We’ve all had this experience. You hear or read an unusual word that’s completely new to you—and then, a day or so later, you hear or read it again! Is it a coincidence? It just happened to me with the… Read More ›
Linguistics
Keep your language!
Over 97% of Americans are either immigrants or descendants of immigrants—even if some so-called conservatives don’t want to admit it. But many of us who grew up with immigrant parents or grandparents are unable to speak or read the language(s)… Read More ›
Happy ἐξελαύνω Day!
This is my not-quite-annual “march forth” post wishing everyone a happy Exelauno Day. In case you’ve forgotten, here is my post from a year ago, which happens to be mostly about learning Ukrainian (!) but opens with remarks about Exelauno… Read More ›
No, APL doesn’t stand for “Alison, Phil, and Larry.”
Let’s suppose your unimaginative instructor gave you this task: add up all the whole numbers from 1 through 42. You have, of course, several options: Or, if your language of choice is APL, you could simply write a one-line program… Read More ›
Ὁ Ἡρóδοτος: A beautiful new edition (in English, not Greek)
Can you name three or four ancient world historians? I don’t mean modern writers who study the history of the ancient world; I mean writers who lived in the ancient world and wrote about the history of their time and… Read More ›
Answers for linguistics quiz
Six days ago I gave you a linguistics quiz that Lynne Murphy designed for the holiday season. The quiz is reprinted below so you don’t have to flip back and forth. Here are the answers, with annotations in some cases:… Read More ›
Hints for linguistics quiz
Four days ago I gave you a linguistics quiz that Lynne Murphy designed for the holiday season. The quiz is reprinted below so you don’t have to flip back and forth. Full answers will be posted on Tuesday. For the… Read More ›
ChatGPT from OpenAI
Apparently I’m late jumping on the bandwagon. Everywhere I look, someone else is trying out ChatGPT and commenting on it. This app is supposed to respond like a real human being, given any particular prompt you may type. So I… Read More ›
Your lingquiz for the season
You have been selected to take this language/linguistics quiz written by an American-British linguist. No fair asking Dr. Google or anyone else for help! Hints will be posted on Sunday, answers on Tuesday.
Did Hemingway write in short sentences? You probably think so. But you’re wrong! Science wins again.
You can believe actual data. We’ll call that Door #1. Or you can believe your general “impression.” We’ll call that Door #2. Or you can believe what other people tell you—the “common knowledge” that everyone “knows.” We’ll call that Door… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 