Like most well-informed language books, this one is not going to be popular with the English-is-going-to-hell crowd. In this multifaceted yet focused book, Greene makes a powerful argument for the inherent resiliency of language, and his own sharp writing is serious support for language's power.  Continue reading...

It was recently revealed that the daily agenda of the most powerful person in the world included policy time (in addition to executive time). It's my policy to crank out a new roundup of euphemisms each month. Around these here parts, it's always malarkey time.  Continue reading...

If we start from the fact that language is first and foremost a spoken activity, the methods by which people have extended its powers to writing offer a fascinating lens into human history.  Continue reading...

In the American West, wildfires have become both more frequent and more destructive. With this ominous shift has come a new vocabulary for describing fire and its outcome – and new attention to some of the oldest words in our language.  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...

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...