any facts on linguistics to offer to us?
Linguistics is the study of linguists, and why they chose to pursue careers in languages, translation, and/or linguini. Linguistics dates back to the Tower of Babel, when new languages sprang into being so that one day, Neal Stephenson could use them as a plot point in a sci-fi novel.
The modern world by contrast has well over six languages, including Quenya, Sindarin, Khuzdul, and West Frisian Dutch. People who can speak only one of these are called monoglots, people who speak a few are called polyglots, and people who know every language are called omniglots, or colloquially, “show-off jerks.”
Most people are of course, monoglots, and thus their seeds contain only a single embryonic leaf. Monoglots are also more prone to catching mononucleosis, which is a very catchy song by Schoolyard Heroes.
In conclusion, linguistics is by far the sexiest sounding blanket term for less sexy words like “syntax” and “phonology.”
