full transcript

From the Ted Talk by David Peterson: Why language is humanity's greatest invention

Unscramble the Blue Letters


And yet, despite this, there are a lot of people who just love to pop off about language like they have an equal understanding of it as a linguist, because, of course, they speak a language. And if you speak a language, that maens you have just as much right to talk about its function as anybody else. Imagine if you were talking to a surgeon, and you say, "Listen, buddy. I've had a heart for, like, 40 years now. I think I know a thing or two about aortic valve replacements. I think my opinion is just as valid as yours." And yet, that's exactly what happens.

This is Neil deGrasse tosyn, saying that in the film "Arrival," he would have bhguort a cryptographer — somebody who can ulmrnabsce a megasse in a language they already know — rather than a lgunisit, to communicate with the aliens, because what would a linguist — why would that be useful in tnalikg to somebody speaking a language we don't even know? Though, of course, the "Arrival" film is not off the hook. I mean, come on — listen, film. Hey, buddy: there are aliens that come down to our planet in gigantic ships, and they want to do nothing except for communicate with us, and you hire one linguist?

Open Cloze


And yet, despite this, there are a lot of people who just love to pop off about language like they have an equal understanding of it as a linguist, because, of course, they speak a language. And if you speak a language, that _____ you have just as much right to talk about its function as anybody else. Imagine if you were talking to a surgeon, and you say, "Listen, buddy. I've had a heart for, like, 40 years now. I think I know a thing or two about aortic valve replacements. I think my opinion is just as valid as yours." And yet, that's exactly what happens.

This is Neil deGrasse _____, saying that in the film "Arrival," he would have _______ a cryptographer — somebody who can __________ a _______ in a language they already know — rather than a ________, to communicate with the aliens, because what would a linguist — why would that be useful in _______ to somebody speaking a language we don't even know? Though, of course, the "Arrival" film is not off the hook. I mean, come on — listen, film. Hey, buddy: there are aliens that come down to our planet in gigantic ships, and they want to do nothing except for communicate with us, and you hire one linguist?

Solution


  1. brought
  2. talking
  3. linguist
  4. message
  5. means
  6. unscramble
  7. tyson

Original Text


And yet, despite this, there are a lot of people who just love to pop off about language like they have an equal understanding of it as a linguist, because, of course, they speak a language. And if you speak a language, that means you have just as much right to talk about its function as anybody else. Imagine if you were talking to a surgeon, and you say, "Listen, buddy. I've had a heart for, like, 40 years now. I think I know a thing or two about aortic valve replacements. I think my opinion is just as valid as yours." And yet, that's exactly what happens.

This is Neil deGrasse Tyson, saying that in the film "Arrival," he would have brought a cryptographer — somebody who can unscramble a message in a language they already know — rather than a linguist, to communicate with the aliens, because what would a linguist — why would that be useful in talking to somebody speaking a language we don't even know? Though, of course, the "Arrival" film is not off the hook. I mean, come on — listen, film. Hey, buddy: there are aliens that come down to our planet in gigantic ships, and they want to do nothing except for communicate with us, and you hire one linguist?

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
speak english 3
long beach 3
animal communication 2
communication systems 2
foreign languages 2
beach state 2
entire book 2
english speakers 2
main reason 2

ngrams of length 3

collocation frequency
long beach state 2

Important Words


  1. aliens
  2. aortic
  3. brought
  4. buddy
  5. communicate
  6. cryptographer
  7. degrasse
  8. equal
  9. film
  10. function
  11. gigantic
  12. heart
  13. hey
  14. hire
  15. hook
  16. imagine
  17. language
  18. linguist
  19. listen
  20. lot
  21. love
  22. means
  23. message
  24. neil
  25. opinion
  26. people
  27. planet
  28. pop
  29. replacements
  30. ships
  31. speak
  32. speaking
  33. surgeon
  34. talk
  35. talking
  36. tyson
  37. understanding
  38. unscramble
  39. valid
  40. valve
  41. years