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They really missed an opportunity by not calling it the Great Vowel Movement
by kindall 5y ago
They really missed an opportunity by not calling it the Great Vowel Movement
- tabtab 5y agoMaybe because "V" and "B" used to be pronounced the same ;-)
- Koshkin 5y agoIn Spanish they still are.
- brigandish 5y agoIt certainly reinforces what I know about techies that I just had to scroll all the way down to here to get past a group of them not only missing the point of a joke, but then arguing with each other pendantically over the meaning of words that add nothing to the discussion. Is bikeshedding a habit or a temperament? Glad to see someone managed to get the joke, anyway.
- batiudrami 5y agoBut everyone got the joke without the need for the follow up comment? That’s why it’s the top comment.
- eindiran 5y agoVowel shift is a term of art in linguistics, so I'm not sure the pun would be worth it.
- yesenadam 5y ago> Vowel shift is a term of art in linguistics Aside: I see "term of art" everywhere on HN lately. Why?! What does it add to saying "Vowel shift is a linguistics term" or "a term in linguistics"? Why do people want to sound like patent lawyers? Am I missing something?
- chc 5y ago"A term in linguistics" is imprecise — it's also a term outside of linguistics. The phrase "term of art" means basically "I know that you think you know what this means based on the words, but it is a special defined term that means something particular in this field." It is generally used to correct someone who seems to be viewing a term of art as a common English phrase, so the precision is useful.
- westoncb 5y agoSeems like "idiomatic" already fits this perfectly. Is "term of art" in some way different? maybe has a more of a "you can't really understand it as an outsider," sense?: Idiomatic: A speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements, as in keep tabs on. A specialized vocabulary used by a group of people; jargon.
- chc 5y ago"Term of art" means that it has a technical meaning in a specific field, while "idiom" just means that a phrase has a meaning. For example, "a dime a dozen" is an idiom but not a term of art. If you wanted to avoid the phrase "term of art" for some reason, "idiom" would be a reasonable alternative.
- westoncb 5y ago"a technical meaning in a specific field" is one of the definitions of idiom (as given above)—they literally list 'jargon' as a synonym ("The specialized language of a trade, profession, or similar group, especially when viewed as difficult to understand by outsiders."). That entry was from: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition. Since idiom has both the structural denotation of a phrase being semantically 'atomic' (you lose the meaning if you break it into pieces), plus its synonymity with 'jargon', there appears to be nothing added in "term of art". —but maybe this is a lesser known meaning of 'idiom'.
- optimuspaul 5y agoSeems like linguistics is the perfect arena for exploiting puns. Term of art I think not when they miss a perfect chance for artistry.