I don’t know exactly when or where, but at some point in the past few years, I stopped putting punctuation at the end of sentences. Why? The internet made me do it
Read moreAllusionist 13: Mixed Emojions
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Emoji allow communication without words. Could emoji be the universal language of the 21st century? Matt Gray and Tom Scott, founders of the emoji-only messaging platform emoj.li, talk through the pitfalls; and History Today's Dr Kate Wiles finds the 500- and 5,000-year-old precedents for emoji.
CONTENT WARNING: this episode contains one category B swear word, plus references to penises growing on trees.
ADDITIONAL READING:
There is a transcript of this episode here.
Keep up to date with all matters emojional at Emojipedia.
Read the Luttrell Psalter. Or Emoji Dick, if you must. (Try before you buy.)
It should have been a portent of Things To Come that at age six, my favourite of the Just So Stories was the one about the alphabet being invented. It's Rudyard Kipling's own spin on cuneiform, pretty much.
Why the interrobang never really took off. It's the "That's so fetch!" of punctuation.
Your summer beach read: Unicode.
The more medieval marginalia you find, the better they get. Here are some choice cuts, and there are many more at Got Medieval; read Kate Wiles herself on the topic; read an explanation as to why so many involve knights fighting snails; or if you can't be bothered to read, just watch the video I made for you:
RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
kloof
CREDITS:
Dr Kate Wiles is contributing editor at History Today and appears on their podcast.
Matt Gray and Tom Scott brought the emoji-only messenger Emoj.li to life and now they're putting it to death.
All the music in this episode is by Martin Austwick. Hear and/or download more at thesoundoftheladies.bandcamp.com.
This episode was produced by me, Helen Zaltzman. Thanks very much to the Soho Theatre in London for letting me record there.
Find me at facebook.com/allusionistshow, twitter.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/helenzaltzman.
- HZ
Allusionist 3: Going Viral
Remember when 'viral' used to only mean something bad, eg. something that would make you ill or destroy your computer?
How things have changed. Tom Phillips from BuzzFeed UK explains how they choose the language to make their content go viral. Why does Buzzfeed steer clear of round numbers, sarcasm and irony? Will the internet ever reach Peak Hyperbole? What's the curiosity gap and how do you cross it? Find out all by listening to the show via iTunes, through your favoured podcast directory, or via RSS.
A bit of additional reading:
Buzzfeed not only analyses its own language, but also that of White House press secretaries to discover which president's regime is the cagiest.
If you can't be bothered to study it, Time has interpreted its linguistic signifance for you.
RANDOMLY SELECTED WORD FROM THE DICTIONARY:
bavardage
Despite my mild cynicism in this episode about the imperative to share content far and wide, you are of course more than welcome to share this episode - and to say hi at facebook.com/allusionistshow and twitter.com/allusionistshow.
- HZ
CREDITS
Presented and produced by Helen Zaltzman.
Tom Phillips is editorial director at BuzzFeed UK. Read his posts, and he tweets as @flashboy.
Roman Mars roman marses every week on 99% Invisible, and tweets as @romanmars.
MUSIC
'Allusionist Theme' - Martin Austwick
'Chocolate Rain' [instrumental] - Tay Zonday
'Gangnam Style' [instrumental] - PSY
'Friday' - The Sound of the Ladies cover, original Rebecca Black
