For a very long time I had believed (I have believed?) that there was some intrinsic value to language used well. An idea expressed clearly and well seemed more believable or persuasive or true or than one half-formed or blurted out incoherently. But this assumption of mine is only an assumption. It hasn’t been subject to cross-examination or logical analysis. I realize now that I’ve not tested it. (more…)
It occurred to me today that I can’t recall the last time I heard a new joke. Strangely enough, when I was in Japan I would hear and tell jokes with some frequency. Between classes, on the way to and from the izakayas, waiting for the trains; it sometimes seemed like jokes were a currency that kept our reserves of native language topped up against the drains of living and working in a foreign culture. In a place where an employer could, with a straight face, say they’d like to encourage “skinship” between staff and customers when they meant they’d like you to put up with and even encourage seemingly personal relationships to improve business, an intentional double entendre was a welcome relief.
But I don’t hear jokes so much these days, and it’s kind of a disappointment. I mean, if a man walked into a bar, I don’t think I’d expect him to say much apart from his drinks order. Which is kind of sad for a former class clown.
Facebook means that now I can get little updates from virtual strangers, usually written as if everyone reading was intimately familiar with the details of their current lives.
“Oh, that’s just a regular night at Spolmans.”
“Can’t believe what Jilby did on this week’s panel! : P”
“I am sooo excited about the start of DFWBSE! This year it’s understanding!”
It was that last one that got me. What the hell is DFWBSE?1 And what does it understand now that it couldn’t grasp in 2008? Google, the first and last refuge of a scoundrel who wants to seem knowledgeable, only confused the issue… (more…)