January 17, 2022

What We Talk About When We Talk About Magic

58 minutes

Andy and Anthony talk about the language we use to talk about Magic. Language is fundamental to social experiences, our favorite game included. Creating new language helps us communicate more effectively and helps us think about and compartmentalize concepts, shaping how we thing about things. But jargon has its drawbacks.

View cards mentioned in the episode

Our listener submitted pack 1, pick 1 this week comes from Mozart’s Cube.

Timestamps:

4:02 — Introduction to language and Magic

4:59 — Pack 1, Pick 1 from Mozart's Cube

9:04 — Why do we use specific shorthand and jargon in the first place?

12:52 — Linguistic relativity: naming things shapes communication and how we think about concepts

15:43 — How specific language can hinder communication

22:16 — Why the most rigorous, theoretical terminology can sometimes be the least useful

24:25 — Why context is critical to all language

25:56 — The dangers of oversimplification

26:55 — Grizzly Bears, Goblin Pikers, and Hill Giants

33:38 — Thinking in terms of card classifications

36:56 — Jargon makes Magic less accessible

38:35 — Magic lingo speed round

Discussed in this episode:

Venn diagrams and Euler Diagrams

Venn diagrams for high number of sets

Radiolab on linguistic relativity

Language Thought and Reality

List of sandwiches

Gravity wells

Patrick Chapin’s Next Level Deckbuilding

Grizzle Bears alignment chart

Andy’s “two mana renaissance” Cube update

Neal Stephenson’s Cryptonomicon

Enigma Machine

Check us out on Twitch and YouTube for paper Cube gameplay.

You can find the hosts’ Cubes on Cube Cobra:

Andy’s “Bun Magic” Cube

Anthony’s “Regular” Cube

If you have a question for the show, or want us to do a pack 1, pick 1 from your cube, email us at [email protected]. Please include how you’d like to be credited, your pronouns, a link to your cube if relevant. You can also find both your hosts in the MTG Cube Talk Discord.

If you’d like to show your support for the show, please leave us a review on iTunes or wherever you listen.

Musical production by DJ James Nasty.

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