Six Things, Volume 158
Samuel | Linguistidals | Plugs | Rothko | Disgust | Letteris
Thing 1 – Samuel
I used to be a dab hand at an owl. Or so I told myself.
I deployed the standard “cupped hands” technique, driving my parents to distraction as I hooted and tooted my way round the house. Still, at least they knew where to find me.
Revisiting this lost skill fifty years on, I find I can still, after a bit of trial and error, at least make a sound.
I’m no Samuel, though. Samuel, when this video was made, was eleven. So now I suppose he’s twelve. And Samuel is BRILLIANT.
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News outlets have, unsurprisingly, picked up on Samuel. This clip includes an absolutely uncanny impersonation of a swallow.
Like humans, birds have a larynx. But while we use ours to make sounds, they pass that job up to a higher organ, the syrinx. The size, structure and position of the syrinx varies from bird to bird. Here it is on a pigeon.
In songbirds the workings of the syrinx are extremely complex, under fine control by multiple sets of muscles and modulated through movements of the trachea and beak. And the muscles on either side of it are controlled independently, so they can make two sounds at the same time.
Samuel does not, as far as I’m aware, have a syrinx, which makes his imitations all the more extraordinary. Mimicking the sound of a dove is one thing – and Samuel does that superbly – but a swallow… astonishing stuff. And all the more pleasing for the response it gets from the kids at his school. It could so easily tip the other way – let’s hope it continues like that.
In the replies on Bluesky, there was quite rightly a storm of wonder and praise at Samuel’s abilities (and his fantastic comic timing). But there was one miseryguts – there always is – casting doubt on the accuracy of his bald eagle call. Rather than dignifying this idiocy with a reply – although my fingers hovered, I can tell you – I’ll just put another clip out into the universe. It’s Samuel fooling Merlin into thinking there are birds in the area.
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Thing 2 – Linguistidals
May I speak candifically? I like making up words. I do it fervibly and vigifically, even if I don’t always rigify.
If those words seem familiar but wrong, perhaps this chart will lend lucor. It merely consists of gaps in the English language – words that you might expect to exist, but don’t.
It’s done the rounds this week, but was produced back in 2011 by linguist Geoff Pullum in this entertaining blogpost, which also touches on the etymology of tiramisú and the charming ways children misunderstand language.
Looking at it, I’m making a pledge to drop a few of them into the next book and see if my editors kick up a stink – I’ve already got away with ‘widthy’ on several occasions (seriously, we have ‘lengthy’, so I don’t see why not). Look out for torpible, tepific and pallify when it comes out next year.
It’s also made me wonder how ‘terrific’ bucked the trend – horrific, horrid and horrible are all undeniably bad – and came to be a good thing, and now I’d like to know which way ‘terrid’ would go – good, like terrific, or bad like terrible? Answers in the comments, please.
But also, before you comment (and please do), may I just direct your attention to Geoff’s footnote on the original post:
“Comments are closed because I couldn’t bear to read fifty people saying “Oh, I knew that”, or “How could you not have noticed?”, or “I found some old citations for tepify in the OED!”, or “Why didn’t you just have the profiteroles?” (I did), or “My uncle Joe in Milwaukee speaks Italian”, or “I know a nice Italian restaurant near Milwaukee”, or “I was in Milwaukee last year for my cousin’s wedding” . . . You know how you get.]”
Thing 3 – Plugs
There are many things I find frustrating about being British, and I can quite understand the urge to criticise us or make fun of us for all manner of idiosyncrasies, oddities and, quite frankly, awfulnesses.
But do not come after our plugs. The BS 1363 plug may very well be up there with Lego on the TP (TreadPain) scale, but on the other hand it’s magnificently robust and, most importantly, (and unlike the plugs of some countries I could mention) reassuringly safe.
Here’s an excellent, useful and nerdy thing: The Outlet Atlas: a field guide to the power plugs of the world. As well as a rundown of the various types, there’s a really useful “do I need an adaptor?” tool, and a fascinating brief history of the wall socket.
And if that’s not enough for you, the plug socket museum is your friend.
Thing 4 – Rothko
Ever wondered which Mark Rothko painting would best represent the weather where you are right now? Current Rothko is here to serve.
Thing 5 – Disgust
The Disgusting Food Museum in Berlin is one of those places I’m glad exists but have no particular desire to visit – or at least not at 1pm on every first Saturday of the month, that being the time when they open a can of surströmming.
This, from their homepage, might help you decide whether it’s for you or not:
“Disgust is a basic human emotion. It is not universal. What is delicious for one person can be repulsive for another. Our museum presents nearly 100 extraordinary food exhibits from all over the world such as bull penis, grilled dog, cow’s blood or surströmming.”
If it’s your kind of thing, you’ll be pleased to learn that they have regular events and tastings.
Thing 6 – Letteris
Letteris is a fun, slightly random game, described by its developer ChrisTheBarker as “a cross between Squaredle and Tetris”. It’s still in development, but has already improved since I saw it a couple of days ago. Pleasingly, rude words count double.
I adore these essays. Each ‘thing’ is a delicious smallv-plate serving of a wonderful, curious, unusual subject. Thank you!
You’ve really excelled with these SIX, Lev.
And Samuel - brought a tear to my eye watching his genius.
Thank you so much for making my Monday morning so much brighter!