Are these really the top universities for linguistics? That’s what the QS World University Rankings by Subject says. I’ve been skeptical of lists like this as I watched high-school ratings over two decades from publications like Boston Magazine and U.S. News, paying special attention… Read More ›
Wow! Look at that title: a noun phrase consisting of nine consecutive nouns! Maybe the show should be called Buchtstaatsmodelleisenbahnmuseumsfrühlingsmodellzugshow. On second thought, maybe not. OK, enough fooling around with German. Let’s get back to the show itself, which was… Read More ›
Schools in this entire area (not just Roxbury Latin!) are closed today in honor of Ἐξελαύνω (Exelauno) Day. Or maybe there’s some other reason.
I found the missing R! Remember my recent post about my neighborhood barber shop with the missing R? (In case you missed it, here is the photo again of the storefront, showing that it’s a Baber Shop, not a Barber… Read More ›
Crime & Punctuation. No, not the novel by Dostoevsky that just happens to have a somewhat similar title — that one that only English majors and Russian lit students have actually read, although everyone else claims to. (Confession: at least… Read More ›
I’m just starting to scenic my model railroad. Yeah, I know, using the adjective “scenic” as a verb is startling at first. I still don’t like it, though it has become standard. But let’s look at it in context. My… Read More ›
You may well wonder what a five-minute linguist might be. I’ll leave you to ponder that question. Before you do that, here are some of John McWhorter’s opening remarks to the third annual five-minute linguist competition: You try to explain… Read More ›
Neal Stephenson is the best. As a long-time fan, I can assure you that this conclusion is an objective fact, not a matter of personal opinion. Your mileage may vary, but I doubt it. Up to this point I have reviewed… Read More ›
How many of these languages can you identify?
I could answer by saying “no, you shouldn’t” — but my colleagues and friends who teach English would be up in arms. Instead, I can say “yes, but question authority” — i.e., ask for evidence, not just rules that are… Read More ›
