Hi. Four things. First, many of you have asked for updates on Partners in Health's Covid-19 response in Sierra Leone. There is now a wonderful podcast offering regular updates and interviews with healthcare workers and others working to build capacity. Please listen: pihsierraleone.captivate.fm/listen TH-cam: th-cam.com/video/Y5CHRvcdEOk/w-d-xo.html Two: CORRECTION I was partly wrong about Hebrew, where double negatives turn out to be complicated. One commenter writes, "While it is true that sometimes double negatives are used (for example, "I don't know nothing" = "I don't know anything" and "I've never not tried that" = "I've never tried that", both of those sentences are very wrong without the extra negative) you CAN actually say stuff like "I'm not not tired" or "I don't disagree" and it would have the exact same meaning as in English." Three: Taika Waititi and many others (Meryl Streep! Cumberbatch!) are reading Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach to raise money for PIH: th-cam.com/video/29LDBdpNMRc/w-d-xo.html Four: Hank's book A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor comes out in less than two months. It's a wonderful book, and you can preorder it in the U.S. while supporting your local bookstore at bookshop.org/books/a-beautifully-foolish-endeavor/9781524743475 -John
I'm so grateful you posted about Taika Waititi + Friends reading "James and the Giant Peach". I didn't not want it, but now that we have it, I'm enthusiastically enjoying it. And PIH being exposed to such a huge audience makes that goal of $25 million feel like it'll be here so much sooner. 🥰
Good morning from Melbs 🇦🇺,A storm broke out at 1:35am, now 3;35 am and it permeated my dream to where I was back in childhood home. Have a good day. 🧸🌈🐾
Hey John after your last video a couple of nerdfighters came together in the comments to make a nerdfighter gratitude journal! We'd love it if you checked it out at journalsallthewaydowndotcom.wordpress.com !
I've heard this joke many times and it's always fantastic An MIT linguistics professor was lecturing his class the other day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn't a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative." A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."
hahaha really thought it's not. Like, the more I read the lyrics of All Star (and I've read them a lot), the more I think the song is a lllliiitttllleeee bit muddled. -John
My comment was seen by the legend that is John Green! Holy smokes! As a self-proclaimed, avid nerdfighter, this is the absolute highlight of day. Thank you so much for doing what you do, especially during an uncertain time like this. You’re such an inspiration to me.
vlogbrothers, I suppose All Star is no Day in The Life, but All-Star knows what it is, and is unashamed. All-Star simply is, and it is glorious. Regardless, I find it priceless that earlier this year, I was reading several of your books and listening to my peers’ freshmen book reports on The Fault in Our Stars. Now, I’m talking to the man, himself.
Reminds me of a time at work where we made the order title to a supplier the lyrics to Never Gonna Give You Up. Took a while before they copped what was going on.
In French, we have the wonderful word: "plus" -Plus with the s pronounced means more -Plus with the s silent means no more So: Il y a plus de pain - there is more bread Il n'y a plus de pain - there isn't bread left. But: In spoken (and text message) french, we typically drop the "ne or n' " Therefore, the text message "il y a plus de pain" means both that there is more and no more bread. French!
One of my all-time favorite Vlogbrothers quotes is from a video and context I can't remember, but fits in so nicely here: "Definitions are not meant to shape the truth, the truth is meant to shape our definitions."
In brazilian portuguese we have "não, sim!" and it's one of my favourite things from my language. It literally translates to "no, yes!". It would be used on a conversation when someone misunderstands your point and thinks you're disagreeing with them. As in "NO, you don't get what I'm saying, because YES I'm agreeing with you". I just love it so much.
@Xyon 21 I kinda do that too, but "Yeah... No." instead. I guess I kinda use it when i strongly disagree with someone and thint they are very obviously wrong.
As a kid (in California) I always said “yeah no” to respond to someone asking “did you misunderstand me?”. It meant “yes I agree, no I didn’t misunderstand” or “yes I agree, no don’t worry”.
@@randomguy263 In context I tend to see that used in cases of 'Yes I've heard this argument before, and no, I'm not buying it', or variations of that theme ('I knew that was going to be suggested, not going to accept'; 'I know that's what you think I'm saying, but let me explain', etc). I don't personally use it often, but there are times when I find it's just so so very the right thing to say.
Nah, I think you've got a solid three weeks left before things start heading south. Here, you merely look like a not-metro middle aged dad of teenagers. Which is a thing that it is perfectly fine to be ;) (I'm confident the camera will stop adding those 10 extra years once the quarantine stress settles down. Just like I'm confident that you could look early 30s when you're having fun with friends over a beer, or whatever other mild poison you find tasty :p)
vlogbrothers Out of control is a really really strange phrase. On the one hand it assumes that there is some universally defined state of "In Control" under which things should be but also consider its inverse "in control". As something grows more out of control it becomes less predictable to outside observers, but it also has more of its own self determination, so by being out of someone else's control you are in your own control, but we don't specify these reference points of control. For example, assuming you agree that the puff is a sentient being that influences John as it grows in power, the puff is out of John's control but in control of John. but John didn't say "in a week it'll be out of MY control" just "in a week it'll be out of control". In every statement there's an implied frame of reference that we don't even recognize most of the time.
Sorry for being a bit rambly, I really enjoyed the process of having that thought and wanted to find a way to explain it, but I don't think I did an amazing job at it. C'est la vie. Language is strange and impotent.
I like how the titles of these videos are double, because 1. They're lyrics 2. They are actually about the videos. Much like the videos themselves, I believe. They aren't directly about the virus/quarantine, but they do feature interesting thought chains now we have more time on our hands(like this one), how we are still a community (nerdfighteria working on Hanks birthday present) and how life still goes on. Yet still they're still "normal" (read: it rocks just as much as always) videos. I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it seemed interesting to me. Anyway, much appreciated as always!
@@vlogbrothers Hi guys. I just wanted to let you know how awesome your educational programs are. Seriously, it's embarrassing how good most of your work is when compared to typical undergraduate level college courses. For example, I don't think it's much of an exaggeration to claim that someone willing to study your crash course programs (and yes, do some follow-up research) would come away with a decent amount of liberal arts education. You are truly democratizing education. I have long argued that, as a society, we could teach citizens for a fraction of the cost and no loss of academic integrity if only we had the national will to do so. Your channels are going to be my new leading example of how to start the process. Thank you again.
I've always loved the line on one of John's books: "Once I start thinking about splitting the skin apart, I literally cannot not do it. I apologize for the double negative, but it's a real double negative of a situation," I feel like the double negative is needed to express that feeling of compulsion where you don't want to be doing the thing, but you *can't not* do it. It truly is a real double negative of a situation
Holy crap. I have always heard (or misheard) this lyric as “did it make sense not to live for fun?” As both a question and a bit of an accusation of those who didn’t live for fun. Especially combined with the following line, “your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb”, it seemed like a Pink Floyd type critique of the prudish educational system....but now.......I don’t know what to think. Thanks john!
I’m glad we’re getting the line by line analysis of Allstar; it’s just one step closer to the second by second analysis of the music video Hank dreamed of
My girlfriend and I have had this as a running joke for years! I'm always trying to have others adopt it when I get the chance. Very gruntled to hear John say it
Bro I came back to this channel after around 5 years and there's an All Star theme going omg Vlogbrothers has changed so much and at the same time its remained the saaameee!!!!
On Friday I'm expecting a video from Hank titled "Your Brain Gets Smart But Your Head Gets Dumb" talking about online classes and mental health. We're gonna keep this All Star train running until the end of time (or until all of the lyrics of the song are vlogbrothers video titles).
I think it also bears mentioning that historically, and even today, prescriptivist language norms have been used to other and demean disadvantaged groups, like the way people who have a regional dialect often have to learn to speak without it, or with a less pronounced accent, if they want to be perceived as intelligent and educated by the dominant culture.
Yes, this. And speaking a second (third, fourth, fifth...) language haltingly is often viewed as less than by people who speak that language fluently as their first and yet their ONLY language. Using language, accent, and dialect to other folks is one of our not very savory tribalist tendencies as humans.
Yes! Absolutely! Seeing someone who speaks with an accent as less intelligent often is not a concious choice, it just happens. So it is really important to be aware of that and try to unlearn this. I also have experience with that with the foreign languages I speak, and I always try to be kind and check my own perception of a person with an accent.
In math, when discussing "double negatives", there are two main types. 1. Positives/negatives: -(-1)=1. 2. Discussing opposites in subjects like number theory and statisitcs: This is WAY more complex and perfectly mirrors the problems with language. The "opposite" of 1 (or simply "not 1") is not just -1 or 0. It's every number that isn't 1. If you're not the opposite of 1(not "not 1"), you might be 1, but you might "every number except -1" or "every number eccept 1 AND 2", etc. 1. You can be tired 2.Not tired (anything from awake to hungry to dead, idk, probably multiple things) 3. Not not tired (probably a little tired and maybe something else)
3:40 1. I find it kinda scary that it was originally meant to be "wave bye bye to your soul" 2. I love that my favorite line (Only shooting stars break the mold) was added later on the side, and they either forgot to add "only" or thought to add it later and did so using an arrow... which is something I do a lot.
@@randomguy263 I'm pretty sure it's "Only shooting stars break the mold" in the song, even though it say "And only shooting stars will break the mold" in the picture John showed. That aside, "Wave bye bye to your soul" is kinda too depressing for me... :v
@@sarim9531 yeah, that seems to have been the line they wrote after "wave bye bye to your soul". And only shooting stars will break the mold honestly sounds kinda depressing too.
@@randomguy263 Now that you mention it, it does sound depressing... I have a hard time finding hidden meanings in song lyrics and poetry (even art), so I can't explain why, but it still sounds less depressing to me than "wave bye bye to your soul" The reason it's my favorite line is simply that I like the sound of it, not because of any meaning I found in it.
@@sarim9531 Yeah, I kinda have too, I think. I may have to look through the lyrics and actually think about what they meant, because I had never thought of that line as depressing before.
I'm studying linguistics in college, and one of the first things we did in our introductory course was establish the difference between prescriptive and descriptive ways to approach language. Often people live their lives only experiencing the prescriptive side of things--being told what's wrong and what's right to say. It's like teachers and everybody else are doctors who want to cure the problems they see so they prescribe rules for language. Now, it's nice to have conventions and order in a language, but when you look at it descriptively instead and just say what's going on without saying if any of those things are wrong or right, it really changes your perspective on language. I'm naturally pretty introverted and think through what I say before I speak, so the fact that people could judge me for what I say has always been intimidating. However, I starting to approach things from a descriptive viewpoint and it was okay to make little mistakes like double negatives when I talk, because that's just how language happened to occur in that utterance at that instance.
This is officially an "All-Star" apreciation channel and I love it. It feels like short versions of those channels that make long video essays about a topic and not talking about it until the video is halfway over. "All Star" has become the "Aha!" Moment for John and Hank.
John refused to have a podcast with Hank that closely analyzes the music video for "All Star" but here he is analyzing the hell out of a double negative in the lyrics. Here for thiiiiiiis
As a music historian / music librarian in training, this video really makes me want to do a musicological analysis of All Star. Your analysis of the lyrics was A++
"Not disgruntled" isn't a double negative. The "dis-" is an archaic intensifier that only remains in this one word, plus a handful of obscure ones that nobody actually uses like "dissever" ("to sever completely"). "Disgruntled" actually means "very gruntled".
I totally agree with you!!! Double negatives can add a level of nuance you won’t find in the straight positive. I have a friend who always says “you’re not wrong” and if you know him you know this is his way of agreeing with you without outright saying “you’re right” because I don’t think that phrase is in his vocabulary. One time last summer I told my friend I would cover him when we went out to dinner saying “it’s not like I don’t owe you.” He says “you don’t owe me anything.” This was my way of *trying* (although he just got confused, oops) to say that I know I don’t owe him but he has also recognizing all the times in the past he has covered me. Double negatives can be a powerful way to show a middle ground that is hard to explain otherwise.
Love this. In his 1926 usage guide "Modern English Usage", Henry Watson Fowler said that the reader could cure themselves of the "not un-" construction by memorizing the sentence "a not un-black dog was chasing a not un-small rabbit across a not un-green field." In his own (posthumously-published) 1997 usage guide "The King's English", novelist Sir Kingsley Amis argued that Fowler was overreaching with this one, pointing out that saying "the jailer treated him not unkindly" is not at all the same as saying "the jailer treated him kindly". I read that book at the age of 17, when it came out, and that distinction has stuck with me ever since.
As a multilingual, this is what I love about languages and learning them. The fact you can say something and give it another feeling instead of going the simplest way grammatically but rather the twists and uncertainty that the long road gives compensate in emotion, than say "clarity", and I love it. I love seeing and learning how to detail and go the long road in every language I know or I am growing to know.
I was thinking about something like this just yesterday; how silly and strange and fun it is to be much of something and so little of something else, like, “ I am not heavy, I am light” I am not, but I am. Yesterday I woke up, not new, not whole. I woke up broken. I also thought about the song “Until I’m whole “ MG. Doble negative situations aren’t quite the same as others, as John wrote in one of his books (TATWD). I think these kinds of sentences stay a bit longer with us, like, we chew them over and over so we can make sense of them, cause we (or I at least) think; It probably means something simple, like not not being is being...........or does it? And that or, as all ifs, show us a sea of possibilities
I was recently shocked to discover that's not what the central metaphor of "another brick in the wall" means?! Roger Waters was interested in "the wall" as a thing we build around ourselves as a form of protection and how it cuts off both positive and negative contact from outside. So it is the children in school putting bricks in the wall to desensitize themselves to their teachers, not the teachers fashioning the children into bricks. ...though there may be a double meaning that wasn't put up on Wikipedia, and also the author is dead and songs belong to their listeners.
I love the tonal distinction between a positive and a double negative in the English you describe here. I also think about this topic in re: African American Vernacular English, wherein double negatives are an integral part of grammar, and systemic and interpersonal policing of AAVE because it's not "proper English"-but aside from AAVE having its own complicated grammatical patterns, it's deeply expressive! Which is what ultimately matters in language.
I don't know why the Smash Mouth references still catch me off guard (and make me laugh), but I love that you are continuing to tie All Star to everything.
oh Puff Levels are HIGH (also, I hope you and Sarah and the kids are all hanging in there, and thanks for all the comfort that you and Hank and co. bring into my life always but especially now)
I feel like double negatives are really effective at communicating specific meanings, like in “we don’t need no education” they’re not saying they don’t need any sort or form of education, theyre referring to a specific type of education that they’re currently receiving, if they said “we don’t need education” it sounds as if they’re talking about any sort of education that could ever exist. in the Smash Mouth song the sentence “didn’t make sense not to live for fun” kind of gives me the sense that he’s choosing to live differently but he doesn’t yet know how, there’s a certain uncertainty there. Idk it’s pretty cool, great video! :)
My first semester of college, I took a linguistics course that really helped me change the way I view language. Learning how language is meant for humans, and how it naturally evolves as we do, has helped me to not be so judgmental. It's also given me an appreciation for the United States' lack of an official language. Enforcing someone to speak differently is to demean their thoughts, their beliefs, and their culture.
Ok I would LOVE more videos of you just breaking down the language in songs and poems and speeches and such just going through them and figuring them out to the tiniest possible bit. This was really cool and really fun. Thank you so much!
This is my first Vlogbrothers video after listening to John on The Anthropocene Reviewed. Happy to have found it in this time and along for the right now!
John: Didn't make sense not to live for fun Me: Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb! So much to do, so much to see. So what's wrong with taking the back streets? Vlogbrothers continuing the All Star titles? Yep, what a concept
It's not new for Nerdighteria to have inside jokes, but especially right now, this All Star business feels really important. I am glad to be in on the joke and for there to be a community to share it with.
Yes, I'll be doing a livestream about PIH's work in Sierra Leone later this week, and a livestream at some point this week in the evening as well! -John
I didn't expect 2020 to be the year Vlogbrothers finally took on the gargantuan cultural entity that is Smash Mouth's Rock Star with every video title (and several video's content), but this is one ride I'm really happy to be along for.
I don’t know why vlogbrothers has been studying and dissecting All Star but I’m so here for it. Thank you John, I needed this kind of thought provocation today.
3:00 did he mean "All we know is that the speaker tried one way of living, not for fun, and found that it didn't work" instead of "for fun" or am I confused?
Yes yes my thoughts exactly! He should've said "not for fun", otherwise I'm also pretty confused. Came to the comments to see if anyone mentioned this.
I saw the title and read the description while the video buffered and I already knew it would be everything I'd want in a video - and it did not disappoint! :D
I’ve learnt more things and fun facts about this song in the past few weeks than since i first heard it in shrek. John and Hank always manage to add such value to my life!
Long ago (in 17th century English) gruntle was a word the frequentive of grunt, so it means tending to grunt, in the case case dis was an intensifier (another archaic bit of English, apparently dismay is another example). So originally disgruntled meant really gruntled (really tending to grunt, being out of sorts etc.). Apparently gruntled got backformed into a word by humorists like Wodehouse to mean the opposite of gruntled and people used that so it became a word. So gruntled is two words that mean the opposite of each other. About standard for English.
I love your breakdown of the chorus of "Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2" (the part that has the kids singing). It's one of my all time favorite songs, and it's somewhat underrated.
I always saw that line as a rejection of a boring life, with the double negative putting emphasis on that rejection rather than revelling in the life they did chose. It's certainly nice to revisit it with a thoughtful video like this!
I like how this video actually starts to analyze the song. I hope the a month from now we have descended into that frame by frame analysis of the video, including a dive into the tie-in with the critically underrated Mystery Men (1999).
Hey nerdfighters, After john's recent video a bunch of us got together in the comments and made a nerdfighter themed gratitude journal. It's filled with awesome prompts and the idea was to make journaling fun and free to everyone. We have a website but youtube is weird with links so i'll reply with the website if i can!
vlogbrothers John we are so excited for you to finally see it! We worked so hard and really love it. Thanks for inspiring us and for the kind comment(:
I have never seen two brothers (or people) use a song like you guys use All Star, and I love it. I mean when I was leaning English in school they would use songs or TV shows but not with this passion. In another time line I'm sure you guys are teachers, but the kind of teachers that became teachers because they adore the idea of teaching.
I studied some linguistics at university and I remember reading something really interesting about the history of the French negative. From what I remember (happy to be corrected!), previously a French negative could be expressed just with "ne". Later, people started adding different words to emphasise the verb they were negating. I.e. you could say "je ne mange mie" for "I cannot eat another crumb", or "je ne vais pas" for "I won't go another step". So originally "pas" was only used for verbs of movement, but over time it became more and more popular as the negative emphasis for all verbs. It's interesting that nowadays in casual French you can express negation without the "ne" and only the "pas" - i.e. "Je sais pas". So the "pas" has gone from being non-existent, to optional, to the sole expression for negation! YAY GRAMMAR NERDERY!
I am alone in quarantine and I REALLY appreciate your vlogs. I talk to work people, but it's work stuff. It's nice to listen to a stimulating conversation. I swear my memory and spelling have gotten worse in quarantine so mind my needs more thoughts! But good ones. I too struggle with mental health.
I LOVE THESE, especially the fact that they take one sentence out of the song and literally construct a complete debate around it! Those are literally lyrics I wouldn't think about at all but it sounds like these two have a degree on the song or sthg, I love this.
Thanks, Stacie. I'm very scared of linguists, as outlined in the second half of this podcast. -John www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anthropocene-reviewed/episodes/anthropocene-reviewed-indianapolis-and-love-first-sight
“I apologize for the double negative, but it’s a real double negative of a situation, a bind from which negating the negation is truly the only escape” -You
I think that double negatives are useful at times to clarify meaning, much like the Oxford comma, but let's not discuss that can of worms. The idea that language is made for communication is important, but it can communicate ideas more effectively when we have rules in place. I don't mind double negatives when negating the negative. This can be fun and more meaningful than other ways of saying the same thing, as you pointed out, but we have to have rules in place so we know whether someone is negating the negative or reinforcing it. Some of this is fixed by context, but we don't always have the context or time to analyze. Bottom line: I'm not a jerk about it to people, and I'm not without my own faults. I just enjoy things that are well-written.
Just to clarify, I feel that the complexity Smash Mouth’s prose far outweighs that of Pink Floyd. I mean, do you hear Shakespeare referenced in The Wall? Didn’t think so.
I love all these All Star videos! It's one of my favorite songs. My friends love this song too and when it comes on they have a different way of singing it. When the song goes "the years start coming and they don't stop coming" they just keep singing "and they don't stop coming" until the very end of the song. I find it hilarious and pretty apropos. Because currently the days keep coming and they don't stop coming.
As an actual linguist, I totally approve this, although the idea of language shaping thought seems to me a bit backwards. Actual experimental evidence is that linguistic structures have very trivial effects on people's cognition, although it feels like it probably has more.
Great to hear from a real linguist! I knew I'd get something wrong. (This is mere anecdote, but my own experience is that when I find/am given language for deep abstractions [like, say, obsessive thought loops], I understand them better. So not that French makes me think differently than English, but having language for the abstract/complex/nuanced does shift my understanding.) I talk about my abject fear of linguists and linguistics in the second half of this podcast episode, btw! www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anthropocene-reviewed/episodes/anthropocene-reviewed-indianapolis-and-love-first-sight -John
@@vlogbrothers Aw John, I'm sorry you have a fear of us! As a linguist I hope to one day make linguistics accessible, relatable, and as normalized as basic algebra. If you ever want help with a Crash Course in Linguistics I would gladly offer my consultation. :)
What would an actual linguist say about the examples in this TED talk? I thought the studies about vocabulary for color affecting color perception were fascinating. th-cam.com/video/RKK7wGAYP6k/w-d-xo.html
even more to the point is that gruntled (in the modern sense) means to be "pleased or contented" (although previously it meant "utter little grunts", and dis- was an intensifier), while disgruntled means to be "angry or dissatisfied", and it is theoretically possible to be in a neutral state that is neither gruntled or disgruntled. As such "I am not disgruntled" means you are either gruntled or in that neutral state. Of course, prior to that backformation of gruntled from disgruntled, "I am gruntled" would make no sense as it would mean "I am uttered little grunts", so "I am not disgruntled" would have been the only acceptable way to say it.
Hi. Four things. First, many of you have asked for updates on Partners in Health's Covid-19 response in Sierra Leone. There is now a wonderful podcast offering regular updates and interviews with healthcare workers and others working to build capacity. Please listen: pihsierraleone.captivate.fm/listen TH-cam: th-cam.com/video/Y5CHRvcdEOk/w-d-xo.html
Two: CORRECTION I was partly wrong about Hebrew, where double negatives turn out to be complicated. One commenter writes, "While it is true that sometimes double negatives are used (for example, "I don't know nothing" = "I don't know anything" and "I've never not tried that" = "I've never tried that", both of those sentences are very wrong without the extra negative) you CAN actually say stuff like "I'm not not tired" or "I don't disagree" and it would have the exact same meaning as in English."
Three: Taika Waititi and many others (Meryl Streep! Cumberbatch!) are reading Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach to raise money for PIH: th-cam.com/video/29LDBdpNMRc/w-d-xo.html
Four: Hank's book A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor comes out in less than two months. It's a wonderful book, and you can preorder it in the U.S. while supporting your local bookstore at bookshop.org/books/a-beautifully-foolish-endeavor/9781524743475 -John
But what if you're not in the us (but in the netherlands) and you want to preorder (preferably with autograph?)
I'm so grateful you posted about Taika Waititi + Friends reading "James and the Giant Peach". I didn't not want it, but now that we have it, I'm enthusiastically enjoying it.
And PIH being exposed to such a huge audience makes that goal of $25 million feel like it'll be here so much sooner. 🥰
Good morning from Melbs 🇦🇺,A storm broke out at 1:35am, now 3;35 am and it permeated my dream to where I was back in childhood home. Have a good day. 🧸🌈🐾
Hey John after your last video a couple of nerdfighters came together in the comments to make a nerdfighter gratitude journal! We'd love it if you checked it out at journalsallthewaydowndotcom.wordpress.com !
If the links above aren't working for you, try these:
Podcast: pihsierraleone.captivate.fm/listen
TH-cam: th-cam.com/video/Y5CHRvcdEOk/w-d-xo.html
I've heard this joke many times and it's always fantastic
An MIT linguistics professor was lecturing his class the other day. "In English," he said, "a double negative forms a positive. However, in some languages, such as Russian, a double negative remains a negative. But there isn't a single language, not one, in which a double positive can express a negative."
A voice from the back of the room piped up, "Yeah, right."
Random Washer This is beautiful.
I like how it's funny on several levels
Anf the language that student was speaking is sarcasm
I could care less.
Sarcasm could be it’s own language
“Language is here to facilitate expression, not limit it” I love that
+
+
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(I tried to save this video to my favorites at least twice because of this line)
+
Descriptivists rise up!
I wouldn’t say that All-Star is a work of rock opera genius, but I also wouldn’t say that All-Star is not a work of rock opera genius...
hahaha really thought it's not. Like, the more I read the lyrics of All Star (and I've read them a lot), the more I think the song is a lllliiitttllleeee bit muddled. -John
My comment was seen by the legend that is John Green! Holy smokes! As a self-proclaimed, avid nerdfighter, this is the absolute highlight of day. Thank you so much for doing what you do, especially during an uncertain time like this. You’re such an inspiration to me.
vlogbrothers, I suppose All Star is no Day in The Life, but All-Star knows what it is, and is unashamed. All-Star simply is, and it is glorious. Regardless, I find it priceless that earlier this year, I was reading several of your books and listening to my peers’ freshmen book reports on The Fault in Our Stars. Now, I’m talking to the man, himself.
Who wants to place bets on whether Hank's video on Friday will be a passionate defense of the claim that All-Star is a work of rock opera genius?
@@sashablank252 this is a big day for both of us, then. He liked and commented on mine too!
Negative Concord would also be a good name for a band.
Yeah, I thought so too.
Specifically, it would be a great name for a Flight of the Concords cover band.
@@thefilthycasual6358 Oooo, yes, one that covers all the songs in a minor key.
I thought he was going to say that very thing when boom he hit us with the social internet...
I had the same thought
These all star titles keep coming and they don't stop coming huh
No idea what this is in reference to. -John
@@vlogbrothers Can I just say I fully support these titles, please make as many as you possibly can
Reminds me of a time at work where we made the order title to a supplier the lyrics to Never Gonna Give You Up. Took a while before they copped what was going on.
@@vlogbrothers Nope, no clue.
I got such a laugh out of your comment, right there.
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In French, we have the wonderful word: "plus"
-Plus with the s pronounced means more
-Plus with the s silent means no more
So:
Il y a plus de pain - there is more bread
Il n'y a plus de pain - there isn't bread left.
But:
In spoken (and text message) french, we typically drop the "ne or n' "
Therefore, the text message "il y a plus de pain" means both that there is more and no more bread.
French!
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so let them eat cake
+ (s)
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One of my all-time favorite Vlogbrothers quotes is from a video and context I can't remember, but fits in so nicely here: "Definitions are not meant to shape the truth, the truth is meant to shape our definitions."
I don't remember ever saying that, but I am quite fond of the line! -John
In brazilian portuguese we have "não, sim!" and it's one of my favourite things from my language.
It literally translates to "no, yes!".
It would be used on a conversation when someone misunderstands your point and thinks you're disagreeing with them. As in "NO, you don't get what I'm saying, because YES I'm agreeing with you".
I just love it so much.
Oh that's very good! I like that a lot. Thanks for teaching me about não, sim! -John
that is so great! I'm going to remember this - it's so useful!
@Xyon 21 I kinda do that too, but "Yeah... No." instead. I guess I kinda use it when i strongly disagree with someone and thint they are very obviously wrong.
As a kid (in California) I always said “yeah no” to respond to someone asking “did you misunderstand me?”. It meant “yes I agree, no I didn’t misunderstand” or “yes I agree, no don’t worry”.
@@randomguy263 In context I tend to see that used in cases of 'Yes I've heard this argument before, and no, I'm not buying it', or variations of that theme ('I knew that was going to be suggested, not going to accept'; 'I know that's what you think I'm saying, but let me explain', etc). I don't personally use it often, but there are times when I find it's just so so very the right thing to say.
just realized after quarantine the puff is gonna be INCREDIBLE
I've maybe got a week left before it's completely out of control. -John
@@vlogbrothers No such thing! #lovethepuff
Nah, I think you've got a solid three weeks left before things start heading south.
Here, you merely look like a not-metro middle aged dad of teenagers.
Which is a thing that it is perfectly fine to be ;)
(I'm confident the camera will stop adding those 10 extra years once the quarantine stress settles down. Just like I'm confident that you could look early 30s when you're having fun with friends over a beer, or whatever other mild poison you find tasty :p)
vlogbrothers Out of control is a really really strange phrase. On the one hand it assumes that there is some universally defined state of "In Control" under which things should be but also consider its inverse "in control". As something grows more out of control it becomes less predictable to outside observers, but it also has more of its own self determination, so by being out of someone else's control you are in your own control, but we don't specify these reference points of control. For example, assuming you agree that the puff is a sentient being that influences John as it grows in power, the puff is out of John's control but in control of John. but John didn't say "in a week it'll be out of MY control" just "in a week it'll be out of control". In every statement there's an implied frame of reference that we don't even recognize most of the time.
Sorry for being a bit rambly, I really enjoyed the process of having that thought and wanted to find a way to explain it, but I don't think I did an amazing job at it. C'est la vie. Language is strange and impotent.
I like how the titles of these videos are double, because
1. They're lyrics
2. They are actually about the videos.
Much like the videos themselves, I believe. They aren't directly about the virus/quarantine, but they do feature interesting thought chains now we have more time on our hands(like this one), how we are still a community (nerdfighteria working on Hanks birthday present) and how life still goes on.
Yet still they're still "normal" (read: it rocks just as much as always) videos.
I don't know if it was intentional or not, but it seemed interesting to me.
Anyway, much appreciated as always!
You're on to us, Evol. -John
@@vlogbrothers Hi guys. I just wanted to let you know how awesome your educational programs are. Seriously, it's embarrassing how good most of your work is when compared to typical undergraduate level college courses. For example, I don't think it's much of an exaggeration to claim that someone willing to study your crash course programs (and yes, do some follow-up research) would come away with a decent amount of liberal arts education. You are truly democratizing education. I have long argued that, as a society, we could teach citizens for a fraction of the cost and no loss of academic integrity if only we had the national will to do so. Your channels are going to be my new leading example of how to start the process. Thank you again.
The real question here is
How long can they keep it up?
P. S. - I love it
Have you considered reviewing All Star on the Anthropocene Reviewed yet? 👀
That's actually a really good idea. -John
And Hank can be a guest?
@@vlogbrothers please do it
yes. please.
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pov: you’re watching one of two brothers joke about a dumb song but he accidentally finds the greatest piece of art of all time
I've always loved the line on one of John's books: "Once I start thinking about splitting the skin apart, I literally cannot not do it. I apologize for the double negative, but it's a real double negative of a situation," I feel like the double negative is needed to express that feeling of compulsion where you don't want to be doing the thing, but you *can't not* do it. It truly is a real double negative of a situation
turtles all the way down has the best quotes
i get that, i have trichotillomania. it's like, if i start pulling, i can't stop, so the trouble is when i can't not start.
You mean 'Turtles All The Way Down,' right?
Holy crap. I have always heard (or misheard) this lyric as “did it make sense not to live for fun?” As both a question and a bit of an accusation of those who didn’t live for fun. Especially combined with the following line, “your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb”, it seemed like a Pink Floyd type critique of the prudish educational system....but now.......I don’t know what to think. Thanks john!
That's a better lyric, really. -John
I also heard it as "did it". My mind is blown right now.
These all star titles don’t stop coming
Just like this exact comment on every new vlogbrothers video
But, however, they indeed started coming.
We don’t not like it.
I was hoping he'd end the video with "Hank, I won't not see you on Friday"
That just means he wont see hank xd
I’m glad we’re getting the line by line analysis of Allstar; it’s just one step closer to the second by second analysis of the music video Hank dreamed of
I lost it at "I am gruntled" lol
Then you should read The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks. Trust me. It is not not good.
My girlfriend and I have had this as a running joke for years! I'm always trying to have others adopt it when I get the chance.
Very gruntled to hear John say it
Used by PG Wodhouse in 1939 in “Code of the Woosters”, one of the better Bertie and Jeeves novels
It's a very gruntling experience
I didn't think he was gruntled and I didn't think he was shevelled either.
Bro I came back to this channel after around 5 years and there's an All Star theme going omg Vlogbrothers has changed so much and at the same time its remained the saaameee!!!!
Thanks for coming back by! :) -John
On Friday I'm expecting a video from Hank titled "Your Brain Gets Smart But Your Head Gets Dumb" talking about online classes and mental health. We're gonna keep this All Star train running until the end of time (or until all of the lyrics of the song are vlogbrothers video titles).
I need them to eventually have used all the lyrics, and then make a playlist with the videos in the correct lyric order
@@joannaintawa I hope they see these comments because that absolutely needs to happen
John: Good morning, Hank. It's Tuesday.
Me in Australia: It is Wednesday, my dudes.
But it's not Not tuesday... And of course it's not not wednesday either.
@@saber1epee0 It's 10pm Wednesday here now. And it was about 3am Wednesday when this was posted, lol. And it's still Tuesday somewhere.
Spoilers!
Watching in pre-op. They're not not taking my gallbladder soon.
Good luck! I don't have a gallbladder, and I don't miss it! (Single negatives all the way on my gallbladder.) -John
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I hope all goes well for you :)
Best Wishes!
Hope you’re recovering well! They took my gallbladder two months ago!
I love Language Arts lessons with Professor Green
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I think it also bears mentioning that historically, and even today, prescriptivist language norms have been used to other and demean disadvantaged groups, like the way people who have a regional dialect often have to learn to speak without it, or with a less pronounced accent, if they want to be perceived as intelligent and educated by the dominant culture.
Yes, this. And speaking a second (third, fourth, fifth...) language haltingly is often viewed as less than by people who speak that language fluently as their first and yet their ONLY language. Using language, accent, and dialect to other folks is one of our not very savory tribalist tendencies as humans.
As someone with personal experience with this, yes absolutely and thank you for mentioning and putting it so well.
Such truth!! Eliza D!
Yes! Absolutely! Seeing someone who speaks with an accent as less intelligent often is not a concious choice, it just happens. So it is really important to be aware of that and try to unlearn this. I also have experience with that with the foreign languages I speak, and I always try to be kind and check my own perception of a person with an accent.
@@AludraEltaninAltair ...you speak five languages?!
In math, when discussing "double negatives", there are two main types.
1. Positives/negatives: -(-1)=1.
2. Discussing opposites in subjects like number theory and statisitcs: This is WAY more complex and perfectly mirrors the problems with language. The "opposite" of 1 (or simply "not 1") is not just -1 or 0. It's every number that isn't 1. If you're not the opposite of 1(not "not 1"), you might be 1, but you might "every number except -1" or "every number eccept 1 AND 2", etc.
1. You can be tired
2.Not tired (anything from awake to hungry to dead, idk, probably multiple things)
3. Not not tired (probably a little tired and maybe something else)
I love the ALL-Star titles. Keep them going!
They don't stop coming.
Hey now!
Fed to the rules and hit the ground running
3:40
1. I find it kinda scary that it was originally meant to be "wave bye bye to your soul"
2. I love that my favorite line (Only shooting stars break the mold) was added later on the side, and they either forgot to add "only" or thought to add it later and did so using an arrow... which is something I do a lot.
I think it says And shooting stars will break the mold, and I honestly quite like this line almost better than the one in the song.
@@randomguy263 I'm pretty sure it's "Only shooting stars break the mold" in the song, even though it say "And only shooting stars will break the mold" in the picture John showed.
That aside, "Wave bye bye to your soul" is kinda too depressing for me... :v
@@sarim9531 yeah, that seems to have been the line they wrote after "wave bye bye to your soul". And only shooting stars will break the mold honestly sounds kinda depressing too.
@@randomguy263 Now that you mention it, it does sound depressing... I have a hard time finding hidden meanings in song lyrics and poetry (even art), so I can't explain why, but it still sounds less depressing to me than "wave bye bye to your soul"
The reason it's my favorite line is simply that I like the sound of it, not because of any meaning I found in it.
@@sarim9531 Yeah, I kinda have too, I think. I may have to look through the lyrics and actually think about what they meant, because I had never thought of that line as depressing before.
I'm studying linguistics in college, and one of the first things we did in our introductory course was establish the difference between prescriptive and descriptive ways to approach language. Often people live their lives only experiencing the prescriptive side of things--being told what's wrong and what's right to say. It's like teachers and everybody else are doctors who want to cure the problems they see so they prescribe rules for language.
Now, it's nice to have conventions and order in a language, but when you look at it descriptively instead and just say what's going on without saying if any of those things are wrong or right, it really changes your perspective on language.
I'm naturally pretty introverted and think through what I say before I speak, so the fact that people could judge me for what I say has always been intimidating. However, I starting to approach things from a descriptive viewpoint and it was okay to make little mistakes like double negatives when I talk, because that's just how language happened to occur in that utterance at that instance.
This is officially an "All-Star" apreciation channel and I love it. It feels like short versions of those channels that make long video essays about a topic and not talking about it until the video is halfway over. "All Star" has become the "Aha!" Moment for John and Hank.
John refused to have a podcast with Hank that closely analyzes the music video for "All Star" but here he is analyzing the hell out of a double negative in the lyrics. Here for thiiiiiiis
Big difference between 1 video and 478! :) -John
First comment I've seen with a comment but without a like. Lol.
The part of the lyrics of The Wall that say
“We don’t need no thought control” and associating it with language, reminded me of the book 1984.
As a music historian / music librarian in training, this video really makes me want to do a musicological analysis of All Star. Your analysis of the lyrics was A++
"Not disgruntled" isn't a double negative. The "dis-" is an archaic intensifier that only remains in this one word, plus a handful of obscure ones that nobody actually uses like "dissever" ("to sever completely"). "Disgruntled" actually means "very gruntled".
Another obscure one: disappear, "to appear very much".
I love that he addresses these videos to Hank! Makes me feel like I'm part of a conversation with the greatest sibling duo known to man
That's how they actually began (more than 13 years ago!!!) and keeping that feeling is great.
I totally agree with you!!! Double negatives can add a level of nuance you won’t find in the straight positive. I have a friend who always says “you’re not wrong” and if you know him you know this is his way of agreeing with you without outright saying “you’re right” because I don’t think that phrase is in his vocabulary. One time last summer I told my friend I would cover him when we went out to dinner saying “it’s not like I don’t owe you.” He says “you don’t owe me anything.” This was my way of *trying* (although he just got confused, oops) to say that I know I don’t owe him but he has also recognizing all the times in the past he has covered me. Double negatives can be a powerful way to show a middle ground that is hard to explain otherwise.
I feel like I recognize these titles, but I can't really put my thumb on it.
Starting with John’s video hey now, on they have all been lines from All Star by Smashmouth.
You ain’t the sharpest tool in the shed?
You might want to put that thumb, along with you finger, in the shape of an L on your forehead.
I was trying so hard to come up with a better joke for my comment, and all three of you did way better than me
Your brain gets smart but your head...
Love this. In his 1926 usage guide "Modern English Usage", Henry Watson Fowler said that the reader could cure themselves of the "not un-" construction by memorizing the sentence "a not un-black dog was chasing a not un-small rabbit across a not un-green field." In his own (posthumously-published) 1997 usage guide "The King's English", novelist Sir Kingsley Amis argued that Fowler was overreaching with this one, pointing out that saying "the jailer treated him not unkindly" is not at all the same as saying "the jailer treated him kindly". I read that book at the age of 17, when it came out, and that distinction has stuck with me ever since.
I love languages and the way they make my head explode sometimes
Study linguistics.
abmindprof I did one semester years ago and I loved it! Maybe one day I'll take it up again 🙌
As a multilingual, this is what I love about languages and learning them. The fact you can say something and give it another feeling instead of going the simplest way grammatically but rather the twists and uncertainty that the long road gives compensate in emotion, than say "clarity", and I love it. I love seeing and learning how to detail and go the long road in every language I know or I am growing to know.
"I know you can be underwhelmed and you can be overwhelmed, but can you ever just be whelmed?" is what gruntled made me think of.
That's a young justice reference right?
i just recently started watching young justice and was hoping to find a comment about this!!! one of my favourite characters 😭
Idk what young justice is but that's a quote from 10 Things I Hate About You. A great movie by the way
@@iemmasoprano321 I think about that quote quite often, actually.
I was thinking about something like this just yesterday; how silly and strange and fun it is to be much of something and so little of something else, like, “ I am not heavy, I am light” I am not, but I am. Yesterday I woke up, not new, not whole. I woke up broken. I also thought about the song “Until I’m whole “ MG. Doble negative situations aren’t quite the same as others, as John wrote in one of his books (TATWD). I think these kinds of sentences stay a bit longer with us, like, we chew them over and over so we can make sense of them, cause we (or I at least) think; It probably means something simple, like not not being is being...........or does it? And that or, as all ifs, show us a sea of possibilities
I was recently shocked to discover that's not what the central metaphor of "another brick in the wall" means?! Roger Waters was interested in "the wall" as a thing we build around ourselves as a form of protection and how it cuts off both positive and negative contact from outside. So it is the children in school putting bricks in the wall to desensitize themselves to their teachers, not the teachers fashioning the children into bricks.
...though there may be a double meaning that wasn't put up on Wikipedia, and also the author is dead and songs belong to their listeners.
I love the tonal distinction between a positive and a double negative in the English you describe here. I also think about this topic in re: African American Vernacular English, wherein double negatives are an integral part of grammar, and systemic and interpersonal policing of AAVE because it's not "proper English"-but aside from AAVE having its own complicated grammatical patterns, it's deeply expressive! Which is what ultimately matters in language.
"I don't need no education" became a even more serious problem since the coronavirus crisis, at least for me.
And the president
I don't know why the Smash Mouth references still catch me off guard (and make me laugh), but I love that you are continuing to tie All Star to everything.
So, how long are we gonna do this All Star lyrics thing? Forever? I'm okay with forever.
Well, there's the heat death of the universe. They might end then.
@@realspacemodels John get off your second account.
oh Puff Levels are HIGH (also, I hope you and Sarah and the kids are all hanging in there, and thanks for all the comfort that you and Hank and co. bring into my life always but especially now)
This is my favorite All-Star fan channel
I feel like double negatives are really effective at communicating specific meanings, like in “we don’t need no education” they’re not saying they don’t need any sort or form of education, theyre referring to a specific type of education that they’re currently receiving, if they said “we don’t need education” it sounds as if they’re talking about any sort of education that could ever exist. in the Smash Mouth song the sentence “didn’t make sense not to live for fun” kind of gives me the sense that he’s choosing to live differently but he doesn’t yet know how, there’s a certain uncertainty there. Idk it’s pretty cool, great video! :)
My first semester of college, I took a linguistics course that really helped me change the way I view language. Learning how language is meant for humans, and how it naturally evolves as we do, has helped me to not be so judgmental. It's also given me an appreciation for the United States' lack of an official language. Enforcing someone to speak differently is to demean their thoughts, their beliefs, and their culture.
Ok I would LOVE more videos of you just breaking down the language in songs and poems and speeches and such just going through them and figuring them out to the tiniest possible bit. This was really cool and really fun. Thank you so much!
These videos and writing are the only things keeping me going in quarantine. Thank you guys😁
This is my first Vlogbrothers video after listening to John on The Anthropocene Reviewed. Happy to have found it in this time and along for the right now!
John: Didn't make sense not to live for fun
Me: Your brain gets smart but your head gets dumb! So much to do, so much to see. So what's wrong with taking the back streets?
Vlogbrothers continuing the All Star titles? Yep, what a concept
It's not new for Nerdighteria to have inside jokes, but especially right now, this All Star business feels really important. I am glad to be in on the joke and for there to be a community to share it with.
Hey John! Are you planning on doing any more live-streams. I’d love to tune in live now that my semester of school is over
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Yes, I'll be doing a livestream about PIH's work in Sierra Leone later this week, and a livestream at some point this week in the evening as well! -John
@@vlogbrothers Will you read your latest work, The Junket it was called, I guess?
vlogbrothers Thank You! I know they’re difficult to manage with kids sometimes but I’ve been missing them.
I didn't expect 2020 to be the year Vlogbrothers finally took on the gargantuan cultural entity that is Smash Mouth's Rock Star with every video title (and several video's content), but this is one ride I'm really happy to be along for.
I am so going to start saying I am gruntled.
That gusts me, I am also appointed.
Your friends would probably prefer if you did it cessantly, though.
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Reminds me of Robin from Young Justice: th-cam.com/video/i80Ha2BRoE4/w-d-xo.html
Words with a negative prefix and no positive counterpart are so weird. 😅
i groot. i gruntled.
I don’t know why vlogbrothers has been studying and dissecting All Star but I’m so here for it. Thank you John, I needed this kind of thought provocation today.
The titles start coming and they don't stop coming :D
I love that you are continuing the lyrics from Allstar!!
3:00 did he mean "All we know is that the speaker tried one way of living, not for fun, and found that it didn't work" instead of "for fun" or am I confused?
Yes yes my thoughts exactly! He should've said "not for fun", otherwise I'm also pretty confused. Came to the comments to see if anyone mentioned this.
I saw the title and read the description while the video buffered and I already knew it would be everything I'd want in a video - and it did not disappoint! :D
this reminded me that i should be writing my essay about french negatives right now. oopsie.
I’ve learnt more things and fun facts about this song in the past few weeks than since i first heard it in shrek. John and Hank always manage to add such value to my life!
1:19 don’t know if you knew this but gruntled is actually a word! it means pleased, satisfied, and contented.
Yeah, this happens from time to time, when the original word becomes obsolute, but not the negative of it for example.
It sounds like a way to describe a happy pig.
Long ago (in 17th century English) gruntle was a word the frequentive of grunt, so it means tending to grunt, in the case case dis was an intensifier (another archaic bit of English, apparently dismay is another example). So originally disgruntled meant really gruntled (really tending to grunt, being out of sorts etc.). Apparently gruntled got backformed into a word by humorists like Wodehouse to mean the opposite of gruntled and people used that so it became a word. So gruntled is two words that mean the opposite of each other. About standard for English.
I love your breakdown of the chorus of "Another Brick In The Wall Pt 2" (the part that has the kids singing). It's one of my all time favorite songs, and it's somewhat underrated.
Can't wait for Hank's next video where he talks about lustrous metals: “All that glitter is gold”
I always saw that line as a rejection of a boring life, with the double negative putting emphasis on that rejection rather than revelling in the life they did chose. It's certainly nice to revisit it with a thoughtful video like this!
I love the game of title chicken you guys are playing; it makes these notifications even better.
I like how this video actually starts to analyze the song. I hope the a month from now we have descended into that frame by frame analysis of the video, including a dive into the tie-in with the critically underrated Mystery Men (1999).
Hey nerdfighters, After john's recent video a bunch of us got together in the comments and made a nerdfighter themed gratitude journal. It's filled with awesome prompts and the idea was to make journaling fun and free to everyone. We have a website but youtube is weird with links so i'll reply with the website if i can!
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This is lovely! journalsallthewaydowndotcom.wordpress.com -John
vlogbrothers John we are so excited for you to finally see it! We worked so hard and really love it. Thanks for inspiring us and for the kind comment(:
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I have never seen two brothers (or people) use a song like you guys use All Star, and I love it. I mean when I was leaning English in school they would use songs or TV shows but not with this passion. In another time line I'm sure you guys are teachers, but the kind of teachers that became teachers because they adore the idea of teaching.
Listening to 'Dear Hank and John' really enriched my vlogbrothers experience.
This video wasn't about what I expected it to be about, but in a fortuitous turn of events, it's about something I find super interesting. Loved it!
I didn't not enjoy this video.
I would agree more with the meaning of the unambigiuous "I enjoyed this video." But perhaps that's not what *you* meant
I studied some linguistics at university and I remember reading something really interesting about the history of the French negative.
From what I remember (happy to be corrected!), previously a French negative could be expressed just with "ne". Later, people started adding different words to emphasise the verb they were negating. I.e. you could say "je ne mange mie" for "I cannot eat another crumb", or "je ne vais pas" for "I won't go another step". So originally "pas" was only used for verbs of movement, but over time it became more and more popular as the negative emphasis for all verbs. It's interesting that nowadays in casual French you can express negation without the "ne" and only the "pas" - i.e. "Je sais pas". So the "pas" has gone from being non-existent, to optional, to the sole expression for negation!
YAY GRAMMAR NERDERY!
I like Ludwig Wiitgenstein's assertion : "Language is use". It makes language look alive and rich and inclusive, which is how it should be.
I am alone in quarantine and I REALLY appreciate your vlogs. I talk to work people, but it's work stuff. It's nice to listen to a stimulating conversation. I swear my memory and spelling have gotten worse in quarantine so mind my needs more thoughts! But good ones. I too struggle with mental health.
Wow another Allstar title how long are y’all gonna keep this up
No idea what you're referring to. -John
I'm guessing until they run out of lyrics :D Maybe we should start betting on what the next titel is gonna be?
I LOVE THESE, especially the fact that they take one sentence out of the song and literally construct a complete debate around it! Those are literally lyrics I wouldn't think about at all but it sounds like these two have a degree on the song or sthg, I love this.
not never
The best thing to come from this pandemic?
The multiple video analysis of "All Star" by Smashmouth. Because all that glitters is gold!!!
in French we also have a proverb that says "Tout ce qui brille n'est pas d'or" which translates to "Not all that glitters is gold"...
As a grad student in linguistics thank you for your accuracy and truth when talking about language. It's few and far between here on the internet.
Thanks, Stacie. I'm very scared of linguists, as outlined in the second half of this podcast. -John www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anthropocene-reviewed/episodes/anthropocene-reviewed-indianapolis-and-love-first-sight
The streak continues!!
no one would question this lyric as deeply as John Green and that's why he's such a good author
thank you for coming to my ted talk
How do you mention using language as thought control and NOT mention 1984. This is double plus ungood
Yes! I was thinking of 1984 while watching as well
yes, me too. It is a prime example
This era of vlogbrothers titles is amazing and will confound future generations. I love it.
“I apologize for the double negative, but it’s a real double negative of a situation, a bind from which negating the negation is truly the only escape”
-You
I think that double negatives are useful at times to clarify meaning, much like the Oxford comma, but let's not discuss that can of worms. The idea that language is made for communication is important, but it can communicate ideas more effectively when we have rules in place. I don't mind double negatives when negating the negative. This can be fun and more meaningful than other ways of saying the same thing, as you pointed out, but we have to have rules in place so we know whether someone is negating the negative or reinforcing it. Some of this is fixed by context, but we don't always have the context or time to analyze.
Bottom line: I'm not a jerk about it to people, and I'm not without my own faults. I just enjoy things that are well-written.
I never thought I’d see the lyrical depth of Pink Floyd and Smash Mouth placed on the same level, and yet here we are.
Just to clarify, I feel that the complexity Smash Mouth’s prose far outweighs that of Pink Floyd. I mean, do you hear Shakespeare referenced in The Wall? Didn’t think so.
I love all these All Star videos! It's one of my favorite songs. My friends love this song too and when it comes on they have a different way of singing it. When the song goes "the years start coming and they don't stop coming" they just keep singing "and they don't stop coming" until the very end of the song. I find it hilarious and pretty apropos. Because currently the days keep coming and they don't stop coming.
Watching this instead of studying for my AP Psych exam in 45 mins
You got this!!!
Lucia Light omg same
Omg good luck!!!!!
Me too! You’ll be great!
Good luck! -John
I really grateful for vlogbrothers content all the time, but during this time, very much so. Thanks Greens!
Eventually, every line from all star will be the title of a vlogbrothers video, and then they'll have to move on to something else.
This would be a great pilot episode to the podcast analyzing each verse of All Star that Hank would love so much.
As an actual linguist, I totally approve this, although the idea of language shaping thought seems to me a bit backwards. Actual experimental evidence is that linguistic structures have very trivial effects on people's cognition, although it feels like it probably has more.
Great to hear from a real linguist! I knew I'd get something wrong. (This is mere anecdote, but my own experience is that when I find/am given language for deep abstractions [like, say, obsessive thought loops], I understand them better. So not that French makes me think differently than English, but having language for the abstract/complex/nuanced does shift my understanding.)
I talk about my abject fear of linguists and linguistics in the second half of this podcast episode, btw! www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/anthropocene-reviewed/episodes/anthropocene-reviewed-indianapolis-and-love-first-sight -John
Actual linguists represent!
@@vlogbrothers Aw John, I'm sorry you have a fear of us! As a linguist I hope to one day make linguistics accessible, relatable, and as normalized as basic algebra. If you ever want help with a Crash Course in Linguistics I would gladly offer my consultation. :)
vlogbrothers Haha, sorry we frighten you, John. If it’s any consolation, we scare each other as well!
What would an actual linguist say about the examples in this TED talk? I thought the studies about vocabulary for color affecting color perception were fascinating. th-cam.com/video/RKK7wGAYP6k/w-d-xo.html
Being able to make a four minute video about one lyric of a song is the level of analysis i strive for
You speaking French warmed my little French heart
even more to the point is that gruntled (in the modern sense) means to be "pleased or contented" (although previously it meant "utter little grunts", and dis- was an intensifier), while disgruntled means to be "angry or dissatisfied", and it is theoretically possible to be in a neutral state that is neither gruntled or disgruntled. As such "I am not disgruntled" means you are either gruntled or in that neutral state.
Of course, prior to that backformation of gruntled from disgruntled, "I am gruntled" would make no sense as it would mean "I am uttered little grunts", so "I am not disgruntled" would have been the only acceptable way to say it.