The Marginalian
The Marginalian

Reads tagged with “language”

Susan Sontag on Aphorisms and the Commodification of Wisdom
Susan Sontag on Aphorisms and the Commodification of Wisdom

“Aphoristic thinking is impatient thinking.”

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We Got Merge: Noam Chomsky on the Cognitive Function that Made Language Evolve
We Got Merge: Noam Chomsky on the Cognitive Function that Made Language Evolve

“You got an operation that enables you to take mental objects … already constructed … and make bigger mental objects out of them.”

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Hippopposites: A Minimalist Lesson in Opposites and Aesthetics for Little Designers
Hippopposites: A Minimalist Lesson in Opposites and Aesthetics for Little Designers

Navigating the complex web of simple terms with the help of a red hippo.

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Ounce Dice Trice: Exploring the Whimsy of Words in Extraordinary Names for Ordinary Things
Ounce Dice Trice: Exploring the Whimsy of Words in Extraordinary Names for Ordinary Things

Cartography for the land of linguistic imagination.

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How Famous Words Originated, According to the Historical Oxford English Dictionary
How Famous Words Originated, According to the Historical Oxford English Dictionary

Hunting down five centuries of linguistic innovation.

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A Visual Alphabet-Dictionary of Unusual Words
A Visual Alphabet-Dictionary of Unusual Words

A visual A-Z of the hidden treasures of language.

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To Do: Gertrude Stein’s Posthumous Alphabet Book
To Do: Gertrude Stein’s Posthumous Alphabet Book

“Don’t bother about the commas which aren’t there, read the words. Don’t worry about the sense that is there, read the words faster.”

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Animated Anatomy of Shakespearean Slurs
Animated Anatomy of Shakespearean Slurs

Heartless hinds, fishmongers, and lots of thumb-biting.

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Vowels: A Cinematic Homage to the Beauty of Language and Life
Vowels: A Cinematic Homage to the Beauty of Language and Life

A, E, I, O, U.

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Sparkle and Spin: A Clever 1957 Children’s Book About Words Illustrated by Iconic Designer Paul Rand
Sparkle and Spin: A Clever 1957 Children’s Book About Words Illustrated by Iconic Designer Paul Rand

A mid-century lens on the relationship between language and image, shape and sound, thought and expression.

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