This week's linguistics humour, in one convenient post
Weber: (6:36pm) Actually, here's a lesson on presuppositions. The phrase "her BDSM porn" carries the presupposition that she *has* BDSM porn. You can't interpret the phrase if the presupposition isn't true. It's distinct from normal assertions in that it survives if you put a negation or question around it; e.g. "I don't like her BDSM porn", or "Do you think her BDSM porn is any good?"
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SETTING: My office, after the Language and Society final. LEAH and MEREDITH are doing a Mad Lib to unwind.
LEAH: Give me a noun.
MEREDITH: Consonant.
LEAH: A celebrity.
MEREDITH: Chomsky.
LEAH: Okay, a food.
MEREDITH: Beans!*
LEAH: A liquid?
MEREDITH: L.**
* "Beans, I like" is a commonly used example of topicalisation. At least it is here.
** /l/ and /r/ are classed as "liquid" consonants.
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SETTING: My office, after the Language and Society final. LEAH and MEREDITH are doing a Mad Lib to unwind.
LEAH: Give me a noun.
MEREDITH: Consonant.
LEAH: A celebrity.
MEREDITH: Chomsky.
LEAH: Okay, a food.
MEREDITH: Beans!*
LEAH: A liquid?
MEREDITH: L.**
* "Beans, I like" is a commonly used example of topicalisation. At least it is here.
** /l/ and /r/ are classed as "liquid" consonants.