Richard, so, you're saying that linguistics isn't science and linguists aren't scientists?

This article refers to the same Prof. Irving Rothman deciphering the language in Gulliver's travels and there he is called a scientist: "Scientist Deciphers Mystery Words from Gulliver’s Travels": <a href="http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/linguistics/science-mystery-words-gullivers-travels-03135.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://www.sci-news.com/othersciences/linguistics/science-mystery-words-gullivers-travels-03135.html</a>;. And this is not a general news magazine like the Guardian but a science new magazine.

Also, the Linguistic Society of America didn't seem to be aware that they aren't doing science: <a href="https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/science-linguistics" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.linguisticsociety.org/resource/science-linguistics</a>;. They write: "Linguistics is the science of language, and linguists are scientists who apply the scientific method to questions about the nature and function of language."

In German, linguistics is called "Sprachwissenschaften" (language sciences).

OK... then my beef is with the Guardian which used the word "scholar" in their link.

You are truly a master of all thing linguistic and far be it for me, a quazi master of one language, but I must take exception with one thing you wrote. You wrote below:

I also find it interesting that a scientist claims that the non-sense language in Gulliver's travels is actually based on Hebrew: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/gullivers-travels-nonsense-language-is-based-on-hebrew-claims-scholar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/gullivers-travels-nonsense-language-is-based-on-hebrew-claims-scholar</a>;.

You used the word scientist while the link uses the word scholar.

This is interesting because the words scientist and scholar are used interchangeably in the Russian language, but have quite different meanings in English.

In English the word ученый can be translated as scientist or scholar, but each word has a different meaning. A scientist is someone who is an expert in a science, especially what are called the physical sciences (physics, chemistry, biology, etc.) or the social sciences (psychology, sociology, political science, etc.).

A scholar is someone who is an expert in a certain area of knowledge and has a profound understanding of this subject gained through in depth study. The word scholar isn’t used for an expert in the sciences, but it can be used for subjects such as history, languages and art.

A scientist is able to use the scientific method (hypothesis, experiment, and conclusion) to study subjects, while a scholar does not necessarily need to use scientific experiments to study a subject.

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Now as for Gulliver. All I can say is, I guess some people enjoy being tied up, if one is into that kind of thing :)

Are you still reading, Richard? I know that sometimes my posts are a bit long and also very niche but others have the pizza toppings already covered, so I find it quite cozy in my niche and maybe there are one or two people who are also interested in etymology and funny words. Did you know that "Vanessa" and "Yahoo" were coined by Jonathan Swift? <a href="https://theweek.com/articles/441971/8-words-coined-popularized-by-jonathan-swift" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://theweek.com/articles/441971/8-words-coined-popularized-by-jonathan-swift</a>;. I also find it interesting that a scientist claims that the non-sense language in Gulliver's travels is actually based on Hebrew: <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/gullivers-travels-nonsense-language-is-based-on-hebrew-claims-scholar" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/17/gullivers-travels-nonsense-language-is-based-on-hebrew-claims-scholar</a>;. I also find these fun facts about Gulliver's travels interesting: <a href="http://theconversation.com/eight-surprising-things-its-time-you-knew-about-gullivers-travels-88061" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">http://theconversation.com/eight-surprising-things-its-time-you-knew-about-gullivers-travels-88061</a>;

WHAT????????

Laputa and brobdingnagian

WHAT????????

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OK... maybe I should read your "short" posting first before I comment any further... :)