In celebration of Mamdani's first day in office, the map from our 2016 NYC atlas celebrating Queens as the most linguistically diverse place on earth. (800 languages spoken in NYC, according to NY's Endangered Language Institute, which collaborated with us on this map.

And the BL Word of the Week of the Year, as voted by listeners: temu (derog.): a cheap or knock-off version We think it reflects a complicated relationship with companies we do business with. Even as we use them, we feel the shadiness. See or hear this episode becauselanguage.com/131-wotwoty-...

Patrons! Our live show is happening in but a few hours. We'll be counting down our #WordsOfTheWeekOfTheYear2025 . This post has the link, and all patrons can attend, even free ones. We'd love to see you. www.patreon.com/posts/link-b...

I thought Chomsky's signature on the Harper's Letter was some weird anomaly for him, but apparently

I have just learned that "bicep" is also a false singular! The -S was part of the Latin adjectival suffix, not English plural -S. Other false singulars here: www.etymonline.com/search?q=%22...

Last day to vote for the Because Language WotWotY! And watch this space for a link to the patron-only live show where we reveal the winners.

New research shows how automated speech-recognition technologies routinely fail to understand Aboriginal English, leaving many Indigenous Australians excluded from the everyday convenience others take for granted. 🔗 tinyurl.com/bdf2xfzd 🧵👇 #langsky #languagediscrimination #AboriginalEnglish

The voting for our #WordOfTheWeekOfTheYear2025 is going apace. You can vote, but you can also come to the live show if you're a patron — even a free one. Just follow this link to find out when it is, and sign up. Thanks to all our patrons for your support. www.patreon.com/posts/145354...

file under: metaphors of time

🚨 OFFICIAL MEGATHREAD 🚨 It's our annual Word of the Week of the Year competition. Likes are votes, and you can upvote as many as you like. Or leave your own words in the replies. They can win, too. Listen for the winners in our live episode! Coming soon. #WordOfTheWeekOfTheYear2025

Related or not? CAST and CASTER You know, those wheels on a bed. Surely you didn't want that bed to stay where it is. From our episode 130: Back to the FTR becauselanguage.com

We have a shop and you can go shop there for all your shopping shops. Shop. becauselanguage.com/shop/

Linguistic galaxy brain! Asking Annemarie Verkerk and Hedvig Skirgård of @mpi-eva-leipzig.bsky.social: what makes you go "Whoa"? From our episode 130: Back to the FTR becauselanguage.com

Yes, but what's the question? h/t James

It’s a really good word. We’re probably going for just -bait in all its forms

Another thing Australian English got right was getting rid of full stops after abbreviated terms of address, like Mr, Mrs, and Dr. Okay, British English as well. www.stylemanual.gov.au/grammar-punc...

bossware #WordOfTheWeek

Are you trying to make this meme passé? Because that's how you make this meme passé.

Fun #linguistic fact for World Linguistics Day: If North America had the same linguistic diversity as New Guinea we’d expect Indigenous Americans to speak ~28,000 languages.

Happy World Linguistics Day! We'll be posting stuff all day, and you can too

sex cardigan #WordOfTheWeek

I know a lot of people like this sort of thing, so for those who like this sort of thing, here it is. corp.oup.com/word-of-the-...

“thought partner” 🤮 #WordOfTheWeek

Word of the Week: polycrisis. Wait, is that what I think it is? Check out this episode: becauselanguage.com/129-they-sta...

@geraldroche.bsky.social I still watch this video every so often. "History is full of depressing things that were defeated by people who did something." Full episode: becauselanguage.com/109-language...

What caused language? Evolutionary biologist Madeleine Beekman points to child care, as part of a complex web involving body, brain, and community. Madeleine is the author of "The Origin of Language". @simonschusteranz.bsky.social Listen now, in all the places. becauselanguage.com/129-they-sta...

I try to get my children to say “behold!” Also trying to get them to call me “father” and not “dad”. Wrong: Dad, please. Right: Prithee, father!

FUN FACT: if this kind of fence-type structure were named today, keeping the same meaning, it would be a “yikes”

Out Now! Linguistic Illusions by Dan Parker cup.org/3LYWV3N Linguistic Illusions by Dan Parker #LangSky #Linguistics 🐦🐦

Those sneaky cute babies! They tricked us into wanting to care for them, and part of that involves communication. But what about "cute aggression"? Prof Madeleine Beekman is the author of "The Origin of Language". @simonschusteranz.bsky.social Listen on becauselanguage.com

We’re going back… to the future… …time reference!

How do we fit this into our header?

ICYMI: Transcript is up for our episode with @natanlast.bsky.social about his book "Across the Universe". It's the history of crosswords. Natan is also a constructor, and he tests my mettle! @penguinrandomhouse.bsky.social www.patreon.com/posts/transc...

It wouldn't have been enshittification without being enshittification.

Scarburst

This popped into my inbox, and it's full of great stuff!

HERE WE GO Word of the Year season begins and it wasn't Collins going first this time

Good on him, but we might need to include "orphan-crushing machine" as a #WordOfTheWeek He's doing great work to save people from the orphan-crushing machine. en.wiktionary.org/wiki/orphan-...

He's right. It refers to me.

the word “behold” should make a comeback. it’s so confident

All deaf and hard of hearing kids deserve to learn sign language, and bodily autonomy with respect to hearing technology.

No kings. Only frogs.

So many words on this new episode with Maia Chao! Including COSY CRIME Go listen here, or on your podcast thingy www.patreon.com/posts/127-oh...

protest frog #WordOfTheWeek

Artist Maia Chao tells us about her show "Oh", an experimental linguistic lecture performance. With Kelly Wright. Watch the episode here (soon): becauselanguage.com/127-oh/

ENSHITTIFICATION was our Word of the Year in 2024. Catch our interview with Cory Doctorow here! youtu.be/mq0kSdzSjfc?...

stealing this for the Grice lecture thx

A dusty bell went ding in the Because Language offices. It seems that someone bought a "Chaos Goblin" sticker. If one more person buys one, then there will be two of you! Irregardless, they're pretty great. Go see our designs. www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/1688...