Hacker News with Generative AI: Language

At Chrysler I Kept a Glossary of Ridiculous Corporate Terms Engineers Overused (theautopian.com)
When I became a full-time engineer at Chrysler at age 21, there were certain elements of the corporate environment that I found flat-out odd.
Automotive, Engineering, Corporate Culture, Language
14 points by rmason 2 days ago | 7 comments
Greek Language Question (wikipedia.org)
The Greek language question (Greek: το γλωσσικό ζήτημα, to glossikó zítima) was a dispute about whether the vernacular of the Greek people (Demotic Greek) or a cultivated literary language based on Ancient Greek (Katharevousa) should be the prevailing language of the people and government of Greece.
Language, History, Greece, Politics
25 points by brendanashworth 3 days ago | 1 comments
‘Watch the Skies,’ First Feature Film Dubbed Entirely With AI (variety.com)
A foreign language sci-fi movie is headed to U.S. movie theaters this spring, but audiences won’t have to groan about subtitles. For the first time, an international feature film will look and sound as if it was made in English thanks to artificial intelligence.
Artificial Intelligence, Film, Technology, Language
7 points by geox 4 days ago | 1 comments
Welcome to the Semantic Apocalypse (theintrinsicperspective.com)
An awful personal prophecy is coming true. Way back in 2019, when AI was still a relatively niche topic, and only the primitive GPT-2 had been released, I predicted the technology would usher in a “semantic apocalypse” wherein art and language were drained of meaning. In fact, it was the first essay ever posted here on The Intrinsic Perspective.
Artificial Intelligence, Language, Art, Prophecy
9 points by greg_V 6 days ago | 2 comments
Bonobo genius Kanzi, who could understand English and play Minecraft, dies at 44 (livescience.com)
Animal Intelligence, Language, Video Games, Science
15 points by amichail 11 days ago | 2 comments
Can Parrot Brains Teach Us About Human Speech? (smithsonianmag.com)
Parrots have long fascinated humans with their ability to mimic speech, but new research reveals their brains do more than just imitate—they use complex neural systems that parallel the way humans produce speech.
Parrots, Neuroscience, Language, Animal Intelligence, Speech
36 points by ulrischa 12 days ago | 3 comments
How the language of job postings can attract rule-bending narcissists (arstechnica.com)
Looking to hire someone? Check your wording very carefully.
Hiring, Psychology, Language, Narcissism, Job Search
7 points by NotInOurNames 12 days ago | 0 comments
The Race to Decipher Cuneiform in the 19th Century (smithsonianmag.com)
On a late-summer day in 1856, a letter carrier stepped from a mail coach in front of a three-story townhouse in Mayfair, in central London. Crossing the threshold, the courier handed a wax-sealed envelope to a clerk. The missive was addressed to Edwin Norris, the secretary of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, one of Europe’s leading research institutions.
History, Archaeology, Language, Ancient Civilizations
38 points by Petiver 13 days ago | 2 comments
Most of the World Can't Code (ycombinator.com)
Programming is only accessible to those who understand English and the Latin alphabet.
Programming, Accessibility, Language, Globalization
10 points by jayathra 16 days ago | 41 comments
Genomic study: our capacity for language emerged at least 135k years ago (phys.org)
It is a deep question, from deep in our history: when did human language as we know it emerge? A new survey of genomic evidence suggests our unique language capacity was present at least 135,000 years ago. Subsequently, language might have entered social use 100,000 years ago.
Genomics, Language, Evolution, History, Science
113 points by wglb 17 days ago | 90 comments
Latin and the Big Questions (thecatholicthing.org)
William Sitwell, praising the decision of the British Department of Education to cease funding the Latin Excellence Programme (LEP), recently wrote in London’s The Telegraph that “the loss of Latin from schools is a triumph, not a tragedy,” explaining that “the ancient language has little relevance in today’s society.”
Education, Language, Culture
16 points by michaelsbradley 19 days ago | 0 comments
These Words Are Disappearing in the New Trump Administration (nytimes.com)
As President Trump seeks to purge the federal government of “woke” initiatives, agencies have flagged hundreds of words to limit or avoid, according to a compilation of government documents.
Politics, Language, Government, Trump Administration, Social Justice
12 points by adrian_mrd 26 days ago | 0 comments
Designating English as the Official Language of the United States (whitehouse.gov)
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:
Politics, United States, Language
9 points by booleandilemma 29 days ago | 2 comments
AI models makes precise copies of cuneiform characters (news.cornell.edu)
Deciphering some people’s writing can be a major challenge – especially when that writing is cuneiform characters imprinted into 3,000-year-old tablets.
Artificial Intelligence, Archaeology, History, Language, Technology
69 points by geox 29 days ago | 20 comments
Apple's Dictation System Transcribes the Word 'Racist' as 'Trump' (nytimes.com)
While using Apple’s automatic dictation feature to send messages on Tuesday, some iPhone users reported seeing a peculiar bug: the word “racist” temporarily appearing as “Trump,” before quickly correcting itself.
Apple, Bugs, Artificial Intelligence, Software, Language
30 points by cwmartin 36 days ago | 23 comments
Cursing appears to improve exercise performance (nlm.nih.gov)
Swearing, or using taboo language with the potential to offend, has been shown to improve physical performance during short and intense tasks requiring strength and power development.
Health, Exercise, Language
6 points by leohonexus 37 days ago | 2 comments
The Wrongs of Thomas More (nealstephenson.substack.com)
In my previous post I talked about spelunking through the Oxford English Dictionary’s definition of “wrong” to see how the usage of that word had developed down through the ages.
History, Language, Literature
128 points by robinhouston 38 days ago | 92 comments
FDA scientists told 'woman' and 'disabled' are on Trump's banned word list (independent.co.uk)
Some U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientists have been told to stop using the words “woman,” “disabled” and “elderly” in external communications, two sources familiar with the matter said, part of a list of banned terms that a White House spokesman said had misinterpreted President Donald Trump’s executive order.
Politics, Government, Language, Censorship, United States
18 points by wahnfrieden 39 days ago | 1 comments
Show HN: TikTok for Beautiful Words (abi-countdown.de)
Social Media, Creative Projects, Language
7 points by lightstack 40 days ago | 7 comments
BritCSS: Fixes CSS to use non-American English (github.com/DeclanChidlow)
Fixes CSS to use non-bastardised spellings.
Programming, Software, Open Source, CSS, Language
163 points by OuterVale 41 days ago | 167 comments
DeepSeek-V3-Turkish (ycombinator.com)
This project translates the English descriptions in the DeepSeek-V3 AI repository into Turkish.
Translation, Artificial Intelligence, Open Source, Language
3 points by can-deliktas 42 days ago | 0 comments
Can you lose your native tongue? (2024) (nytimes.com)
It happened the first time over dinner. I was saying something to my husband, who grew up in Paris where we live, and suddenly couldn’t get the word out.
Language, Culture, Linguistics, Identity
111 points by Thevet 43 days ago | 197 comments
The List of Trump's Forbidden Words That Will Get Your Paper Flagged at NSF (gizmodo.com)
Every federal agency in the U.S. is currently trying to figure out how to purge forbidden words from documents posted online, in a desperate attempt to comply with President Donald Trump’s executive order to purge “DEI” from every facet of American life.
Politics, Government, Censorship, Language
17 points by cratermoon 50 days ago | 2 comments
Where did the word 'junk' come from? (2016) (scmp.com)
Etymology, Language, History
4 points by teleforce 52 days ago | 1 comments
Fair Pricing (kagi.com)
Never get lost in translation again. Today, we launch Kagi Translate, offering superior translations across 244 languages.
Translation, Language, AI, Pricing
1134 points by CleverLikeAnOx 57 days ago | 498 comments
How Translation Works, Book Title Edition (scalzi.com)
As any translator will tell you, translating a piece of fiction isn’t about simply transcribing words one-to-one from one language to another. It’s about capturing a vibe — making sure the tone and intent of the piece come through in words when a mere transliteration would fail.
Translation, Fiction, Language, Writing, Literature
61 points by janpio 58 days ago | 21 comments
Older Samsung TV with microphone remote suddenly only understands Russian (reddit.com)
Samsung, Remote Controls, Language, Technology, Troubleshooting
7 points by tzs 65 days ago | 1 comments
Umlauts, Diaereses, and the New Yorker (2020) (arrantpedantry.com)
Several weeks ago, the satirical viral content site Clickhole posted this article: “Going Rogue: ‘The New Yorker’ Has Announced That They’re Going To Start Putting An Umlaut Over Every Letter ‘O’ And No One Can Stop Them”.
Language, Satire, Journalism
35 points by jplrssn 66 days ago | 39 comments
Hospitals in the US want to call patients customers now (reddit.com)
YSK, hospitals all across the US, don’t want to call you patients anymore, you are customers now.
Healthcare, Consumerism, Language, United States
6 points by notRobot 74 days ago | 1 comments
The rise and fall of the English sentence (2017) (nautil.us)
The surprising forces influencing the complexity of the language we speak and write.
Language, Linguistics, History, Writing
100 points by cal85 79 days ago | 51 comments