your monolingual world gets much larger.
At the bottom of this story, perhaps also at the bottom of many good stories, was a French girl and the creator of this technology wanted to talk to her.
Ed: I can't think of a better reason!
Unless it's Marine Le Pen.
Ed: oui
Let him tell you himself:
Maybe you're coming to a love the idea or hate it stage from this intro and I'm really not sure for my own life. I really do enjoy fumbling around with other people to figure out how to communicate with each other. That can make it difficult to order a sandwich but it adds so much more in other ways.
Ed: you can always turn the thing off if you prefer to sound like an idiot!
Fair enough but I suspect it would be difficult to stop using it after you have started.
I have deep concerns about this device since this goes directly toward Chomskyian matters regarding the efficacy of this language or that one in expressing various aspects of the world view. For example, using Kwakiutl, a language of the American Northwest Indian tribe, would not likely be effective for discussing matters of nuclear fusion. That's not due to lack of capability in the speakers but rather lack of language to describe such things when they never saw them previously.
Ed: those kinds of problems are eliminated immediately if we speak, in effect, one language.
Don't be quite so assured of that, Webster, since you may find there are subtle losses which you really don't want to give away.
Ed: stupid redskins couldn't handle it anyway!
Oh, really. The Northwest Kwakiutl were the ones who built the totem poles as that wasn't common to all Indian tribes. At best, you may have a flag on a crumby pole in your yard and will you really talk to the Kwakiutl about sophistication, Paul Revere?
If you want some respect, Paulie, put up one of these in your yard.
Ed: that will scare the bejeebers out of every kid in the neighborhood!
Look at the bright side; at least they won't walk on your grass.
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