Geoffrey Alert

[Laurence Horn]

At 6:08 PM -0800 2/18/08, Benjamin Lukoff wrote:
>On Mon, 18 Feb 2008, Laurence Horn wrote:
>
>>  >geoff n. posted about this on the Language Log:
>>  >
>>  >   http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005387.html
>>  >
>>  Geoff was not the only linguist to be quoted by the Times piece in
>>  connection with the Subway Semicolon affair:
>>
>>  The linguist Noam Chomsky sniffed, ''I suppose Bush would claim it's
>>  the effect of No Child Left Behind.''
>
>Did Chomsky really say that? Why?

He was asked for a comment on semicolons on the subways.  I don't
think he called it in.

>And why are they asking theoretical linguists for quotations on
>punctuation, anyway?
>
Theoretical, shmeoretical.  He's a linguist.  He's famous.  I'm
surprised they thought of asking Geoff.

LH

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org