Not so cunning
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Jan. 2nd, 2005 | 12:14 pm
mood: 
amused
music: They Might Be Giants - A Shooting Star Is Not a Star
It seems to me that Linguistics fails us by trying to pretend there is no poetry.
I know that in my writing, I am even worse than Humpty-Dumpty, who claimed that a word means exactly what he wants it to mean. I don't even claim THAT.
In my writing, a word may represent a metaphor or set of metaphors that rely entirely on information that is not available in the text.
In everyday speech, we often use words or phrases that refer to a meta-context, something about the immediate situation in which the words are spoken. Linguists are forever chasing down those odd constructions, trying to give them a denotation rather than their connotation, if I have those words right.
I know that in my writing, I am even worse than Humpty-Dumpty, who claimed that a word means exactly what he wants it to mean. I don't even claim THAT.
In my writing, a word may represent a metaphor or set of metaphors that rely entirely on information that is not available in the text.
In everyday speech, we often use words or phrases that refer to a meta-context, something about the immediate situation in which the words are spoken. Linguists are forever chasing down those odd constructions, trying to give them a denotation rather than their connotation, if I have those words right.
(no subject)
from:
papertygre
date: Jan. 3rd, 2005 10:39 am (UTC)
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from:
metacontext
date: Jan. 3rd, 2005 10:41 am (UTC)
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from:
triple_entendre
date: Jan. 3rd, 2005 11:01 am (UTC)
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