Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

armchair linguistics

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: 3.00 in modern English

Syllables: arm-chair lin-guis-tics
IPA

29

Scrabble Score

19

Letters

4

Syllables

12

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

Any linguistic enterprise employing introspection rather than empirical methods, such as elicitation.

Informal; Uncountable

Example Sentences

"Armchair linguistics does not have a good name in some linguistics circles. A caricature of the armchair linguist is something like this. He sits in a deep soft comfortable armchair, with his eyes closed and his hands clasped behind his head. Once in a while he opens his eyes, sits up abruptly shouting, "Wow, what a neat fact!", grabs his pencil, and writes something down. Then he paces around for a few hours in the excitement of having come still closer to knowing what language is really like."

Etymology

Etymology based on the perceived image of a linguist sitting in an armchair and pondering about language phenomena rather than carrying out field work. Compare armchair general, etc.

Usage

Phrases

armchair linguist

Antonyms

field linguistics

Questions

What does armchair linguistics mean?: Any linguistic enterprise employing introspection rather than empirical methods, such as elicitation.
Where does armchair linguistics come from?: Etymology based on the perceived image of a linguist sitting in an armchair and pondering about language phenomena rather than carrying out field work. Compare armchair general, etc.

How to pronounce armchair linguistics

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