tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.comments2023-10-23T11:13:35.712-04:00Games with WordsEdwardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04295927435118827266noreply@blogger.comBlogger736125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-18181517211765779492016-03-24T10:29:39.649-04:002016-03-24T10:29:39.649-04:00How are you going to identify the synonyms if you ...How are you going to identify the synonyms if you don't know the meanings of the words?GamesWithWordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107067137612954306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-91561185380377130002016-02-21T10:57:56.588-05:002016-02-21T10:57:56.588-05:00You asked subjects about social comfort ability bu...You asked subjects about social comfort ability but only compared them m/f. The self selection of folks willing to read puns is in play. The comparison needs to be to the general population when answering the same question and, I postulate, 70% of the general population will rate themselves as above average in social skills (because our fellow humans are egocentric liars. Not us, the rest of them, I mean. We're ok.) Pirate John 'n Angel Jenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00261384053284618230noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-32074075804721918792016-02-16T10:01:33.653-05:002016-02-16T10:01:33.653-05:00Vocabulary is about word knowledge in context and ...Vocabulary is about word knowledge in context and meaning. Identifying synonyms doesn't mean much if you can't define the word. That is the problem with your vocabulary test.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-25636047415063379552016-02-13T13:35:31.427-05:002016-02-13T13:35:31.427-05:00@Devin - The paper is still under review. Once it ...@Devin - The paper is still under review. Once it has been published, we'll be able to release the data.GamesWithWordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107067137612954306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-61398968780091032952016-02-06T03:02:10.170-05:002016-02-06T03:02:10.170-05:00I took the quiz on an Android phone and was not ab...I took the quiz on an Android phone and was not able to get past the question about what countries I have lived in. No matter if I picked the countries from the meny or typed their names, they wouldn't stick. I also tried to enter only one country, but it still wouldn't accept it, so I never managed to get to the next page.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-45097993659285279242015-12-05T17:32:09.580-05:002015-12-05T17:32:09.580-05:00"Yes, we definitely plan on releasing an anon..."Yes, we definitely plan on releasing an anonymized version of the dataset. "<br /><br />Any update on this?Devin Denishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06722534631629774953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-92143848706808480202015-11-08T10:56:12.472-05:002015-11-08T10:56:12.472-05:00I see that other people have gotten "Singapor...I see that other people have gotten "Singaporean" as a result for English dialect. However, I'm native Singaporean and didn't get that result... Although it did guess that English is my first language.<br /><br />My results:<br />Our top three guesses for your English dialect:<br />1. Welsh (UK)<br />2. English (England)<br />3. South African <br /><br />Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:<br />1. English<br />2. Norwegian<br />3. Swedish Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-47766121138445071192015-06-03T10:56:53.622-04:002015-06-03T10:56:53.622-04:00A while, it seems. We're doing a follow-up exp...A while, it seems. We're doing a follow-up experiment now.GamesWithWordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107067137612954306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-1251865045611695832015-02-27T23:01:59.115-05:002015-02-27T23:01:59.115-05:00Many of my dutch friends (and myself) are getting ...Many of my dutch friends (and myself) are getting AAVE as their closest native dialect, and none of us can figure out why. Some of us consider our english to be closest to standard american, others to british english, and some somewhere in between. None of our dialects come across as (stereotypes of) AAVE to the casual observer.<br /><a href="http://www.chotabheemcartoongames.com" rel="nofollow">chota bheem games</a>Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09697271375907320021noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-66852551039446055762014-09-25T06:05:43.144-04:002014-09-25T06:05:43.144-04:00I think you should replace your "daxes" ...I think you should replace your "daxes" with real words, it may be difficult to imagine the situation (at least, for a non-native speaker) when the whole sentence revolves around some obscure "dax", I even had to abandon the test because I couldn't choose one option.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-39875013575924386622014-09-16T16:09:53.022-04:002014-09-16T16:09:53.022-04:00As a Hungarian I got Romanian as first guess. Russ...As a Hungarian I got Romanian as first guess. Russian the second.<br /><br />And yes, I also got Singaporean, which is completely off the mark.<br /><br />While I understand that this test counts the mistakes and tries to make accurate guesses, I'm pointing out that it still needs work.<br /><br />As one who has studied the Indo-European languages (connections, families and all) and the grammar, syntax and morphology of the English language I'm puzzled by these results.<br /><br />For example, if I got Finnish, that would be a much better guess. Long ago the Hungarians and Finnish lived in the same place, or at least close enough to swap words and some grammar, and we still can find similarities now.<br /><br />Romanian and Russian on the other hand have no similarities with the Hungarian language. Yes, Russia occupied Hungary after WWII until the 1980s and Romania took over Hungarian land like Transylvania, so there is a connection, just not the one on language.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-27887511292649738472014-09-10T23:56:34.296-04:002014-09-10T23:56:34.296-04:00Also years later, but still worth a comment...
Lik...Also <i>years later</i>, but still worth a comment...<br />Like WriterOfMinds, I am attracted by the perceived cleverness of a pun, which might depend on the unexpected use of technical or esoteric language. Thus, any pun referring to elision (highbrow) while eliding 'Honey' to 'Hon' (lowbrow) is going to be funny to me. The cleverness and unexpectedness of this is what makes it successful for some, though (apparently quite) unsuccessful to others. <br />Fortunately for me and unfortunately for most others, a similar 'logic' is at play in the one about the pilgrims, which makes a play on both pilgrim (a classic car and a religious traveler) and di/agnostic (as explained by Shana above), which works marvelously. <br />-Tim<br />PS: I love the fact that Will was explaining a pun about elision to a Blogger audience at 12:03 on Christmas eve.Timnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-51270973221608604212014-07-12T14:21:12.816-04:002014-07-12T14:21:12.816-04:00A note about your use of English in the quiz. The...A note about your use of English in the quiz. The United Kingdom is made up of four countries, NOT four regions. I am Welsh and if asked which country I come from/live in, I will always answer Wales. I will never answer the United Kingdom. I compromised this principle when doing the quiz, but under protest.Ioan ap Iagonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-60917203641391136122014-07-02T07:52:25.890-04:002014-07-02T07:52:25.890-04:00Hi will the results from the coordination game be ...Hi will the results from the coordination game be out?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-10599495573475669672014-06-30T13:26:37.201-04:002014-06-30T13:26:37.201-04:00I just want to share an interesting finding..
My ...I just want to share an interesting finding..<br /><br />My first try:<br />Our top three guesses for your English dialect:<br />1. Singaporean<br />2. US Black Vernacular / Ebonics<br />3. Welsh (UK)<br />Our top three guesses for your native (first) language:<br />1. Russian<br />2. Finnish<br />3. Spanish -<br /><br />I speak Mandarin and my first teacher, at 10, was Canadian (for about 2 years). Then, turning 13, I became very intersted in American hip hop, and the passion lasted for 3 or 4 years. After going to university at 19 I studied English literature and Spanish language and literature for 4 years. I learned a bit of Russian but was never able to pick it up. I, however, had a very close friend whose native language is Bulgarian and Russian, and she's been living in Finland for 7 years or so and speaks Finnish. We communicate in English and it seems like she might have affected my English grammar somehow, assuming the test is accurate, even though I have lived in Taiwan all my life. I am now 24 and I met her only 4 years ago.<br /><br />Out of curiousity I retook the test for 3 times; the results were largely different. I admit that each time the answers were a bit different because I was not very sure on a few options or because I realised I overlooked a few grammar mistakes. I also left some questions blank, something I did not do the fist time. Not sure how that might affect the results.<br /><br />On a final note, I am glad that you reminded me about the declining learning curve. I really need to step up the game and go for the languages I want to learn before it's too late! Thank you for finishing the long paragraphs and I wish you success on your research.Hsunoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-17300761410421140722014-06-29T16:34:36.125-04:002014-06-29T16:34:36.125-04:00Looking forward to the new feature!
Many of my du...Looking forward to the new feature!<br /><br />Many of my dutch friends (and myself) are getting AAVE as their closest native dialect, and none of us can figure out why. Some of us consider our english to be closest to standard american, others to british english, and some somewhere in between. None of our dialects come across as (stereotypes of) AAVE to the casual observer.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-40795022683163149652014-06-29T05:06:23.989-04:002014-06-29T05:06:23.989-04:00The one I rate among the highest in intellectual l...The one I rate among the highest in intellectual level needed to understand is what the British general telegraphed after he captured Sindh province - Peccavi (latin for I have sinned)<br />RajaTRaja Setlurnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-57824257852706065122014-06-26T09:05:53.471-04:002014-06-26T09:05:53.471-04:00@AlanL - I don't know. That sounds like an eff...@AlanL - I don't know. That sounds like an effect of your experience on your understanding of grammar. Seems like something we actually want to pick up on in the quiz, right? If you hadn't been exposed to those dialects, you'd find those sentences bad.<br /><br />@Sam -- There are definitely differences between written and spoken language. It's harder to study spoken language, though, and not just on the Internet. It's much harder to analyze the results. So we know a lot more about written communication. GamesWithWordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107067137612954306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-72609656402362840472014-06-26T06:44:26.288-04:002014-06-26T06:44:26.288-04:00Thanks for a fascinating study. A couple of quest...Thanks for a fascinating study. A couple of questions:<br /><br />1) It would be interesting to see the effects of other languages learned. I'm a native speaker of American English, but have studied German (and learned a lot about English grammar in the process.) "Who whom kissed" is a construction I'd never use (and would take some time to parse if someone said it to me), but if I see it written, I recognize the grammatical logic.<br /><br />2) Any differences between how we understand/process written versus spoken language?<br /><br />3) A lot of the constructions in the survey/game seemed to be missing key helping verbs or prepositions that would make meaning clear. Have you seen any indication that people supply them, even if they are missing from the text of the examples?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-46127891738406067812014-06-26T00:48:17.177-04:002014-06-26T00:48:17.177-04:00I just took the test and was correctly recognised ...I just took the test and was correctly recognised as a native speaker of (English) English. Well done. <br /><br />One point occurred to me: I have lived abroad for ten years and spent a lot of time with native speakers of other English dialects. Also, like most English speakers these days, I am exposed to a lot of material in American.<br /><br />Consequently, on the "which sentences are grammatical" questions I clicked ok on quite a few things that I was pretty sure would be fine in (e.g.) Irish or some American dialects, even though I personally would never say them. Perhaps you need to tighten up the phrasing of the question?AlanLhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04820194790550072204noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-29754920398614439522014-06-19T19:56:34.934-04:002014-06-19T19:56:34.934-04:00@Timo - I've just put up a new post that goes ...@Timo - I've just put up a <a href="http://gameswithwords.fieldofscience.com/2014/06/magic-singlish.html" rel="nofollow">new post</a> that goes part of the way towards explaining what's going on. As discussed in the blog post, there's still a lot of analysis to be done before we fully understand what is going on.GamesWithWordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107067137612954306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-14124671872312361962014-06-19T19:35:47.535-04:002014-06-19T19:35:47.535-04:00You have to click "next" to get to the s...You have to click "next" to get to the screen with the score. Sorry about that.GamesWithWordshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15107067137612954306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-42451424432038137292014-06-19T17:45:19.306-04:002014-06-19T17:45:19.306-04:00Quite lot of us North Europeans seem to get Singap...Quite lot of us North Europeans seem to get Singaporean dialect as the top guess. See e.g. Helmer's post above. (Although he has lived long in Singapore.) <br /><br />I find this bit surprising as in general there shouldn't be particularly strong connection between Scandinavia and South-East Asia.<br /><br />So I am wondering what might be a reason for this? Isn't Singaporean dialect some kind of mixture of British and American dialects? <br /><br />We in Scandinavia are non-native English-speakers but still quite fluent in it and we also get lot of influence from both sides of Atlantic. Thus I would guess we speak neither pure standard American English nor standard British English but we tend to mix features from both of those dialects. Thus could it be that we get Singaporean English as a proxy for "mixed British and American English"?<br />Timo M. Partanenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04069219297687065086noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-50421501471895111522014-06-19T08:16:42.122-04:002014-06-19T08:16:42.122-04:00I did the test - the page loads were quick - no pr...I did the test - the page loads were quick - no problem, but the calculation of the score has been going on without a result for over an hour.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13710371522774968773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7701757403364514168.post-34775348668649879892014-06-15T01:43:25.626-04:002014-06-15T01:43:25.626-04:00For me personally, I think part of what makes a pu...For me personally, I think part of what makes a pun funny (or at least delightful ... I don't think I laugh at puns, exactly) is its perceived cleverness. So for example, a pun like this:<br /><br />"The town's residents just couldn't bear the visiting grizzly."<br /><br />isn't funny, because it's too obvious, and I've heard it before I don't know how many times. But I really enjoyed this one, which came up in a conversation about people getting sick:<br /><br />"I opened the window and in flew Enza."<br /><br />I also like this one:<br /><br />"We need to take all the bad chemistry jokes and barium." (bury 'em)<br /><br />A quality like "cleverness" is really hard to measure, but maybe as a start, one could look at the number of syllables used to form the pun ... since inventing a pun in which many syllables express a double meaning is probably harder ... and see if there's any connection between that and funniness. One could also consider how unique a pun is as compared to others in the database (there are probably a ton of "bear" puns).WriterOfMindshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03848533877998707168noreply@blogger.com