Look, October might feel like it was a million years ago, but some of us still remember what a stressful time it was. If 1,963 French scientists were really at a point in their lives that they felt like coming together as a group and launching Felicette into space was the way to go, I for one am not going to criticize their accomplishments provided it was an appropriately masked and socially distanced endeavor.
so you think you can stone miette and spit in miette’s eye?? so you think you can love miette and leave miette to DIE?? oh mother!! can’t do this to me mother!!!
All memes left on tumblr for more than about a fortnight metamorphose into Queen
I thought it would delight you to know that ants do have a sort of funeral mound for their dead
yes there is a name for this! necrophoresis is a process with social insects where the bodies are taken to a specific location on the outside of ( or within ) the nest - ants tend to keep them all in the same place, and the way an ant is signaled to be “dead” by its other members is through the release of a chemical called oliec acid
theres even been a few experiments where live ants were coated in the same chemical and other ants treated the live ants….exactly as though they were dead and tried dragging them into the pile
Can’t decide if I want to make a Nutbush joke or, well, you know
Okay what the fuck though
The Method Continues To Work. This is honestly life-changing, I’ve been taking backpacks everywhere coz I hate feeling unbalanced / feeling like bags are going to slip off my shoulder & I hate how the straps dig in. Turns out all I need is a scarf & evenish weight distribution!!
environmental racism isn't a thing. God how can people be so stupid. Plants don't have fucking opinions.
Your social media prowess is actually a job skill, you might just not know yet that those jobs are out there. Maggie is a Communications and Engagement Assistant at a disability peak body. Their work includes traditional and social media communications channels, and a need to think about who your audience is. You can follow them on Twitter (@vonbees) or Tumblr (@ritavonbees).
What did you study at university?
BA in Communications (Writing & Cultural Studies). I actually studied at a weird “technology” university and had to go through a totally different uni to do my linguistics electives. By the time I dealt with the forms and unit conversion and everything, I only had time for 101&102, which made me sad as I loved them! If I had been able to start in first year I might have changed my major.
What is your job?
Communications Assistant covers a really broad range of work! Like it says on the tin, you have to assist your organisation in whatever sort of communications it needs to do. Mine is a disability rights representative and advocacy nonprofit, so my job includes advertising, political campaigns and direct member communication. I am one of the people who tweets from our official account (including sometimes live-tweeting something like a public inquiry into systemic neglect or discrimination), updates our website, edits blog posts and media releases, creates flyers, surveys and infographics… I do a lot of “translating English to English” - explaining legalese, bureaucratic jargon and policy terminology in plain language. We need to be as accessible as possible, so aside from code-switching between Plain English and bureaucratese I do a lot of image descriptions and liaise with specialists to get really important content captioned or translated into Auslan, Easy English, etc. One of my colleagues is currently in charge of our fortnightly newsletter, but when I used to do it I would also record an audio version, sort of like a mini podcast, for members who didn’t have screenreader access (usually older folks who had trouble with technology).
How does your linguistics training help you in your job?
Semantics, pragmatics and a descriptivist approach to grammar are all relevant when trying to write about things like UN resolutions and discrimination legislation in plain English! (Sometimes I imagine turning a particularly stuffy government document into a series of tree diagrams, which is at least good for a laugh). Descriptivism also dovetails neatly with an anti-ableist approach to how other people speak and write, so it’s helpful to have linguistic references when pushing back against harmful ideas in that department.
Do you have any advice you wish someone had given to you about linguistics/careers/university?
Yes, I wish someone had convinced me not to half-ass it! See, I got into a really great creative writing course and then couldn’t attend the university that taught it for logistical reasons (would have been an interstate move). I tried to do the most similar degree I could find at a local uni, but it wasn’t a good compromise - it only had two writing classes each year and I was much less interested in the other parts of the course. I should have done a full pivot to something I liked in its own right, like linguistics, instead of stubbornly clinging to a shitty version of my number one choice. I guess the most useful advice without the benefit of hindsight would have been that a degree is a big commitment and it’s okay to take a gap year and give yourself more time to think about how you want to go about it. Oh, also if someone had told me I have ADHD that probably would have been helpful.
Any other thoughts or comments?
I’ve often thought about going back for some linguistics post-grad, but it would probably be for the love of learning - none of my plausible future career moves really need one. So I’m really glad people like you make linguistics knowledge more accessible to lingthusiasts outside academia! Clinically proven to reduce symptoms of FOMO xD
mags // 31 // существо среднего рода // 404 preferred pronouns not found (current frontrunner: *throws up hands in frustration and mumbles vaguely about how singular they will do I guess*) // "better than a lot of people (and some cats) (at being a cat)" - @someofthemusic //
![tyrannosaurus-trainwreck:
“elodieunderglass:
“tomvorikandharry:
“ultrafacts:
“Source: [x]
Click HERE for more facts!”
you LAUNCH felicette??
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hOW many French scientists?
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Look, October might feel like it was a million years ago, but some of us...](https://64.media.tumblr.com/9a72133601daef4be311da9dbf060292/275feb196ec46381-e0/s500x750/b186cec95a9a9f0c08e76b28bc1fa32f3ad0b278.png)
Anonymous
