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Barry is a 51 year old guy from Stateless, USA


"... you are changed to me and I to you, the way that creases remain always in a sheet of paper that has once been folded."   (from "Mary Brunton" by John Stammers)

∴ [My avatar is Maggie Taylor's "The Optimist's Suit" - an original of which hangs on my wall.] ∴

I help out at SU with Community Support.

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  • Edge: HOW DOES OUR LANGUAGE SHAPE THE WAY WE THINK? By...

    Rated Jun 23 • 27 reviews • linguistics • edge.org

    A fascinating article.

    I don't normally quote wholesale (in my reviews) from articles, but I can't resist it in this particular case:

      "the Kuuk Thaayorre, like many other Aboriginal groups, use cardinal-direction terms "north, south, east, and west" to define space. This is done at all scales, which means you have to say things like "There's an ant on your southeast leg" or "Move the cup to the north northwest a little bit." One obvious consequence of speaking such a language is that you have to stay oriented at all times, or else you cannot speak properly. The normal greeting in Kuuk Thaayorre is "Where are you going?" and the answer should be something like " Southsoutheast, in the middle distance." If you don't know which way you're facing, you can't even get past "Hello."

    A right rivetting read.