Word: gorillas
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Perhaps the most impressive claims came from Francine Patterson, a psychologist at Stanford, who said she had managed to teach a hulking female gorilla named Koko more than 400 signs. According to Patterson, the gifted ape then proceeded to higher linguistic levels by using word combinations to insult her trainers (You nut), compose rhymes (bear hair, squash wash) and invent metaphors (eye hat for mask, finger bracelet for ring...
Part of the talking-ape lore may come from the subjectivity of researchers. The Sebeoks note that when Koko is asked to give the sign for drink and makes the proper gesture but touches her ear instead of her mouth, Psychologist Patterson assumes not that the gorilla has made a mistake but that it is joking. If Koko smiles when asked to frown, she is displaying a "grasp of opposites." Say the Sebeoks: "Real breakthroughs in man-ape communication are the stuff of fiction...
Many supervisors worry about small women going up against large and dangerous men. "When you're dealing with a 250-pound gorilla, I'd prefer to have some beef on my side," says Rochester, N.Y., Police Sergeant Dennis Cole. "Most women are not beefy." Still, Cole admits that women do well and that "police work is getting away from brawn anyway...