That movie is so relatable

Aspiration depends on position in a word in English and doesn’t hold any semantic or grammatical meaning, but in other languages, an aspirated consonant can completely change the meaning of a word.

It reminds me of how Hindi/Urdu use v and w. Which sound is produced depends on where it is in a word, but to native speakers, both v and w may sound the same. That’s why Hindustani ESL speakers tend to switch between the two in ways that don’t make sense to native English speakers.

It helps me wrap my mind around it to think of how English has two different ways of pronouncing L - there’s “light” L at the beginning of words (love, listen, like.) Then there’s “dark” L used at the end or sometimes in the middle (full, ball, visible.) The word “little” provides an example of both types (and if you pronounce it with a glottal stop for the “tt”, such as in a Cockney accent, the word is basically “light L, glottal stop, dark L.”)

Of course, aspiration itself also works as a way to understand it, since aspirated sounds make a difference in Hindustani, but English spelling treats them interchangeably. However, that difference is too hard for many of us to distinguish, so I find that comparing L sounds is easier for English speakers to recognize as a comparison.

The more I learn other languages, the more annoyed I get at the Great Vowel Shift in English. We could’ve been aligned with so many other languages, but no, we just had to be different.

It’s wild, since English has such a vast vowel inventory that we can pronounce a lot of words in other languages, but since we read letters differently, many people end up with accents that don’t need to exist. Consider people pronouncing Spanish words with English vowels, even though all standard Spanish vowel sounds are already part of the standard English repertoire.

Which makes it funny when I hear fellow English speakers knock on French spelling. At least I can reasonably assume what a written French word is supposed to sound like. English doesn’t give us that luxury.

“Apples, I love not”

It’s funny how learning different grammar can change the way you think. I read this and think, “Ah yes, perfectly normal Japanese word order. Topic first, with verb + negation at the end.”

I have to be careful when I talk sometimes, because my mental grammar structure is all over the place now.

Or ‘left’, which can mean remaining (“I only have three left”) or departing (“They left.”)

I remember learning Spanish in school. Discovering the difference between “dejar” and “irse” drove this home for me. Dejar - to leave [a thing somewhere.] Irse - to leave [a place.] (“Salir” also works for the latter meaning, but it can mean more of “to go out.”)

“Ella se fue y dejó el libro en la mesa.” (“She left and left the book on the table.”)

Speaking of “driving (a point) home,” I’d say one of the weirdest/most interesting quirks of English is how many idioms we rely on.

Depends on what I’m doing. It’s usually one voice, but if I’m trying to think through something or if my ADHD is turned up, I get what I call “the committee.” For thinking through something, different perspectives all chime in, and I like to imagine it like some kind of round table debate. I “talk” with myself through ideas, and sometimes I change my mind about what I do because ultimately I know the most sensible talking point is the right one.

If my ADHD is behind it, though, then it’s more like a room full of people all pointing out different things at the same time. One’s complaining that the noise outside is too loud. Another’s distracted by the birds out the window. Another voice is debating what I should eat next (even if I’m not hungry.) Yet another is trying to remember the lyrics to a random song. Then the “responsible adult” of the group is trying to get everyone else to STFU and focus on the task at hand.

I find that caffeine goes a long way in getting the committee to chill and listen to each other. It’s not too surprising that stimulants get them all in line, but it’s still interesting to experience.

I always liked the community events Reddit did. I wish we could do something like /r/place. I guess the next best (low-tech) thing is starting with a blank image file, adding a line, and uploading it for the next person to add a line, so on and so forth. Make some kind of collaborative artwork where everyone contributes a bit. Whether it becomes a graffiti wall, a collection of memes, or nothing but multi-colored dicks, I know I’d have fun.

Meanwhile, at my parents’ old house, I had painted a bedroom so each wall represented a different season, complete with a mural of a colorful tree losing leaves for the autumn side (since it’s my favorite season.)

When a couple bought it last year, they fell in love with it. My old “seasons” room is being turned into a nursery. My mom recently shared a post by the buyer with me, where she said something along the lines of, “Spending our first summer in our dream house!”

Thank goodness no “flippers” ever got their hands on it.

You can hear the zulu one in the opening lines of The Lion King song Circle of Life.

“Nants ingonyama bagithi baba.” literally means “hear comes the lion, father”

Okay, this part blew my mind. I knew such terms were used around the world for parents, but that connection to The Lion King is still really cool to learn.

Wait until you hear about Dawn and Don.

I grew up in a part of the country that pronounces them differently. Moving out of that zone, I finally understood why a teacher I had (with the first name “Dawn”) hated her name.

I have an iPhone, about 5 years old.

Go figure that a tick with a name reminiscent of Texas would make you unable to enjoy a steak.

I wish we could bring back custom ring tones. Some people use the same sound for calls that I use for wake-up alarms. It’s jarring when I hear it, especially since my phone likes to fuck around on its own in my pocket sometimes (even though I use a biometric lock, it still finds a way.)

The heat treatment was the only thing that worked when I had to deal with those little fuckers. I’m sorry you had to deal with them, but I’m glad they’re gone now. Those things aren’t just physically irritating, they fuck with your head.

And yet we’re having shit get censored everywhere else because aDvErTiSeRs. Clearly something doesn’t add up here.

Try as I might, I can’t imagine it that way. Got an illustration?

FIFA ball does not look happy

That feeling when you’re trying to browse through a creator you like’s page for videos you haven’t seen yet, but you have to scroll past the dozens and dozens of things you’ve already watched, which each take time to load their thumbnails, making the task drag on for ages.