Here’s an excerpt from “Stuff You Didn’t Know,” which (among other things) explains why English (though lacking grammatical gender), is still unbelievably difficult for non-native speakers:
The combination “ough” can be pronounced in nine different
ways. The following sentence contains them all: “A rough-coated,
dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.”
Whoah. Perhaps Sagert could enlighten us with regard to other difficulties he sees from non-native speakers.
“Art Garfunkel has a master’s in math from Columbia University.”
“John Astin (the original Addams Family patriarch) studied math, not theater, at Johns Hopkins University, though he’s currently a professor in the latter department.”
But wait, there’s more!
“Danica McKellar (Winnie, The Wonder Years)… is currently a Ph.D. candidate in neuroscience at UCLA; McKellar started UCLA as a film major but clicked with calculus and has since co-authored both a statistical mechanics paper that led to getting her name on a theorem (the Chayes-McKellar-Winn theorem) and a new book for middle schoolers, Math Doesn’t Suck.”
And of course, who could forget Tom Lehrer, who entered Harvard at 15. Here’s a good quote from him: “I am never forget the day I first meet the great Lobachevsky. In one word he told me secret of success in mathematics: Plagiarize!”
So that’s it, Katy. I hope you’ve enjoyed this break from studying; remember, you can do it!
If you are in the Twin Cities area November 6, and whether you are ostensibly a ‘liberal’ or not, you should see Paul Krugman speak. John Gruber calls him “the world’s best political commentator” and even wrote “I didn’t mind paying the $50 a year for TimesSelect — I’d pay that just to read Paul Krugman and Frank Rich.” Krugman’s most recent book is called The Conscience of a Liberal. Here is a quick summary from Andrew Leonard’s recent review of the book in Salon magazine:
“The Conscience of a Liberal” is a history of the political economy of the United States from the beginning of the 20th century to the present, but its most important message is that, after years of Republican ascendancy accompanied by rapidly growing economic inequality in the United States, the point at which the pendulum finally starts swinging in the other direction has arrived.
I like the phrase “political economy,” but that blanket summary isn’t as interesting as another major point from the book (summed up again by Salon):
The gross inequality of the Gilded Age that led up to the Great Depression morphed into a stunningly middle-class economy because of concrete initiatives forced through via Roosevelt’s New Deal.
Indeed, when Kottke linked to the inaugural post on Krugman’s new blog, the topic was New Deal economics and the echoes of the government’s positive influence in shaping a middle class economy. (At least I think that’s a good summary, it’s been about a month since I read that quite-interesting post.)
Regardless, according to St. Thomas, Krugman speaks at a free event at a local Jewish temple in Minneapolis.
The illustrious Kottke recently linked a piece from the New York Times about Jewish Delis. While the following quote does nothing to summarize the article, I thought it stood on its own pretty well:
One thing I’ve learned is you have to let them do what they think is right. I’ve always taught my kids that it’s not so bad to make a mistake. There’s only one thing worse than making a mistake. And that’s not making a decision.
Anyhow, the article does a surprisingly good job of capturing both the events surrounding the decline of delis in New York City and the more difficult-to-summarize culture of the Jewish community that runs those delis.
You may visit a Minnesotan and be offered something to drink multiple times.
Minnesotans are renowned for charity work and donations.
Minnesotans are renowned for taking forever to say goodbye. This is in part due to the winter weather and reluctance to leave. This behavior is seen in Scandinavian and Finnish cultures where many Minnesotans trace their heritage.
Minnesotans file fewer civil lawsuits than residents of other states.
Minnesotans are more open with their homes than in many other states. Many homes outside of the larger cities are left unlocked even if no one is home.
Instead of rejecting an idea in the workplace, Minnesotans are known for calling a meeting to discuss the idea, and then canceling the meeting.
Do these seem accurate? I know the first one is certainly true, and the third is very true in my experience. However, I haven’t noticed the last one to be true. Anyhow, today just seemed like a good day for some Minnesota pride.
