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Are you a jerk, or just a creep?
Seems that linguistic evolution can work people up into a name-calling frenzy the same way biological evolution does. Dr. Mark Pagel of Reading University recently published a study arguing that new languages are formed not by the gradual drifting apart of groups who no longer need to communicate, but rather by sudden, possibly violent, disruptions. We guess that makes him a jerk. (TOM)
February 8, 2008
