Nitpicker’s Nook: March “it’s almost spring” edition

The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. Irish editor and “swivel-chair linguist” Stan Carey blogs about how usage snuck/sneaked into The Simpsons. Writer and teacher John Kelly dishes up some fresh hell on … Continue reading Nitpicker’s Nook: March “it’s almost spring” edition →

The Nitpicker’s Nook: February edition

The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. By Carol Harrison Does the current state of world affairs leave you without words? Thankfully Planet Word, the soon-to-be museum of linguistics in Washington, DC, won’t … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: February edition →

The Nitpicker’s Nook: January edition

The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. By Carol Harrison Forgive me if this is a couple of months old, but it’s funny! Don’t fart in the House. What you should read before … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: January edition →

The Nitpicker’s Nook: December’s linguistic links roundup

The Nitpicker’s Nook is a monthly collection of language-related articles, interviews, and blog posts. If you read something that would make a good addition, email your suggestion to [email protected]. By Carol Harrison ’Tis the season for giving or gifting?: The Atlantic’s Megan Garber argues against gifting. Hey, girl! The analytics website FiveThirtyEight crunches the numbers … Continue reading The Nitpicker’s Nook: December’s linguistic links roundup →

Wordplay: Assimilation by the mutants

Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. Every so often, someone asks, “If it’s one foot and two feet, and one tooth and two teeth, why isn’t it one book and two beek? If we have louse and lice, and … Continue reading Wordplay: Assimilation by the mutants →

Wordplay: Contronyms: To sanction or to sanction?

Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. There are some words in English we may not know whether to sanction. They are so impregnated with meaning that their meaning may seem impregnable. If you try to hold them fast, you … Continue reading Wordplay: Contronyms: To sanction or to sanction? →

Wordplay: When intransitives go transitive

Wordplay is a regular column by editor and language writer James Harbeck in which he tastes and plays with English words and usages. We’ve all learned that there are two kinds of verbs: transitive and intransitive. Transitives take a direct object—“I fry an egg”—and intransitives don’t—“My stomach aches.” But that’s not the whole story. In fact, … Continue reading Wordplay: When intransitives go transitive →

Food for thought: How language affects our eating habits

By Samita Sarkar Editors know that language is a powerful tool. In fact, our world is shaped by the language we use and the ways we communicate with each other. The language we use changes the way we see things. The rhetoric of war, for example, is used to dehumanize the enemy, and the rhetoric … Continue reading Food for thought: How language affects our eating habits →