Why is Jonathan Halabi called “Mr. D.”? I mean, it’s an excellent way to refer to a math teacher — isn’t it? — but I’m puzzled by “D” as the abbreviation for Halibi. Oh well, who am I to object?… Read More ›
Month: June 2020
Is this an offensive slur?
QOTD: Is it OK for a young Jewish woman to call another young Jewish woman a JAP, or is it an offensive slur? Here’s the three-part context behind that question: A friend (Jewish and female) replied to my post about… Read More ›
Finally venturing out to a restaurant (outdoors, of course)
Yesterday evening was the first time since the shutdown began that we actually went out to a restaurant to dine, instead of getting takeout or delivery! Strictly outdoors, of course, at dbar on the patio. All in all, it was an… Read More ›
Eye chart
Stand 20 feet away. Good luck!
Resources for non-linguists
So you want to dip your toe into the waters of linguistics, but you don’t want to take a linguistics course? A course would be full-body immersion, after all, not just dipping a toe. So what do you do? There… Read More ›
Beautiful trigonometry
You would be forgiven if you had the misimpression that I don’t like trigonometry, because I hadn’t been clear, as I pointed out the very next day. I definitely do like trig. In fact, I love trig! To see one… Read More ›
Move to Strike
Partly a courtroom drama, partly a mystery, partly a suspense thriller, this novel by Perri O’Shaughnessy (a pseudonym for sisters Pamela and Mary O’Shaughnessy) is a great choice when you’re stuck at home, as most of us are right now…. Read More ›
Zia Gianna (and a bonus visit from William)
Delicious caprese pasta takeout tonight from Zia Gianna: cavatappi with tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and nut-free pesto — all prepared by the owner and founder, native Sicilian and new American citizen Nino Barbalace. Also a bottle of Nero D’Avola. As a… Read More ›
Karen
Who is Karen? As Gretchen McCulloch explains, language changes more rapidly today than in the past, because internet. One current meaning of Karen is new. According to Wikipedia: Karen is a term used in the United States for a person perceived to… Read More ›
Minority languages
Simon Agre says: Speakers of majority languages often belittle them, claim they are not proper languages, that they don’t have their own grammar, and/or that they are ‘just’ dialects, patois, or distorted / corrupted versions of a majority language, and… Read More ›
Grim fairytales
That’s grim, not Grimm. Well, both, actually. As some Americans — and all Germans — know, the Grimm fairytales can be quite grim. Some of us have gained a particular perspective on this point from Stephen Sondheim’s wonderful musical, Into the… Read More ›
Special dinner from Tavolo
Example of unaware white privilege: A middle-class white guy complains that meals during the shutdown have included too much pasta, too much pizza, too many casseroles. I’m not going to be that guy. We’re not complaining. Still, it was great… Read More ›
What does “defund” really mean?
“Defund the police.” That means… what? Does it mean eliminate police departments? Does it mean reduce their funding? Does it mean anarchy? Here are three posts I saw on Facebook yesterday — one posted by a friend, two from a… Read More ›
Ἅρειος Ποτῆρ καὶ ἡ τοῦ Φιλοσόφου Λίθος
No cheating now: Based on the Greek letters that you’ve learned from math and science, can you figure out what the title of this post says? If you can’t figure out any complete words, try sounding them out. There are… Read More ›
Because Language
Just over a year ago, I published a blog post in which I added Talk the Talk to my short list of favorite linguistics podcasts. The bad news is that Talk the Talk is no more. The good news is… Read More ›
The Mathematics of COVID-19
As you know from my recent post, my colleague Joyce and I will be co-teaching a short unit on the mathematics of COVID-19 this summer. But what topics should it include, and in what order, and how will students learn… Read More ›
A Moroccan teen blogs about linguistics (and other matters…).
How many Americans know that Morocco is in Africa? Probably not very many. I’m guessing 4%. And half of those know Morocco’s location only because they’ve seen the world’s best movie (Casablanca, of course) and have paid attention to the geography…. Read More ›
Apparently I was unclear…
Apparently I was unclear In yesterday’s post. In no way was I advocating getting rid of trig as a unit in regular high-school math, as some readers apparently thought. I wouldn’t do that; whenever I taught precalc, which I did… Read More ›
How about replacing trig? But with what?
“You can’t get rid of trig! It’s my favorite unit!” Said no one ever. Well, that’s not quite true. Some of us quite like trig, at least if it’s approached as a set of functions rather than ratios in right… Read More ›
Another walk in the neighborhood
It was such a nice day that I just had to take a good walk, this time in the sub-neighborhood next to mine: Ashmont Hill, a diverse place with the slogan “the way city living should be.” Whatever you think… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 