Some moments from The Daily Show
Part I: Non-Contrastive Lexical Contrasts Are Funny
On last night's Daily Show, Wyatt Cenac compared the old Republican party with the exciting new RePUBlican party --- the stressed syllable of RePUBlican has what sounds like a pitch boost and perhaps a bit of lengthening and/or a slight increase in intensity.* This is something that speakers of North American English can hear quite readily, and can manipulate linguistically in e.g. focus marking. Listening to the segment, I was always entirely certain which he was referring to.**
But it's not something that North American English ever uses to mark a contrast between lexical items. Hence the comedy. Whether he knew it or not, Mr. Cenac was using that fact to make the point that, while the RePUBlican party has made some changes in the focus of their message, ultimately the truth values remain unchanged. Clever!
Okay, fine, I know that by analyzing this to death I have made it No Longer Funny. Whatever.
Part II: Yes, Straight Men Use The Word "Butch"
There are a number of lexical items whose meanings are perfectly clear to me, but utterly confusing to many of my colleagues.*** I have strong intuitions about what belongs in the categories delimited by these words, and what doesn't; I know the difference between "camp" and "kitsch" (and that there is some overlap), and I know who counts as a "chicken" (I still do, but only just barely).
Butch. Let's talk about "butch". In conversation recently, two properties of this word were contested: a) it can apply to inanimate objects as well as humans, and b) it can be used by or used to describe straight men.
I insist that both of those statements are true. I swear I am not making this up. On last night's Daily Show, guest Tom Selleck (who is totally butch; just look at that mustache!) informed us that a ranch is more butch than a farm. Look: Mr. Selleck is straight, and using the word to refer to an inanimate object.
I told you so.
The one part of my story that remains unconfirmed is the use of "butch" to refer to straight men. Just believe me on this one, okay?
*I am tempted to extract the audio and look at the relevant parts in Praat. Please don't let me. I have cookies to bake and a paper to revise.
**It was also accompanied by some eyebrow movements, but I didn't look up from my knitting the first time I "watched" it, and still made the distinction without any difficulty.
***Toque is not one of them. I am mystified and intrigued by it; every time I knit a hat, I have to ask my Canadian friends if it is a toque. Maybe if I knit enough hats, I'll finally understand.
On last night's Daily Show, Wyatt Cenac compared the old Republican party with the exciting new RePUBlican party --- the stressed syllable of RePUBlican has what sounds like a pitch boost and perhaps a bit of lengthening and/or a slight increase in intensity.* This is something that speakers of North American English can hear quite readily, and can manipulate linguistically in e.g. focus marking. Listening to the segment, I was always entirely certain which he was referring to.**
But it's not something that North American English ever uses to mark a contrast between lexical items. Hence the comedy. Whether he knew it or not, Mr. Cenac was using that fact to make the point that, while the RePUBlican party has made some changes in the focus of their message, ultimately the truth values remain unchanged. Clever!
Okay, fine, I know that by analyzing this to death I have made it No Longer Funny. Whatever.
Part II: Yes, Straight Men Use The Word "Butch"
There are a number of lexical items whose meanings are perfectly clear to me, but utterly confusing to many of my colleagues.*** I have strong intuitions about what belongs in the categories delimited by these words, and what doesn't; I know the difference between "camp" and "kitsch" (and that there is some overlap), and I know who counts as a "chicken" (I still do, but only just barely).
Butch. Let's talk about "butch". In conversation recently, two properties of this word were contested: a) it can apply to inanimate objects as well as humans, and b) it can be used by or used to describe straight men.
I insist that both of those statements are true. I swear I am not making this up. On last night's Daily Show, guest Tom Selleck (who is totally butch; just look at that mustache!) informed us that a ranch is more butch than a farm. Look: Mr. Selleck is straight, and using the word to refer to an inanimate object.
I told you so.
The one part of my story that remains unconfirmed is the use of "butch" to refer to straight men. Just believe me on this one, okay?
*I am tempted to extract the audio and look at the relevant parts in Praat. Please don't let me. I have cookies to bake and a paper to revise.
**It was also accompanied by some eyebrow movements, but I didn't look up from my knitting the first time I "watched" it, and still made the distinction without any difficulty.
***Toque is not one of them. I am mystified and intrigued by it; every time I knit a hat, I have to ask my Canadian friends if it is a toque. Maybe if I knit enough hats, I'll finally understand.
posted by Wendell Kimper at 5:32 PM
2 Comments:
i hereby declare an exchange program.
when you see a hat, you can outsource the decision as to whether it is a toque to me.
and when i see tom selleck (really???) or anybody else that i am not sure about, i can bring in your expert skills in determining whether or not they are butch.
i can just see it now:
Person: "hey, do you think that guy/girl/frog/wardrobe is butch? i can't really figure it out.."
Me: "don't worry! i know a guy..."
For the record: I think pretty much all frogs are butch. No, I can't explain why.
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