The latest climate change name: Hurriquake. It happened yesterday in Southern California. Hurricane Hilary coincided with a 5.1 earthquake. Note: earthquakes aren’t caused by climate change. But I imagine people in California might have good reason to wonder if they are. In any case, the term counts as a linguistic blend. Credit where credit is […]
English in Romanian Media is hardly a new topic. The question isn’t whether English is finding its way into Romanian. The question is: How pervasive is the phenomenon? If you’re not paying attention, you might not notice a lot. However, over these past few days, I decided to pay attention, and I’m struck by how […]
After a three year absence (Drat you, Pandemic!) I’m back in Bucharest. I didn’t know what to expect after such a long time away. But after only a day or two I realized I still love it! Back in Bucharest The title image tells a story. The phrase Ca la noi la nimeni is short […]
Most of my adventures these days happen in my arm chair. Watching foreign-language dramas on various streaming services. I’ve watched enough now to have noticed a curious phenomenon. Of course, I’ve long been aware that English is currently the world’s donor language. However, I’ve now become aware that one word in particular has had broad […]
In 2012 Phillip Carter and I visited Ukraine. We started in Kyiv then took the train to Lviv. The train ride took about nine hours. During that time we went to the restaurant car and began to write our book Languages in the World. How History, Culture, and Politics Shape Language (Wiley Blackwell, 2016). Ten […]
Because of ongoing events in Kazakhstan in January 2022, I am reposting this Kazakh Language blog I wrote when I visited the country in 2017: Title image: Kazakh signs with both the Cyrillic and Latin alphabet abound. Very helpful! Kazakh Language: Getting Started In Astana I met friend and co-author Phillip Carter. Our first job […]
Today I discovered that I suffer from a condition I didn’t even know existed: crossword clue envy. Would I like to see my name on the NY Times bestseller list? Sure. Would I be happy if Netflix knocked on my door? Of course. But when I came to 50 Down on a crossword I was […]
Ever a lover of new words, I came across one yesterday: anthropause. I learned it from an article in the New York Times about sea birds known as murres. The article was about the Swedish island of Stora Karlso where the murres are favorites of bird-watchers. The new word first appeared in a June, 2020 […]
“Indian giver!” The last time I heard this phrase I must have been a kid. The tone of childish outrage still echoes. Maybe I even hurled the insult myself. In all the years since, I never thought to rethink it. Until yesterday. Environmental Biologist Robin Wall Kimmerer showed me the way in Braiding Sweetgrass. The […]
Beliefs have consequences. Actions have consequences. Like beliefs and actions, words have consequences. Words do things. What things? J.L. Austen maps them out in How To Do Things with Words (1962). Austen was an ordinary language philosopher who taught at Oxford. He was one of several language philosophers and linguists who opened the way for […]