The phrase is used as sample text for displaying Chinese fonts in GNOME Font Viewer. This screenshot shows the Simplified Chinese translation of "I can eat glass, it does not hurt me."

I Can Eat Glass was a linguistic project documented on the early Web by then-Harvard student Ethan Mollick.[1] The objective was to provide speakers with translations of the phrase "I can eat glass, it does not hurt me" from a wide variety of languages; the phrase was chosen because of its unorthodox nature.[2] Mollick's original page disappeared in or about June 2004,[3] but the phrase has continued as an absurdist example in linguistics.[4][5][6] The project is housed on the current website for The Immediate Gratification Players, a student improvisational comedy group of which Mollick was a member and which hosted the original site.[7]

As Mollick explained, visitors to a foreign country have "an irresistible urge" to say something in that language, and whatever they say (a cited example being along the lines of "Where is the bathroom?") usually marks them as tourists immediately. Saying "I can eat glass, it does not hurt me", however, ensures that the speaker "will be viewed as an insane native, and treated with dignity and respect".[8]

The project grew to considerable size since web surfers were invited to submit translations.[9] The phrase was translated into over 150 languages, including some that are fictional or invented, as well as into code from various computer languages. It became an Internet meme.[10]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Finegan, Edward (2004). Language: its structure and use. Thomson Wadsworth. p. 254. ISBN 9780838407943. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  2. ↑ Pollatsek, Alexander; Treiman, Rebecca, eds. (2015). The Oxford handbook of reading. Oxford library of psychology. Oxford New York Auckland: Oxford University Press. pp. 10–11. ISBN 978-0-19-932457-6.
  3. ↑ "UTF-8 Sampler". Archived from the original on 2021-02-24. Retrieved 2016-07-01.
  4. ↑ "I Can Eat Glass without Hurting Myself". Fifty Words for Snow. Archived from the original on 25 January 2022. Retrieved 28 August 2023.
  5. ↑ "i can eat glass". mw.lojban.org. 30 June 2014. Archived from the original on 28 August 2023.
  6. ↑ Blyth, Carl (2000). Untangling the Web. Wiley. pp. 48–49. ISBN 9780471392477.
  7. ↑ "I Can Eat Glass". IGP. Archived from the original on 2023-08-28. Retrieved 2023-08-28.
  8. ↑ Bernstein, Peter, ed. (September 8, 1997). The Practical Guide to Practically Everything. New York: Random House. p. 564. ISBN 9780375750298.
  9. ↑ Blyth, Carl S. (2000). Untangling the Web: Nonce's Guide to Language and Culture on the Internet. John Wiley & Sons. p. 48. ISBN 9780471392477. Retrieved 22 January 2013.
  10. ↑ Wooten, Adam (21 October 2011). "International Business: Potty language: Safely navigating international water closets". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2013.


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