[extropy-chat] languages

[Ben Cunningham]

Spike wrote:
Most languages have words specifying the difference
between mother's parents and father's parents.  English
has only the generic grandmother and grandfather.  Big
omission.  Other curious holes in the language so obvious
that various dialects have attempted to patch the gap:

1.  you (plural)
2.  sheep (singular)
3.  Janet Jackson's boobs

etc. Other examples?

spike


I read recently that a native South American language (Tariana) has a
structure such that if you don't specify just *how* you know something that
you are talking about, you are lying. That would put the cat among the
pigeons. How would politicians cope, for starters? I imagine it would be
very useful for scientists, though.

BEN