Word: koko
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Hearts broke across America with the news last Christmas that Koko, the "talking" gorilla, was mourning the death of her pet kitten. All-Ball, as Koko had named her, was a tailless cat who had lived at the Gorilla Foundation in Woodside, Calif., for half a year before scampering out and into traffic. Koko, 13, who is said to have a sign-language vocabulary of about 500 words, indicated to a research associate that she wanted a replacement and picked out a drawing of a Manx, a rare breed with no tail. And now Koko has her wish, an orange...
...right in the Square--will have some of the best music in the city, though the club's predilection for second-rate flower-power music on occasionally be a snoozer. Mixed in with the old folkies and local clone bands will be some goodies, including Steve Forbert (June 25), Koko Taylor (June 28), and local preppies the Sex Execs (June29...
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...
Chris Rhodes and Koko Dee--Back Room at the Idler...