Why does this ungrammatical sentence sound fine? When your grammar says one thing, but your feels say another, you may have found a ✨linguistic illusion✨. Dan Parker, author of "Agreement Attraction". Available now @universitypress.cambridge.org Listen/watch: becauselanguage.com/135-linguist...

Linguists – make a habit of posting about your latest work. Not only is it good for the public, but it helps us to find you. Maybe we’ll feature your work on the show! We are constantly on the lookout.

LLMs can make mistakes. Always verify the output.

we need more linguists because i don't want to have to explain to otherwise educated people that there's no such thing as a "biological pronoun"

We need more linguists because for too many people, thinking about language means: People say a thing and I hate it. We can flood the media with stories of fun, positivity, inclusion, and good science in language.

file under: ambiguity, "for"

Our most recent episode of @becauselanguage.com is a really nice chat about language trickery - what can these pranks tell us about how language works? becauselanguage.com/135-linguist...

How many of each kind of animal did Moses bring on the Ark? Dan Parker brings us a ✨linguistic illusion✨. From our latest episode, which you can watch or listen to in all the places. becauselanguage.com/135-linguist...

French overtakes Arabic for fourth place! 🤔 Maybe. What kind of French do you like? It's in our new episode with Dan Parker! becauselanguage.com

Great to see this book from @korystamper.bsky.social And also she's on so many fun podcasts, talking about it! Any of them are worth listening to. Here's ours: becauselanguage.com/134-true-col... But also lingthusiasm.com/post/8115654... vocalfriespod.com/2026/03/31/i... Any others?

That's a good definition. Can anyone tell what dictionary that is?

A highly entropic sentence. cw: sex, vaginal, knocked (maybe), Cumming

Indigo is a scam. There, I said it. What's your spicy take on colour? Listen to our episode with @korystamper.bsky.social, author of "True Color" becauselanguage.com/134-true-col... @aaknopf.bsky.social

Do you confuse puce and chartreuse? And what's vermilion? We have a new episode with @korystamper.bsky.social, author of True Color. Get the book, watch the podcast! Wherever good books are sold and good podcasts are listened to. @aaknopf.bsky.social becauselanguage.com/134-true-col...

sloppelganger #WordOfTheWeek

Coming soon: a chat with @korystamper.bsky.social about her new book True Color. How do you define what blue is? What even IS colour? Turns out, the quest to define colours was happening along with a standardisation crisis and a dictionary crisis. Kory tells us all about it. @aaknopf.bsky.social

Final hours for this Kickstarter! Tim is creating beautiful works of art, and presenting them as words of encouragement for communities that use endangered scripts. Check it out and support.

as a treat #WordOfTheWeek

frustration tolerance #WordOfTheWeek

that YOU know of

Need some help spelling the word BUREAU? It's easier than you think, but it's going to take a gross mnemonic. And Daniel's got one. Full episode: becauselanguage.com/133-why-we-t...

For editors, on National Grammar Day. On Grammar Day, they get aggressive: Of their pronouns and nouns they're possessive, Their subjunctives are hot (Though we wish they were not), And their verbs, like themselves, are progressive. #alimerickaday

I feel complicit because I sold the dog food

Classic

ai/dr #WordOfTheWeek

Language helps with information transfer, and that includes a lot of information about ourselves. With Valerie Fridland, author of "Why We Talk Funny". Full episode: becauselanguage.com/133-why-we-t...

The US Southern accent is becoming a marker of ideology. With Valerie Fridland, author of "Why We Talk Funny". Full episode: becauselanguage.com/133-why-we-t...

Life is extremely kiki right now and I would really like it to be just a little more bouba

New Cambridge Element, Aviation English as a Global Lingua Franca, by Hyejeong Kim, out now! Read for free for the next 2 weeks at https://cup.org/4aJ494I #LangSky

How did the kids feel about 6-7 at the #WotY2025 vote? Kelly Wright is the data czar for @americandialect.org, and she tells us all about it. Whole episode: becauselanguage.com/132-woty-202...

Listener Flo tells us about "weeaboo", an enthusiast for Japanese culture. But what about someone who's into French stuff? With Kelly Wright! Whole episode: becauselanguage.com/132-woty-202...

Unexpected antifa

Time for the worst #WotY2025. Words are a proxy for the communities that use them, so who do they hate this year? Let's see. African-Americans, as always. Business types, yes. Oo, children! That's new. Also Australian and British English speakers catching strays. www.lssu.edu/resources/ab...

Trust issues with everyone forever is my takeaway

Today is the first day of #Hawaiian #Language Month dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/news-r... (H/T @becauselanguage.com)

About right

This is going at the top of my 101 class. Serious.

Love this! I wonder about other languages.

underbus #WordOfTheWeek Lots more room under that bus btw

symbolic compliance #WordOfTheWeek

dual state #WordOfTheWeek

File under: ambiguity h/t @scarequotes.com

So much fun to chat about so the words — and give some spicy takes! 😛 Thanks @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social and Trent and @savithry.bsky.social !

Pleased to say I called this (as an individual, not as a show) @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social

Slop is the 2025 Word of the Year! #woty2025

News is slow out of #WotY2025 #WotY25 but not getting concerned yet

Pretty new — Green's has an entry for CHOPPED but it's in the sense of "drunk", not "ugly". greensdictofslang.com/search/basic... #WotY2025 #WotY25

I love this one because it's got a sense of much-needed skepticism about GenAI #WotY2025 #WotY25

SLOP is a heavy hitter this year for sure