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Weekend


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April 18, 2003

Strange But True!

  • A weekly column of incidental information, off-the-wall observations and other random facts about the world.
    • By BILL SONES and RICH SONES, Ph.D.
    Special to the Journal

    Q. How is e-mail changing our everyday discourse? BTW, technology has long influenced the way people talk. TTYL. LOL.

    A. "Running like clockwork" reflected the appearance of mechanical clocks in early modern Europe, says American University linguist Naomi S. Baron. Much later, Thomas Alva Edison borrowed "hello" from an old hunting call to signal to the person at the other end of a telephone line that a conversation was desired. At the time, telephone lines were always "on," and there were no ringers.


     
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