Jeet Heer has mastered the art of confidently using pretentious words he doesn't understand, knowing that most people will be too intimidated to challenge him and risk looking stupid. But some of us know what gestalt means, and that ain't it.
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Replying to @SousPlage @agraybee
I was writing in English, not German. It's fairly common for words to shift meaning as they over time, especially if they move across languages. Would recommend Steven Pinker's The Language Instinct if this confuses you.
8 replies 0 retweets 11 likes -
As someone w/ an advanced degree in Ling, I would not necessarily recommend that book. Also, if you read beyond that book, you might realize that linguistic shifts aren’t universally applied between popular language use & more esoteric borrowings from academiapic.twitter.com/hgByak3voL
2 replies 5 retweets 131 likes -
With all due respect, I'm going to trust Noam Chomsky, who endorsed the book and knows a thing or two about linguistics, over you.
13 replies 1 retweet 7 likes -
Setting aside basic issues that (a) Chomsky's "endorsement" of the book was 25 years ago, (b) it was not a straightforward endorsement, (c) Chomsky's views have changed significantly since then, and (d) linguistics has changed significantly since then... 1/2
3 replies 2 retweets 81 likes -
Sigh. What an endless game of moving the goal post. Is my use of "gestalt" within normal English dictionary meaning? Yes. Does knowing German give authority for judging English usage? No. Is Language Instinct a good Chomsky endorsed popular introduction to linguistics? Yes.
3 replies 0 retweets 11 likes -
Replying to @HeerJeet @thephilosotroll and
It doesn't matter TLI is good intro to the whole field of linguistics. After 25 years any science will have moved on. The distinction between descriptivism and prescriptivism in TLI is clear & well-written, though, and that's the relevant part.
3 replies 0 retweets 4 likes
Thank you. That seems like common sense.
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