Cats, lolcats and language

Jocelyn claims she has no need of anyone at home but her cat.

…

Just you and the cat?

Jocelyn: Company.

Company, yes. But conversation?

Jocelyn: He talks.

He talks, yes. Meow. Talking to a cat is, is, is like…

Jocelyn: A lot passes between us.

Maybe a lot of affective stuff.

Jocelyn: Doesn’t have to be human sounds and words. Lot of those lolcats have no grammar to speak of.

I’m not talking about human sounds and words. Nice to have a cat around. Great, even.  But just answer me this, how can a cat polish your conversation skills? Meow. Hungry, are we? 

Nice pussy.

 Cookie? Sound of munching in reply, perhaps?

…

Academic language

In the first part of the talk I will deal with the first bits. As the argument progresses details will be given. And at the end, there will be a conclusion.

Excuse me, could I just ask what is the question we are dealing with here?

That will become clearer as the talk progresses and I will come to that presently. It has been found that a lot of issues have not been fully analyzed. This leads to some rather unsatisfactory assumptions being made relating to the underlying theory.

Would you mind giving us some specific examples?

Certainly. On the one hand, there are those who support the view that there are only weak links between the various factors, while on the other hand, there are researchers who believe that there are indeed crucial links between the significant components.

What is your own personal view on this?

Some people think that I am in one camp, others are strongly convinced that I am on the other side, but I am not sure myself where I stand on this issue.