LINGUIST List 14.1135

Thu Apr 17 2003

FYI: TESOL Newsletter; Humor: Speculative Grammarian

Editor for this issue: James Yuells <jameslinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Maher Bahloul, TESOL Newsletter
2. Trey Jones, Humor: Speculative Grammarian Online

FYI, the link to the second issue of the AUS MA TESOL Newsletter.
http://www.ausharjah.edu/cas/matesol/newsletter/issue2/issue2_p1.htm
Maher

- 
Maher Bahloul, PhD
http://www.bahloul.com/
Assistant Professor of English & Linguistics
Coordinator, MA TESOL Program
http://www.ausharjah.edu/cas/matesol/index.htm
American University of Sharjah
Department of English, Mass Communication & Translation
P.O.Box 26666
Sharjah, UAE
Phone (971-6) 515-2714
e-mail: mbahloulausharjah.edu

Speculative Grammarian, the premier scholarly journal featuring
research in the neglected field of satirical linguistics, is now
available online:

http://www.specgram.com/

As we transition from the real world to the online, we are digitizing
the tattered remains of our once glorious Archive and re-publishing
each issue on the internet.

Re-emerging from the shadow of our most recent exile, we are, of
course, also looking for submissions for forthcoming issues of
SpecGram. Standards have never been lower, so get published while you
can!

More about SpecGram:

The august journal Speculative Grammarian has a long, rich, and varied
history, weaving an intricate and subtle tapestry from disparate
strands of linguistics, philology, history, politics, science,
technology, botany, pharmacokinetics, computer science, the
mathematics of humor, basket weaving, archery, glass blowing, roller
coaster design, and bowling, among numerous other, less obvious
fields.

SpecGram, as it is known to devotees and sworn enemies alike, has for
centuries sought to bring together the greatest yet least understood
minds of the time, embedding itself firmly in the cultural and
psychological matrix of the global society while simultaneously
illuminating, reflecting, and shaping the universal Zeitgeist.

What does this long history, this deep philosophy, this near-religion
that is SpecGram signify to the modern thinker, the cultural avatar
living on the cusp of meaning and relevance? Because this treasure
trove of lucidity is shrouded in mystery and made indistinct by the
mists of time--and because much of this rich and varied history is
concocted ad lib and ad hoc--the answer is sadly "not much".

Of the proud, secretive society of Great Ones, who once directed the
ebb and flow of the tides of history, all that remains are a few
down-trodded linguists with either too much or not enough time on
their hands, united only by their common needs: an excuse to get
together and eat pizza, validation of a perverse fondness for
melodrama and/or run-on sentences, and an outlet for twisted
ramblings, academic parody, satirical lingusitics.

Having heard the call, and having nothing better to do, a mighty group
of giants among the feeble-minded has banded together to bring
SpecGram into the modern age. First moveable type, now the
internet. Destiny had brought us here. May History judge us kindly.

- Trey Jones
Managing Editor, Speculative Grammarian