What is Slang and How Does it Die?
Why are companies so effective at ruining slang?
Off for the US Holiday — More Grammar
We are off today and tomorrow for the US Independence Day holiday. Also included, a song that hews carefully to archaic rules about prepositions at the end of sentences.
Textpocalypse: A Literary Scholar Eyes the “Grey Goo” of AI
What will the “grey goo” of AI generated text do to us? A scholar of writing and technology talks with us about AI and Large Language Models.
Guest Post — Offensive or Inclusive Language in Scientific Communication?
Richard de Grijs comes to grips with his field’s use of potentially offensive language.
Business Jargon — Get Used To It
Annoying business jargon has a sneaky habit of becoming ingrained in everyday language.
Words That Aren’t As Related As They Might Seem
Some etymological fun — English words that seem like they should be related but aren’t.
The Partnership Between Q and U
More language nerdery, probing the origins of the pairing of the letters Q and U in English.
Why Does English Have So Many Words That Have Twins?
The impact of the Germanic and Romance language roots that led to modern English.
How Far Back in Time Could You Go and Still Understand English?
Thinking of traveling back in time? Watch this cautionary video first.
Speech is Instinctive, Writing is Hard
Steven Pinker discusses a better model for more effective prose, particularly for academic authors.
You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means
A look at common terms that are improperly used to describe science.
The Evolution of Language: When is a Phone not a Phone?
What does the word “phone” mean in this day and age?
Wordnik, the Online Dictionary — Revisiting the Prescritive vs. Descriptive Debate in the Crowdsource Age
Can an online dictionary combining wiki and search do better? In some ways, yes. In others, there’s still the intractable problems of English to solve.
The Power of Language, the Choice to Share Ideas Widely, and Why Humans Have Prospered
A bizarre evolutionary scenario gave us the most powerful tool nature has ever created.