When language bites

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 186-211
Author(s):  
Sabina Tabacaru
Keyword(s):  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Television Series ◽  
The Core ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Big Bang Theory ◽  
Holistic Analysis ◽  
Rhetorical Questions ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
Large Corpus

Abstract This article focuses on sarcasm, for which the definitions have often been loose and confusing, integrating it into the concept of irony. My approach is based on a large corpus of examples taken from two contemporary television-series, which help identify the wide range of linguistic processes at the core of sarcastic utterances. I present a quantitative and descriptive analysis of the main processes found in two American television-series: House M.D. and The Big Bang Theory. The results show the intricate meanings created in sarcasm through various linguistic mechanisms, such as repetition, explicitation, metonymy, metaphor, shift of focus, reasoning, and rhetorical questions. This more holistic analysis, including a broad corpus of instances and a more detailed analysis of the examples, aims to fill the unexplored gaps in more classical analyses, emphasizing the complexities and implications that can be drawn in interaction.

scholarly journals Textual meaning and its place in a theory of language

2015 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lesley Jeffries
Keyword(s):  
Big Bang ◽  
Scientific Discipline ◽  
Television Show ◽  
The Core ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Big Bang Theory ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
The One ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
Textual Meaning

Abstract Following the development of a framework for critical stylistics (Jeffries 2010) and the explication of some of the theoretical assumptions behind this framework (Jeffries 2014a, 2014b, 2015a, 2015b), the present article attempts to put this framework into a larger theoretical context as a way to approach textual meaning. Using examples from the popular U.S. television show, The Big Bang Theory, I examine the evidence that there is a kind of textual meaning which can be distinguished from the core propositional meaning on the one hand and from contextual, interpersonal meaning on the other. The specific aim, to demonstrate a layer of meaning belonging to text specifically, is set within an argument which claims that progress in linguistics can better be served by adherence to a rigorous scientific discipline.

scholarly journals Does My Favourite Political TV Series Make Me Cynical?

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Manoliu ◽  
Frédérick Bastien
Keyword(s):  
Big Bang ◽  
First Episode ◽  
Television Series ◽  
The West ◽  
Political Cynicism ◽  
House Of Cards ◽  
Big Bang Theory ◽  
Before And After ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
The Impact

Background In recent decades, scholars have become increasingly concerned about rising political cynicism. This study tests whether people exposed to political television series become more cynical.Analysis  Three groups of participants are exposed to the first episode of two political series (House of Cards and The West Wing) and one non-political series (The Big Bang Theory). Their level of political cynicism is measured before and after exposure to the episode.Conclusions and implications  Results indicate that not all political television series have the same impact on their audiences: series recognized for their intense negativity increase people’s level of cynicism, while those portraying politics in a positive way do not have any impact. More sophisticated participants did not seem to react differently, as political knowledge does not moderate the impact upon cynicism. Contexte  Depuis quelques décennies, les chercheurs se préoccupent de l’augmentation du cynisme politique. Dans cette étude, nous testons si les gens exposés aux séries politiques télévisées deviennent plus cyniques.Analyse  Nous avons conçu une expérience au cours de laquelle trois groupes de participants ont été exposés au premier épisode de deux séries politiques (House of Cards et The West Wing) et d’une série apolitique (The Big Bang Theory). Leur niveau de cynisme politique a été mesuré avant et après l’exposition à l’épisode.Conclusions et implications  Les résultats indiquent que toutes les séries politiques télévisées n’ont pas le même impact sur leurs publics: les séries reconnues pour leur négativité intense augmentent le niveau de cynisme des gens, tandis que celles décrivant la politique d’une façon positive n’ont pas d’impact. Le niveau de connaissance politique n’a pas modéré l’impact des séries sur le cynisme.

scholarly journals Measurement and Implications of the Cosmic Microwave Background Spectrum

1996 ◽  
Vol 168 ◽  
pp. 17-29
Author(s):  
John C. Mather
Keyword(s):  
Background Radiation ◽  
Far Infrared ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Scale Invariant ◽  
Background Spectrum ◽  
Nasa Goddard Space ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Infrared Background ◽  
Microwave Radiometers ◽  
The Big Bang

The Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) was developed by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center to measure the diffuse infrared and microwave radiation from the early universe. It also measured emission from nearby sources such as the stars, dust, molecules, atoms, ions, and electrons in the Milky Way, and dust and comets in the Solar System. It was launched 18 November 1989 on a Delta rocket, carrying one microwave instrument and two cryogenically cooled infrared instruments. The Far Infrared Absolute Spectrophotometer (FIRAS) mapped the sky at wavelengths from 0.01 to 1 cm, and compared the CMBR to a precise blackbody. The spectrum of the CMBR differs from a blackbody by less than 0.03%. The Differential Microwave Radiometers (DMR) measured the fluctuations in the CMBR originating in the Big Bang, with a total amplitude of 11 parts per million on a 10° scale. These fluctuations are consistent with scale-invariant primordial fluctuations. The Diffuse Infrared Background Experiment (DIRBE) spanned the wavelength range from 1.2 to 240 μm and mapped the sky at a wide range of solar elongation angles to distinguish foreground sources from a possible extragalactic Cosmic Infrared Background Radiation (CIBR). In this paper we summarize the COBE mission and describe the results from the FIRAS instrument. The results from the DMR and DIRBE were described by Smoot and Hauser at this Symposium.

A swift and simple refutation of the Kalam cosmological argument?

1999 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-72 ◽  
Author(s):  
WILLIAM LANE CRAIG
Keyword(s):  
Big Bang ◽  
Cosmological Argument ◽  
Convincing Argument ◽  
Realist Position ◽  
Big Bang Theory ◽  
Simple Demonstration ◽  
Kalam Cosmological Argument ◽  
John Taylor ◽  
The Big Bang ◽  
The Universe

John Taylor complains that the Kalam cosmological argument gives the appearance of being a swift and simple demonstration of the existence of a Creator of the universe, whereas in fact a convincing argument involving the premiss that the universe began to exist is very difficult to achieve. But Taylor's proffered defeaters of the premisses of the philosophical arguments for the beginning of the universe are themselves typically undercut due to Taylor's inadvertence to alternatives open to the defender of the Kalam arguments. With respect to empirical confirmation of the universe's beginning Taylor is forced into an anti-realist position on the Big Bang theory, but without sufficient warrant for singling out the theory as non-realistic. Therefore, despite the virtue of simplicity of form, the Kalam cosmological argument has not been defeated by Taylor's all too swift refutation.

scholarly journals Luz, Câmera... Ciência: Abordando as Ciências e suas relações através do filme "Interestelar" e da série "The Big Bang Theory"

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vitor Martins Menezes ◽  
Aline Orvalho Pereira ◽  
Giuliana Coutinho Vitiello ◽  
Celi Rodrigues Chaves Dominguez
Keyword(s):  
Big Bang ◽  
Big Bang Theory ◽  
The Big Bang

scholarly journals The Use of Idioms and Wordplay in The Big Bang Theory Sitcom

Tertium ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lendita Kryeziu
Keyword(s):  
Age Groups ◽  
Pop Culture ◽  
Big Bang ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Vast Number ◽  
Big Bang Theory ◽  
Public Speakers ◽  
The Big Bang

Language is a powerful communication tool. A skilful person uses words and manipulates them for different purposes; be that for persuading clients in buying different products or joining a congregation; soothing aggravated patients and consoling people who lost their loved ones. Language is used for teaching, informing, entertaining and making people laugh. Many public speakers, teachers, politicians and leaders use humour for breaking the ice and engaging the audience into listening. Moreover, nowadays a vast number of sitcoms are popular among different age groups based on the topics, genre and the audience’s field of interest. One such series which has caught the interest of a broader audience on Netflix is The Big Bang Theory. The usage of idioms, wordplays, puns, rhyming structures, pop culture language and scientific jargon, permeated with humour, are widely spread into the characters’ daily conversations through entire episodes. From the linguistic point of view, the corpus of The Big Bang Theory episodes will be thoroughly analysed for finding the relevance of using idioms, wordplays, puns and other structures in transmitting humorous messages to the audience.

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