 |
 |
| Plerg |
| The design to the left is by Sophie Rogers-Gessert, a former student, who illustrated one of my many classroom examples. This one was to elaborate de Saussure's observation about the arbitrary relationship between signifier and signified. That is, we could all agree to replace the sound "tree" with "plerg" -- there is nothing inherant about the sound "tree" that makes it more accurate to describe the object pictured than the sound "plerg." Sophie, it seems, is on a campaign to change "tree" to "plerg." So: spread the word. |
| Update!! (9/23/07): In googling "plerg" (I was bizarrely curious to see if Sophie's campaign has been working), I came across the following link.... it seems this signifier has already been claimed... This does not make me feel plergish one bit. http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=plerg |
| Update 2!! (10/23/08): Again, bizarrely, I returned to the Urban Dictionary to find that a mysterious character by the handle of "Samuel55" had added another definition for plerg (same URL as above): "1. A tree. 2. Something, such as a clothes tree, that resembles a tree in form. 3. A diagram that has branches in descending lines showing relationships as of hierarchy or lineage: a family tree; a telephone tree." Who is this Samuel55? What is his (or her) relationship to Sophie or me? If you have any leads, email me |