Cunning linguist (fwd link)

[Aidan Wilson]

I suspect that people innocently use the term 'cunning linguist', probably
not realising its sexual connotations, and also without realising that
linguists (beyond about 3rd year undergraduate) categorically don't use 
the term.

It's understandable of course, a report writer's goal for a title is to 
come up with something snappy; puns are good, as are such close word 
associations and cunning and linguist(ics).

Whever I hear it I humourlessly tell people that we (linguists, as a
community) have banned the joke. Maybe someone should - I don't know - 
send out a media release from some fictional consortium of international
linguists, advising the world that the noun 'linguist' shall never 
co-occur with the descriptor 'cunning'. Anyone else got a suggestion? 
Mine's a bit stupid, and goes against this whole antiprescriptivist thing 
that's seemingly now prerequired for linguist-hood.

-- 
Aidan Wilson

The University of Sydney
+612 9036 9558
+61428 458 969
aidan.wilson at usyd.edu.au

On Wed, 4 Mar 2009, Jesse Johnson wrote:

> What does Cunnilingus have to do with language revitalization? Does
> the Hawaiian language give women pleasure or is it a real tongue
> twister???
>
> On Wed, Mar 4, 2009 at 9:53 AM, Richard LaFortune <anguksuar at yahoo.com> wrote:
>> that wasn't really the title of the article was it
>>
>> --- On Wed, 3/4/09, phil cash cash <cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU> wrote:
>>
>> From: phil cash cash <cashcash at EMAIL.ARIZONA.EDU>
>> Subject: [ILAT] Cunning linguist (fwd link)
>> To: ILAT at LISTSERV.ARIZONA.EDU
>> Date: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 10:23 AM
>>
>>
>> -----Inline Attachment Follows-----
>>
>> Cunning linguist
>> A look at what it takes to save dying languages
>>
>> Interview by Adrienne LaFrance
>> Mar 4, 2009
>>
>> On March 12, linguists from across the globe will descend on Hawaii to
>> discuss
>> the loss of language around the world, and how to prevent it. Chair of the
>> Linguistics Department at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa Nick
>> Thieberger is one of the conferences organizers and took time to chat with
>> the
>> Weekly about what languages were losing and what it will take to preserve
>> entire cultures, one word at a time.
>>
>> Access full article below:
>> http://honoluluweekly.com/qanda/2009/03/cunning-linguist/
>
>