TIL that some languages apparently have words inherently differentiating one's status as a citizen or resident of the entity versus a member of a particular ethnic or cultural group? I don't quite grasp the whole thing, although I heard the point being made. What's interesting to me is a) that there is such a thing, which seems very revealing of something about a culture that would need such concepts built into the language, and b) that there seem to be people who think it's inaccurate to interpret the word choice as meaningful. Firstly, since languages have all sorts of concepts built into them, many very specific to their primary culture of use, it seems reasonable that such a thing could exist. Not that I would have thought of it before, since I'm not from a culture where that sort of subtlety functions. Secondly, if that is, indeed, the subtlety of the word choices, where one essentially and inherently includes people, and the other excludes, then I'd kind o...
twitch
ReplyDeleteSorry!
ReplyDeleteI see that gene name column, and think of what Excel does when it sees SEPT1 or OCT1....
ReplyDeleteI just don't want to talk about it.
You can tell it not to do that, y'know.
ReplyDeleteAmy Young Yes, but that also requires you to know that it's trying to be "helpful". One hope at this point that it's been publicized enough that this is no longer an issue, but....
ReplyDeletehttp://nsaunders.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/gene-name-errors-and-excel-lessons-not-learned/