tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post1252226404130371125..comments2024-03-10T23:01:51.493-05:00Comments on Stupid Motivational Tricks / Bemsha Swing: Law of Lengthening LimbsJonathanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-67293491618808285892014-04-13T00:01:12.148-05:002014-04-13T00:01:12.148-05:00I'm sure I've seen this somewhere in a sty...I'm sure I've seen this somewhere in a style manual or usage book, but I can't remember where (but not Strunk and White, says the Pullum disciple).<br /><br />And I've definitely used the idea of Behaghel's "Law of Increasing Terms" to comment on student writing. — With the caveat that breaking the law can create a rhetorical effect, of course.Andrew Shieldshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02804655739574694901noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-20679489033500082782014-04-08T15:49:25.999-05:002014-04-08T15:49:25.999-05:00I say coffee and tea. I say coffee and tea. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-91292031779409478292014-04-08T15:48:58.645-05:002014-04-08T15:48:58.645-05:00wealth and happiness
but
bacon and eggs
There ...wealth and happiness<br /><br />but <br /><br />bacon and eggs<br /><br />There may be a preference in some cases for that trochee + iamb pattern of<br /><br />bacon and eggs, beatles and stones, peaches and cream, Starsky and Hutch <br /><br />At least that pattern in not unknown. I saw coffee and tea though ngram prefers the opposite. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-64802474424706078942014-04-08T14:59:40.618-05:002014-04-08T14:59:40.618-05:00"Beatles and Stones" dominates the alter..."Beatles and Stones" dominates the alternative, and that's not due to any fixed model like the author list.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-41362502610170952732014-04-08T14:47:54.983-05:002014-04-08T14:47:54.983-05:00Watson and Crick is clearly preferred (but that...Watson and Crick is clearly preferred (but that's the order of their names on the paper).Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-39361394605149145292014-04-08T14:23:07.461-05:002014-04-08T14:23:07.461-05:00Find me one that goes in the opposite direction. T...Find me one that goes in the opposite direction. The only one that occurs to me is peaches and cream. Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-35288754032538912592014-04-08T14:17:42.049-05:002014-04-08T14:17:42.049-05:00Vide Ford/Chevrolet. As with salt/pepper, it does ...Vide <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=Ford+and+Chevrolet%2CChevrolet+and+Ford&year_start=1900&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2CFord%20and%20Chevrolet%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%2CChevrolet%20and%20Ford%3B%2Cc0" rel="nofollow">Ford/Chevrolet</a>. As with salt/pepper, it does seem that preferences are clear, but I don't see that Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-542117283632906482014-04-08T12:44:24.733-05:002014-04-08T12:44:24.733-05:00And Cicero said: quare aut paria esse debent poste...And Cicero said: quare aut paria esse debent posteriora superioribus et extrema primis aut, quod etiam est melius et iuc…Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-5398840117620083222014-04-08T12:27:34.329-05:002014-04-08T12:27:34.329-05:00Excellent. I did one for bait and tackle vs. tackl...Excellent. I did one for bait and tackle vs. tackle and bait. I think the skepticism of the Missouri state motto is justified. By now we know that it is a thing, attested by RJ, JM, Panini, Piera and Behaghel (by intuition at least) and that nobody has claimed a preference in the other direction. So the question is how strong it is, whether it beats random chance, and whether it holds for fixed Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-68127642076806590282014-04-08T09:18:55.130-05:002014-04-08T09:18:55.130-05:00In the Linguistics Department library where I stud...In the Linguistics Department library where I studied as an undergrad, there was a framed black-and-white photo of a mustachioed man captioned "Panini".<br /><br />It's dawning on me that since I work at the company that can do <a href="https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=pepper%20and%20salt,salt%20and%20pepper&direct_url=t1%3B%2Cpepper%20and%20salt%3B%2Cc0%3B.t1%3B%Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-28544660247321674682014-04-08T09:06:50.940-05:002014-04-08T09:06:50.940-05:00Thanks! I could have found that I guess. It's ...Thanks! I could have found that I guess. It's more useful than the German especially since I don't know German very well. Also known as the law of Pannini, so it is an actual "thing." Jonathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09371893596402673898noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-82562890841340586732014-04-08T09:00:14.066-05:002014-04-08T09:00:14.066-05:00For once, English Wikipedia is more useful.For once, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaghel's_laws" rel="nofollow">English Wikipedia</a> is more useful.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1055932257464975902.post-25737826577000333642014-04-08T08:58:38.559-05:002014-04-08T08:58:38.559-05:00http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaghelsche_Gesetze,...http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behaghelsche_Gesetze, evidently.<br /><br />One of the striking features of <a href="http://www.bartleby.com/148/2.html" rel="nofollow">"In Memory of Major Robert Gregory"</a> is the repeated effect of an anticlimactic stumble into a short ending (perfectly apt, of course). If Behaghel is right, that's indeed distinctive.Vance Maverickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07477306994564623348noreply@blogger.com