https://allthingslinguistic.com/post/45448571632/the-opposite-of-a-shibboleth-is-a-frisco All Things Linguistic All Things Linguistic A blog about all things linguistic by Gretchen McCulloch. I cohost Lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. I'm the author of Because Internet, a book about internet language! * About * Favourite posts * FAQ * Book on internet language * Lingthusiasm podcast * Linguistics jobs * #internet language * #linguist humour * #protolinguist * #language learning * #intro linguistics * Wikipedia editathons * Top Posts * Monthly email updates * RSS feed Follow tfyiS$ Search 1[ ] The opposite of a shibboleth is a frisco? A shibboleth is a word that insiders can pronounce but outsiders (presumably) cannot, but its use requires a deliberate test. It requires insiders forcing suspected outsiders to pronounce the word. The identification cannot happen surreptitiously, whereas anti-shibboleth works in spontaneous conversations. As soon as the outsiders mispronounce the word, the insiders know that they are outsiders, without necessarily alerting the outsiders that they have been found out. [...] My desire to find a name for the anti-shibboleth grew stronger recently, when I read Dan Engber's excellent piece in Slate about how all the idiots on the internet keep saying "Correlation does not imply causation." Scientists know that, whenever someone says "correlation does not imply causation," we are dealing with clueless civilians. The phrase is a perfect anti-shibboleth to smoke out civilians pretending to know something about science, but I still didn't have a name for it. What I wanted was a catchy, exotic name, infused with culture and history, like "shibboleth," that means "something that outsiders spontaneously say that secretly marks them as outsiders unbeknownst to them." So I asked around, and it turns out that Dan Engber himself had a perfect answer. As a former resident of San Francisco, Dan knew that people from all over the country think it's cool to call San Francisco "Frisco," but no genuine native San Franciscans would ever use the word to describe their city. He tells me that there was even a laundromat in his neighborhood called "Don't Call It Frisco Laundromat"! So "Frisco" is an anti-shibboleth that identifies outsiders to San Franciscans, and "frisco" is a perfect generic name for the category of such words. The parallel with anti-shibboleths for scientists goes deeper. It's not like scientists are physically incapable of saying "correlation does not imply causation," in the sense that Ephraimites were presumably physically incapable of pronouncing the word "shibboleth." It's just that no real scientists would. Similarly, it's not like native San Franciscans are physically incapable of saying "Frisco." It's just that no real San Franciscans would. Frisco. I like it. More on the history of "shibboleth" for background. So, what are some linguistics friscos? I'd say anything prescriptivist, for one. And any claims that "X language has no word/eleventy billion words for Y" (see a huge list of posts refuting them from Language Log). What else tells you immediately that someone isn't a linguist? * Tags: * #linguistics * #frisco * #shibboleth * #Prescriptivism * #x words for y * * * 2 + Twittert + Facebookf + Pinterestp + Googleg 5Copy short URL 10 years ago**91 notes Don't miss out on any interesting linguistics! Get my monthly newsletter in your inbox. Notes 1. [avatar_723]asymptoticabsurdist liked this 2. [sphere_ope]unimelbling liked this 3. [avatar_8b7]scribblinggraveyard liked this 4. [avatar_80c]daskapitalex-blog reblogged this from sparksfly-upward 5. [avatar_d18]sparksfly-upward reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 6. [e2b570304e]thecliffsatetretat liked this 7. [avatar_764]ddddiamond reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 8. [706a1041ac]madreabeja liked this 9. [avatar_d2a]blh308 reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 10. [avatar_d2a]blh308 liked this 11. [avatar_97f]zanderschubert liked this 12. [49a9caee3d]thecatsmayo liked this 13. [avatar_a14]verdantrising reblogged this from allthingslinguistic and added: Two things: the history behind the UC Davis server and also SO TRUE. No one calls it "Frisco" if you live in San... 14. [92e9649b00]tangerineboxes liked this 15. [avatar_a1c]resistandfight reblogged this from teajaylore-blog 16. [avatar_897]teajaylore-blog reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 17. [avatar_12e]spahrtacus reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 18. [default_av]lizzy-someone said: "Grammatically correct" instead of just "grammatical." 19. [default_av]lizzy-someone answered: Use of "tense" to mean basically "grammar stuff that involves verbs," including voice, mood, and aspect. 20. [avatar_32d]transliterations reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 21. [70602262d6]jujuoh liked this 22. [avatar_703]sheisdotmp3 liked this 23. [829a8759b5]violasarecool reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 24. [avatar_993]laviefantasque reblogged this from allthingslinguistic and added: Ooooh I like those! When people say "X language is 'harder' than Y language". [Because there is no such thing and native... 25. [avatar_ab7]vief liked this 26. [2497659613]hikimado liked this 27. [avatar_029]thespanglydragon liked this 28. [avatar_f23]fionabarry liked this 29. [avatar_f3b]flawless-fricatives reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 30. [avatar_828]zhenarator reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 31. [avatar_828]zhenarator liked this 32. [avatar_c11]bokane answered: "Ideograph." 33. [avatar_c11]bokane reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 34. [avatar_6fe]quinntothewoods liked this 35. [b1f0961e6a]onourway liked this 36. [avatar_469]atmoonrise reblogged this from allthingslinguistic 37. [avatar_d46]eightisalotoflegs liked this 38. [avatar_75e]atarimcgregor liked this 39. [avatar_c69]dissimilate reblogged this from allthingslinguistic and added: Actually, from what I've learned living here in Berkeley, another frisco for San Francisco is in fact "San Francisco"... 40. [avatar_c69]dissimilate answered: "I can write any way I want in this academic paper, because I'm a native speaker of English." Descriptivism =/= appropriate registers. 41. [avatar_b87]regret-this liked this 42. [avatar_7d5]allthingslinguistic posted this 43. Show more notesLoading... Newer][Older All Things Linguistic All Things Linguistic A blog about all things linguistic by Gretchen McCulloch. I cohost Lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. I'm the author of Because Internet, a book about internet language! Elsewhere tfyiS$ Longform Theme by Pixel Union. Powered by Tumblr. websitestatistics [impixu][impixu]