this post was submitted on 20 May 2025
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Linguists Find Proof of Sweeping Language Pattern Once Deemed a 'Hoax' (www.scientificamerican.com)
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[–] schnurrito@discuss.tchncs.de 10 points 2 months ago

A great game of telephone inflated the number until, in 1984, the New York Times published an editorial claiming the Inuit have “100 synonyms” for the frozen white stuff we lump under a single term.

I (native speaker of German) have heard jokes that among the Inuit they claim that in German there are 100 words to complain about snow.