I'd been hoping to launch a better tool for lexical set analysis this month, but it didn't work out. Hopefully for September.
I finished reading "Language vs Reality" by Nick Enfield, and I'd recommend it for anyone interested in the topic of limitations of language. I was especially interested by the idea that the purpose of language is to create different Schelling points (ways to coordinate without agreeing beforehand). By this point of view, the lack of a pre-determined word means there is no pre-existing Schelling point.
This may explain certain things - why do people coin words and borrow words when we could just use phrases to describe them? Because it's much easier if we already know the word - it's an agreed upon coordination point.
I'm also reading "The Language of Food" by Dan Jurafsky and will let you know how that one is too.
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