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Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

earther.gizmodo.com

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Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#31

Post by furyofantares »

marnett wrote: post #8
erikpukinskis wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes? It’s clear writing, it’s truthful and direct. You don’t like the style, but I’m sure there are many people who don’t like your preferred voice. The days of one acceptable voice in trade writing are gone, and that’s a good thing. It was creating a gate keeping effect whereby people who spoke well and clearly but not “right”—according to some ethnic cultural moors—were not taken seriously. Now everyone can be not…

I am all for using a more casual voice when writing about a subject for an audience outside of that particular domain of expertise. However, "Like, uh, their purpose." is grammatically and semantically meaningless. I am for using plain english to describe latin law terms. I am against colloquial, spoken styles slipping into written word.

Nah, it’s expressive

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#32

Post by cfmcdonald »

echelon wrote: post #22
marnett wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am all for using a more casual voice when writing about a subject for an audience outside of that particular domain of expertise. However, "Like, uh, their purpose." is grammatically and semantically meaningless. I am for using plain english to describe latin law terms. I am against colloquial, spoken styles slipping into written word.

Um, that's like literally gate keeping, irregardless of what you think. Language is malleable.

What's wrong with gate keeping? Gates are useful things. Surely you agree that some writing is better than other writing? It's not all equally good.

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#33

Post by littlekosh »

JasonFruit wrote: post #29
SolaceQuantum wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't belive this is actually semantically meaningless. The pause in 'uh' is clearly used to emphasize the significant lack of information such that scientists don't even know the purpose of these calls. For brevity and that this is not a serious/academic article itself, the 'uh' is a suitable shorthand for a casual audience. I myself am not a fan but I do not claim it is semantically meaningless. I grasp the full…

Its meaning is expressed by being spoken correctly, either in the imagination or out loud; as a poorly-specified representation of an expressive vocal sound, it's not meaningful in the same way that a real word would be. While it's not meaningless, it's certainly meaning-impoverished.

I’m curious as to your feelings on words such as bark, chirp, meow, splash, and mumble.

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#34

Post by pvaldes »

hombre_fatal wrote: post #2

> There’s a lot the biologists don’t know about these songs. Like, uh, their purpose. Is this really considered an acceptable way to write these days? Incredibly sad to hear how there are <30 whales in this region. Especially when listening to one's calls. Wonder what kind of whale-to-whale range these songs have.

Biologists know perfectly the purpose of these songs: Communication, duh.

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#35

Post by executesorder66 »

echelon wrote: post #22
marnett wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am all for using a more casual voice when writing about a subject for an audience outside of that particular domain of expertise. However, "Like, uh, their purpose." is grammatically and semantically meaningless. I am for using plain english to describe latin law terms. I am against colloquial, spoken styles slipping into written word.

Um, that's like literally gate keeping, irregardless of what you think. Language is malleable.

> irregardless

> Language is malleable.

Assuming that wasn't an intentional joke:

Yes, language is malleable, and changes all the time. But I do not have an indifferent attitude towards it. I would like for languages to at least adhere to basic logic where they can. So I don't support stupid words or statements like "irregardless" or "I could care less". So I oppose them where I can.

If you are going to change a language, then improve it, don't degrade it.

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#36

Post by misterman0 »

SolaceQuantum wrote: post #15
marnett wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am all for using a more casual voice when writing about a subject for an audience outside of that particular domain of expertise. However, "Like, uh, their purpose." is grammatically and semantically meaningless. I am for using plain english to describe latin law terms. I am against colloquial, spoken styles slipping into written word.

I don't belive this is actually semantically meaningless. The pause in 'uh' is clearly used to emphasize the significant lack of information such that scientists don't even know the purpose of these calls. For brevity and that this is not a serious/academic article itself, the 'uh' is a suitable shorthand for a casual audience. I myself am not a fan but I do not claim it is semantically meaningless. I grasp the full…

>> the pause in 'uh' is clearly used to emphasize the significant lack of information

Yes but it is a clumsy way of communicating that.

Also, a post shouldn't be down-voted just because you disagree with it. It should be down-voted because and only because of inappropriate behavior. There has been no inappropriate behavior. Karma police please withdraw.

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#37

Post by airstrike »

executesorder66 wrote: post #35
echelon wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Um, that's like literally gate keeping, irregardless of what you think. Language is malleable.

> irregardless > Language is malleable. Assuming that wasn't an intentional joke: Yes, language is malleable, and changes all the time. But I do not have an indifferent attitude towards it. I would like for languages to at least adhere to basic logic where they can. So I don't support stupid words or statements like "irregardless" or "I could care less". So I oppose them where I can. If you are going to change a lang…

I think irregardless is a joke 99% of the time

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#38

Post by SolaceQuantum »

misterman0 wrote: post #36
SolaceQuantum wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't belive this is actually semantically meaningless. The pause in 'uh' is clearly used to emphasize the significant lack of information such that scientists don't even know the purpose of these calls. For brevity and that this is not a serious/academic article itself, the 'uh' is a suitable shorthand for a casual audience. I myself am not a fan but I do not claim it is semantically meaningless. I grasp the full…

>> the pause in 'uh' is clearly used to emphasize the significant lack of information Yes but it is a clumsy way of communicating that. Also, a post shouldn't be down-voted just because you disagree with it. It should be down-voted because and only because of inappropriate behavior. There has been no inappropriate behavior. Karma police please withdraw.

That it is clumsy is not the same as that it is semantically meaningless. My disagreement is that the statement is entirely incorrect.

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#39

Post by eindiran »

misterman0 wrote: post #36
SolaceQuantum wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't belive this is actually semantically meaningless. The pause in 'uh' is clearly used to emphasize the significant lack of information such that scientists don't even know the purpose of these calls. For brevity and that this is not a serious/academic article itself, the 'uh' is a suitable shorthand for a casual audience. I myself am not a fan but I do not claim it is semantically meaningless. I grasp the full…

>> the pause in 'uh' is clearly used to emphasize the significant lack of information Yes but it is a clumsy way of communicating that. Also, a post shouldn't be down-voted just because you disagree with it. It should be down-voted because and only because of inappropriate behavior. There has been no inappropriate behavior. Karma police please withdraw.

Paul Graham disagrees[0] and the current site guidelines[1] don't suggest that you shouldn't downvote for disagreement. The guidelines do suggest that you shouldn't comment on voting in the comments.

I agree with the position that downvoting for disagreement is a net negative for any site that allows it; it encourages the comments to become an echo chamber and discourages people from posting interesting opinions that dissent from the majority opinion. But HN's guidelines don't prohibit it or even suggest that its wrong.

[0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=117171

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Song of the Rarest Large Whale on Earth Recorded for the First Time

#40

Post by JasonFruit »

littlekosh wrote: post #33
JasonFruit wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its meaning is expressed by being spoken correctly, either in the imagination or out loud; as a poorly-specified representation of an expressive vocal sound, it's not meaningful in the same way that a real word would be. While it's not meaningless, it's certainly meaning-impoverished.

I’m curious as to your feelings on words such as bark, chirp, meow, splash, and mumble.

I think you fail to grasp my meaning. The inflection of "uh" in that sentence is a greater part of its meaning than the pronunciation of the word, unlike the examples you gave. Onomatopoeia is a fine way to develop new words; inarticulate grunts that communicate hesitation in spoken conversation do not translate well to writing.
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