bloodyrosemccoy (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bloodyrosemccoy) wrote2010-03-12 03:52 am
bloodyrosemccoy) wrote2010-03-12 03:52 am
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Perspective On Conlangs!
A tl;dr Q&A in the NY Times about conlangs
Not a very satisfactory “panel” there—Okrent’s not a conlanger but a sort of outside ethnographer, and Frommer’s a little tangled up in Na’vi right now. It’s most interesting to me as a sort of snapshot of how folks who never thought much about conlanging approach it.* I kind of like reminding myself that not everyone takes for granted the things I do.
*In a lot of cases, with an almost entertaining veiled hostility. Count how many of the questions subtly note that there are a lot of better ways a conlanger could be spending their time! It’s made me decide to start asking vaguely insulting questions about hobbies I don’t share! “Couldn’t you spend that time you use playing football to volunteer at a soup kitchen?” “Don’t you have enough quilts by now? Why make more?”** “Who’s going to look at this sketchbook, anyway?”
**Actually, somebody asked my mom this.
Not a very satisfactory “panel” there—Okrent’s not a conlanger but a sort of outside ethnographer, and Frommer’s a little tangled up in Na’vi right now. It’s most interesting to me as a sort of snapshot of how folks who never thought much about conlanging approach it.* I kind of like reminding myself that not everyone takes for granted the things I do.
*In a lot of cases, with an almost entertaining veiled hostility. Count how many of the questions subtly note that there are a lot of better ways a conlanger could be spending their time! It’s made me decide to start asking vaguely insulting questions about hobbies I don’t share! “Couldn’t you spend that time you use playing football to volunteer at a soup kitchen?” “Don’t you have enough quilts by now? Why make more?”** “Who’s going to look at this sketchbook, anyway?”
**Actually, somebody asked my mom this.
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Granted, even Reading A Good Book--which people seem to think is a virtuous thing to do--doesn't really have a measurably productive impact on society. It's kind of fascinating to try to figure out what "wasting time" really means. Seems arbitrary to me.