Blogs about Language

Hello, happy to report that I have made another appearance on Paul Meier's fantastic podcast, "In a Manner Of Speaking"! Paul, Cameron and I discussed British and American accents in popular music, which is a …

official-linguistics-post:saja-star:One of my favorite things about learning about traditional textiles is the little ghosts they left in the language. Of course the ghosts are there, now that I know to look for them. Once upon …

Just a moment ago on MSNBC’s “Deadline: White House”, the host, Nicolle Wallace, delivered a pitch for the Deadline: Legal Blog, giving instructions on how to subscribe, concluding with what I heard as: You’ll have …

The Hebrew month of Elul אֱלוּל begins this week, so let's look at its etymology. As with the other names of the months in the current Hebrew calendar, it was adopted in Babylonia, and therefore …

I’ve spent a lot of time editing Wikipedia. I do it for many reasons, but one of the sillier ones floating around the margins of my consciousness is that I like to think that, by …

Hello again! Here’s some recent writing of mine that you may have missed: Just Add “Just”: The Four-Letter Word That’s All Over Supermarket Shelves and Advertising Copy (Medium gift link) Skippin’ Like a Dipshit: Minnesota …

In this post we’ll read a wonderful autumn-themed poem by one of my favourite authors, Sarah Orne Jewett. Describing the scenery surrounding her hometown of South Berwick, Maine, the poet paints the picture of beauty …

Readers of this blog know I’m quite a fan of the reMarkable as a distraction-free device for reading and taking notes. Almost everything is right about it — from the pencil-like friction of the writing …

I've a written a new book. It's a children's book and it's called A Riddle for a King. It's suitable for those aged between about eight and twelve, although it has been rigorously tested on …

The original: Mobile ordigno di dentate rote lacera il giorno e lo divide in ore, ed ha scritto di fuor con fosche note a chi legger le sa: Sempre si more. Mentre il metallo concavo …

In the mid-14th century work Bughyat al-ruwwād fī dhikr il-mulūk min banī ʕAbd al-Wād, Yaḥyā Ibn Khaldūn (brother of the more famous Ibn Khaldūn) ventures two possible etymologies for the name of Tlemcen (Standard Arabic …

Hugh Schofield of BBC News reports on French lexicography: Forty years after they began the task – and nearly four hundred years after receiving their first commission – sages in Paris have finally produced a …

[This is a guest post by Conal Boyce] Recently I watched a video posted by Alexander Unzicker, a no-nonsense physicist who often criticizes Big Science (along the same lines as Sabine Hossenfelder — my hero). …

Names change with the times. They rise and fall, take on new meanings, and reflect the events around them. Each year, one new or changed name is declared the Name of the Year, a time …

Flag of Slovenia Last year, the Central European country of Slovenia (not to be confused with the Central European country of Slovakia) welcomed 16,989 babies: 8,312 girls and 8,677 boys. What were the most popular …

My book Gobsmacked: The British Invasion of American of American English–which is of course based on this blog–has gotten a lot of nice attention in the couple of weeks since it’s been out. I plan …

In 1942, the literary critic and Princeton graduate, Edmund Wilson, then forty-seven, made friends with a scholar of Russian literature slightly younger than himself, Helen Muchnic. Born in Baku in 1902, Helen emigrated to the …

Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay collection The Language of the Night: Essays on Fantasy and Science Fiction has a lot of interesting material on language use and politics. Well, it has interesting material on all …

This post is inspired by a poll that Ellen Jovin, aka the Grammar Table, ran in September. Before I get into that, let me point out that there is a Kickstarter to support the documentary …

I know, I know; these days, everyone and their five-legged, three-eyed dog is writing a piece about AI. I can’t promise that this one will be more insightful or educational than any of the others, …