Then too, linguistics seem to attract more than their share of (how shall I put this?) people with underdeveloped social skills. In fact, after economists, linguists are more likely to suffer from Arrogant Nerd Syndrome than any other segment of the population. As a result, I steel myself for the ghastly sight of a fellow linguist in the throes of a purple-faced, spittle-covered, ad hominem seizure each time I drop in on the discussions. Yet as of today, only one of these Net-surfing werewolves has blundered into World Languages. To be sure, other linguists have taken me to the woodshed, but with that sole exception, all have acquited themselves with eloquence, sportsmanship, and self-control. Again, I give the credit to Suite 101 as an island of relative civility in a sea of newsgroup venom.
I fiddled with style with my first several columns, trying to ascertain the sort of writing that World Languages readers preferred. I then monitored the "hit" statistics to see which articles drew the most readers, and shaped subsequent submissions accordingly. When a low-key, factual piece on Romani initially drew few readers, I uploaded How to Tear Your Nation Apart in One Easy Step, the most infamous of the experimental pieces. Tear Your Nation Apart was intended to gauge how much opinion, as compared to stark fact, readers preferred. While this article drew by far the most commentary (most of it posted in the wrong folder, not all of it constructive), it did not result in a discernible rise in hits. Thus, my career as a shock-jock came to an abrupt end.
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