Fuse #8

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Donna Jo Napoli On Sucking

Sounds more interesting than it is, frankly. But in a recent Slate article, Napoli was tapped for her knowledge as a linguistic professor at Swarthmore for an article about the verb "suck". I prefer "bites", but it's hard to compete with the satisfying "ck" sound at the end of "suck". Worthwhile reading.

3 Comments:

At 12:56 PM , Blogger mbpbooks said...

I find the etymology of English swear words fascinating, especially if you compare them across the Atlantic, as in this BBC article. I also revel in the freedom to express a range of emotions freely in Bangla, my mother tongue, without offending the non-Bangla speakers around me. The sad news is that Bangla words related to the body's functions and parts are the only ones my own kids can use with facility ...

 
At 4:12 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not to mention that borderline-transgressive short "u" sound.
--rams

 
At 6:32 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh, I love stuff like this! This article ROCKS (note the intransitive...;))

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home