The well of drivel will never run dry, so let's amble through the latest and worst euphemisms I've collected during the first month of my second decade as a euphemism columnist.  Continue reading...

Nothing is more intuitive and natural to humans than communicating via language, and specifically, via speech. Language must be central to developing a more robust channel for human-robot communication.  Continue reading...

These days we need all the levity, lunar or otherwise, that we can get. This lexical lunacy is a flimsy excuse for me to write about my favorite type of word: the reduplication. From ack-ack to zip-zap, reduplicative words are silly, childish, catchy, animalistic, nonsensical, and awesome.  Continue reading...

Out of professional curiosity, I asked first-time author and former Google exec Jessica Powell about how she created the character, company, and place names in her novel The Big Disruption.  Continue reading...

A little eccentricity can be a good thing — especially when it simultaneously enhances creativity and alleviates back pain.  Continue reading...

In the spirit of my tenth anniversary, here's a look back at 10 euphemisms from previous columns that I particularly love—I mean, loathe! Loathe, obviously.  Continue reading...

Canons, whether you believe that their prime movers are divine or not, are the work of humans, and are surely among our most imaginative creations. But our ways of interpreting and implementing the language of religious canons are equally imaginative and creative.  Continue reading...