More Words to Live By

For a class I'm taking this quarter on the structure of American Sign Language, I'm reading an article from Science about Nicaraguan Sign Language (abstract here).  Near the end of the article, the author quotes a remark by Lila Gleitman about the extent to which research on NSL supports an innate language faculty, but I think her words are more broadly applicable:

If you know the literature, you can maintain positions all along the spectrum and not make an ass out of yourself.

Well said, but it's probably not a good idea to underestimate my ability to make an ass out of myself—just when I seem to have it under control, I'll turn around and surprise you.

Comments

[EFL Geek]

it's probably not a good idea to underestimate my ability to make an ass out of myself—just when I seem to have it under control, I'll turn around and surprise you.

That's one of the best lines I've heard in awhile.

I just started a random quote on the top of my blog and have added that to the rotation (linked to you in the quote) - anyhow, if you want I'll remove it. Just drop by and leave me a message.