Here’s mine: What did they call a word, before the word “word” was invented?
Why?
I often wonder this.
Here’s a question I had wondered about for years. I finally found the answer, but I’ll throw it out here anyway:
How to you distinguish, in terminology, people who live in Nigeria from people who live in Niger?
The answer is that people who live in Nigeria are Nigerians, while people who live in Niger are Nigeriens.
If there is a god, does he really know where he came from?
Why is it called a “combination” lock? The numbers have to be in the correct sequence, so shouldn’t it be called a “permutation” lock?
that last one ruptured my brain, because i was just thinking about that!
reason: my math class (honors Algebra II) just finished work on combinations and permutations.
That ol’ mod thang again…
I’m pondering whether this is a poll, general debate…shucky-durn, looks like it’d fit best into MPSIMS.
(I sort out my dresser drawers the same way.)
Veb
This has been bugging me for ages …
Okay, you know how you think to yourself? And it comes out in words in your head? And people who speak English think in English and people who speak French think in French? Do people who have been deaf all their lives think in sign language?
What do newborn babies dream of? They obviously dream but have virtually no context. Heck, they can only focus on things about 6 inches in front of their face. For example, they don’t dream about driving a Ferrari through the hills a Maui with the top down, a sunny day, a hot love muffin in the next seat, and planning how to spend the $100 million they won in the lottery. No smart ass answers about boobs either like the last time I posted this question (like that is such an original thought).
Here’s a question I like to ponder on…
What if extinction is really the rapture?
hmmm… well, i was raised in an english atmosphere but am now being marinated in chinese, so i think in a combo of both. this is highly useful if i can’t think of the word in one language but can in the other. I can’t speak for deaf people, though, as i don’t know any, but my hypothesis is yes, they do use sign language, or maybe symbols or made-up languages. i really don’t know. anyone want to answer?
Shouldn’t ‘monosyllabic’ be shorter?
for that matter, shouldn’t “phonics” be spelled “fonix”?
And along that line, why isn’t there a shorter way of writing the word “Abbreviation”?
Still further along those lines…
Why isn’t onomatopoeia spelled the way it sounds?
Well, I have lots of question, but Kayeby, I have to agree, that is something I have always pondered.
So, anyone know?
Hi Kayeby;
English isn’t my mother language, but i use it exclusively
for work and i can tell you that most of the time i’m thinking in English too… When i spend some time abroad (like in the states), i completely stop thinking in my mother language. It’s just more convenient than making up phrases in your head and then have to translate them before you speak them. Know what i mean ? Like when i’m talking to a french speaking person i think in french too.
Hope this helps …
Brgds, A
How did the “tradition” of one athlete touching or patting another’s butt after a good play come into being?
Do the people in Tipperary realise that they’re a long way away?
Why do clairvoyants have door bells?
What does occasional furniture do for the rest of the time?
Where’s everything gone? I only typed ‘format C:’