when did tumblr collectively decide not to use punctuation like when did this happen why is this a thing
it just looks so smooth I mean look at this sentence flow like a jungle river
ACTUALLY
This is really exciting, linguistically speaking.
Because it’s not true that Tumblr never uses punctuation. But it is true that lack of punctuation has become, itself, a form of punctuation. On Tumblr the lack of punctuation in multisentence-long posts creates the function of rhetorical speech, or speech that is not intended to have an answer, usually in the form of a question. Consider the following two potential posts. Each individual line should be taken as a post:
ugh is there any particular reason people at work have to take these massive handfuls of sauce packets they know they’re not going to use like god put that back we have to pay for that stuff
Ugh. Is there any particular reason people at work have to take these massive handfuls of sauce packets they know they’re not going to use? Like god, put that back. We have to pay for that stuff.
In your head, those two potential posts sound totally different. In the first one I’m ranting about work, and this requires no answer. The second may actually engage you to give an answer about hoarding sauce packets. And if you answer the first post, you will likely do so in the same style.
Here’s what makes this exciting: the English language has no actual punctuation for rhetorical speech–that is, there are no special marks that specifically indicate “this speech is in the abstract, and requires no answer.” Not only that, it never has. The first written record of English (actually proto-English, predating even Old English) dates to the 400s CE, so we’re talking about 1600 years of having absolutely no marker whatsoever for rhetorical speech.
A group of teens and young adults on a blogging website literally reshaped a deficit a millennium and a half old in our language to fit their language needs. More! This group has agreed on a more or less universal standard for these new rules, which fits the definition of “language.” Which is to say Tumblr English is its own actual, real, separate dialect of the English language, and because it is spoken by people worldwide who have introduced concepts from their own languages into it, it may qualify as a written form of pidgin.
Tumblr English should literally be treated as its own language, because it does not follow the rules of any form of formal written English, and yet it does have its own consistent internal rules. If you don’t think that’s cool as fuck then I don’t even know what to tell you.
Lover of: Queen Christina of Sweden. Tenure: 1644 – 1654. Royal Bastards: None. Fall From Power: The queen left the country after relinquishing the throne.
In 1644, Queen Christina met fifteen-year-old Ebba Larsdotter Sparre who had been sent to court by her family to serve as the queen’s handmaiden. Christina was one of the most educated women of the 17th century with a passion for books, paintings and sculptures. She also had an intense distaste of anything feminine and caused a scandal by refusing to marry. She would frequently forget to comb her hair, had a tendency to dress sloppily and wore men’s shoes for the sake of convenience. In contrast, Ebba was a celebrated beauty who was nicknamed La belle comtesse at court. Despite their differences, Ebba became the queen’s closest female friend and she was affectionately called “Belle.” The pair spent most of their time together and Christina even introduced Ebba to the English ambassador as her “bed-fellow” and told the man that her intellect was as striking as her body. The question of Christina’s sexuality has been debated for decades and she has been classified as heterosexual, asexual, lesbian or bisexual. She wrote near the end of her life that she was “neither male nor hermaphrodite, as some people in the world have pass’d me for.” Ebba married Count Jakob Kasimir de la Gardie (after Christina asked her to break off an engagement to Bengt Gabrielsson Oxenstierna) in 1652 and had three short-lived children by him, though the marriage was unhappy.
Christina continued to write passionate love letters to Ebba even after the former queen had left Sweden. Attempts for them to reunite were continually thwarted by Ebba’s family, though her own ill health prevented her from visiting in 1661: she died less than a year later about age thirty-three.
Sources
” Ebba Sparre” by Sébastien Bourdon, 1653 (left image).
Crompton, Louis. Homosexuality and Civilization. Harvard University Press (2009).
Buckley, Veronica. Christina; Queen of Sweden. London: Harper Perennial (2004). ISBN 1-84115-736-8.
Åkerman, S.. Queen Christina of Sweden and her circle: the transformation of a seventeenth century philosophical libertine. New York: E.J. Brill (1991). ISBN 90-04-09310-9.
“An opportunity to join in with the current colouring trend and apply your colouring skills to images from our collections. We’ve provided a colouring book to get you started, but feel free to use our online resources to find your own. Don’t forget to share your final product on social media with the hashtag #ColorOurCollections!
Well today I learned that in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, Stan Lee’s cameo is credited as “The Watchers’ Informant”, the Watchers being a marvel race that’s the oldest creatures in the universe so they just watch all the life instead of interacting with it now, and what he’s telling them in the cameo is the story of his cameo in the first captain America movie, meaning that Stan Lee has been playing a singular character this whole time and he’s always near the action because it’s his job to observe it and report back
Damn, man
solivagant
(noun) Defined as one who wonders alone, a solivagant is usually an extremely independent person, typically a loner, who has a need for freedom, adventure and transition. A solivagant loves, treasures, and preserves their solitude.
Rotterdam-based Sicilian artist Giuseppe Licari presents a network of tree roots hanging from the ceiling like unusual, organic chandeliers. His site-specific installation titled Humus features the extended prickly roots of trees affixed to the top of his exhibition space, transforming the room into a sort of underground lair. It’s as though visitors are getting an exclusive peek at the hidden world beneath a park or forest. (Source)
failed2be-chill 