7 ms·
White Words
- SwiftyBug 8y agoI really like how this article sounds like it's been written by Lemony Snicket.
- hyperpallium 8y agoWhich here means...?
- ncmncm 8y ago"Good"
- AlexTWithBeard 8y agoThe article in one sentence: saying that Eskimo have fifty words for snow is like saying that Europeans have fifty words for water (water, river, lake, dew, fog, cloud, ice and so on).
- ncmncm 8y agoThe summary carries as much truth as every misstatement the author examines. I.e, none.
- dang 8y agoMaybe so, but please don't post shallow dismissals to Hacker News. This is in the site guidelines: https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html.
- peteretep 8y agoIf you enjoyed this summary, you might also enjoy: Titanic: boat sinks The New Testament: man killed Crime and Punishment: Russians
- ikeyany 8y ago> Crime and Punishment: Crime and Punishment Come on now, the joke practically writes itself.
- divbzero 8y agoPerhaps this comment was intended as a parody of itself? While not incorrect, the summary grossly understates the actual content of the article. Those who read “White Words” in full will understand why its author would oppose “article in one sentence” summaries.
- mc32 8y agoThis whole article is about disproving the Sapir-Wharf hypothesis. While not entirely convinced, I do believe people tend to overemphasize it. In other words with a little effort it can be escaped.
- jccalhoun 8y agoIs the author getting paid by the word? It is trying to be conversational or something but it just needs to get to the point.
- tsherr 8y ago"If in this I have been tedious, it may be some excuse, I had not time to make it shorter." This writer could spend some time with Strunk and White.
- ncmncm 8y agoYou seem to be referring to "The Nasty Book", designed to make people insecure about the quality of their writing. Google it. I'll wait. The essay is thoughtful, nuanced, and not easily summarized. Poison for modern readers, savory for patient readers.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoI Googled it, which was completely uninlightening. I presume that you meant some kind of a diss on Strunk & White. It may make people insecure about the quality of their writing, but it does so in order to show them how to be better. As for this essay... you may like it. I want to take away their keyboard until they learn how to stop wasting my time.
- kaffee 8y agoAaron Bady is one of the best writers on the Internet right now.
- mesozoic 8y agoWow! What a long and pointless article.
- ncmncm 8y agoYou get from it what you bring to it. Is that pointless? If your life is pointless, then probably.
- AnimalMuppet 8y agoThat's getting pretty close to a personal attack, which is frowned on heavily here.
- dang 8y agoPersonal attacks will get you banned here. Please don't post like this again. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
- romanpoet 8y agoStopped reading after being informed that my thinking the word "Eskimo", which the author zerself used, is offensive.
- hyperpallium 8y agoExcessively literal. But it's one way to direct research, like James Burke's Connections https://www.scientificamerican.com/department/connections/ https://www.scientificamerican.com/department/connections/ I always read Eskimos have 50 words for snow not as a statement about Eskimos, but that if you deal with something a lot, you'll know more about it. Similar: the novice and expert see not the same tree or Melbournians have 50 words for rain. And not literally "unthinkable" to not have those words, but that it would be silly not to.
- egwynn 8y agoThis was long and somewhat meandering, but offered a much more thorough explanation of the “50 words for snow” factoid’s saga than I’d ever heard before. For that, I’m happy I read the whole thing.