I'm picturing @adrianchills.bsky.social reading this and dropping everything to immediately get to work on.

You cannot argue against trans women breastfeeding without using anti breastfeeding tropes. It's gross, it's not safe, it's a fetish, you're just doing it for yourself, why haven't you stopped yet? Breastfeeding support must include trans mothers if we want to normalise human milk.

The most ridiculous part of this is that if the word "milk" actually deceived anyone into thinking it was dairy, they would not use it. Their sales DEPEND on people knowing that it is plant-based and dairy-free. #linguistics

File under: ambiguity h/t @scarequotes.com

I research the harm that can come to teenagers on social media. I don’t support a ban – @emilysetty.bsky.social “A ban treats social media as the problem, rather than asking deeper questions about why certain behaviours – harassment, shaming, misogyny, exploitation – occur in the first place.” 👇🏻

In the 2010s, the Icelandic tv station Channel 2 accidentally added subtitles from a gritty crime drama to an episode of Teletubbies. I have translated some of the highlights

What a great eggcorn! #linguistics

About 18 months ago I sent this letter, along with a copy of my book, to a number of MPs and peers, including Wes Streeting. I never got a response (which to be fair was my baseline expectation), but it’s still disheartening to see today’s news about Haidt’s invitation to speak to policymakers.

I wouldn’t go expecting anyone to stand up to legal threats or the British press. Everyone knows where power lies and we have all seen over and over what happens to anyone who puts up even token resistance against them. The whole system will fold, with lip service and nothing more.

Shoutout for teachers who hold a degree and/or QTS, and think anti-trans policies are unethical... Please comment if you would be interested in taking on some paid online tutoring work for UK trans kids who have been forced out of schooling by policy and/or bullying.

I once tried to call a clinic to ask a question about my child's apointment, and the number I was given went to a recorded message telling me to hang up and redial a different number. I did, and that number also had a recorded message saying that the number had changed... (1/2)

My good news has just come in! LOOK AT THIS! So pleased to see this! www.theguardian.com/books/2025/o...

Ok, did not expect “The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe” to feel quite so relevant to this moment. Here’s Edmund, deciding to side with the leader who he’s been told disappears people.

I think I've solved the Oscar WIlde 'quay' mystery. My partner remembered that Shane MacGowan sings /keɪ/ in "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda". But (Scottish) Sean Bogle originally sang /kiː/. So does 'quay' rhyme with 'hay' in Hinberno-English? #linguistics www.youtube.com/watch?v=gsXE....

My job is under threat of redundancy because student numbers were forecast to fall. Turns out, the forecasts were wrong, and now we are understaffed because so many people have taken voluntary severance. We are now being asked to work extra hours whilst still under threat of redundancy. 🫠

I thought I knew how to pronounce "quay" until I read Oscar Wilde's Symphony in Yellow. Or perhaps those barges are actually full of yellow hee? (More seriously, did the Victorians say /keɪ/ instead of /kiː/? I simply cannot believe that Oscar would have said /kweɪ/! [shudder]) #linguistics

"HORNY WASN'T EVEN A CONCEPT" 😂

Look at this response from Polanski to Sophie Ridge's attempted gotcha on flags To *finally* have a mainstream political voice standing up for racialised & minoritised communities being intimidated by the violent fash on our streets It's really not that hard, is it?

beecome ungovernable

"Those plums are *not* for you, William"

Really enjoyed this interview! It was interesting to hear about @juliansimpson.bsky.social's move from TV that I have no interest in to audio dramas that I absolutely CANNOT GET ENOUGH OF. When he pulled The Hermit card, all became clear - creative people need freedom to produce the good stuff!

🥰

Nottingham Pride has followed suit and banned political parties. 🏳️‍⚧️ www.facebook.com/share/p/1AkE...

This will be epic! Don't let me miss out on new Mythos, please! I'm also very interested to know what this team can do away from the (comfortable, I'm sure) ball and chain of the BBC.

This is the right move. I hope all other Prides follow this example.

This is grim. That's my family he is talking about. And just... who is this for? If you like this, you're going to vote Reform. If you don't like this, you aren't going to vote Labour. Or at least, I'm absolutely not voting for any party that calls immigration "squalid".

I just misread an email inviting me to  a workshop on "teaching English for academic purposes" as "teaching English for satanic purposes" and now I am very disappointed.

My latest @newscientist.com cartoon

Genuinely if I had been outflanked on the left by Tim Martin and Wetherspoons and I considered myself to be a left wing politician, I would resign and spend the rest of my career in a cave reflecting on how I let my brain get so rotted by columnists about who shits where

On my way to this now!

If you work in comics in the UK (including self publishing) I highly encourage you to read and sign the Comics Cultural Impact Collective’s proposal for a UK Comics Fund before they submit it to DCMS. It’s very thorough! This fund could be game changing for comics in the UK.

I'm extremely worried about what the supreme court judgement means for my younger child's future and their whole generation. But I'm also more determined to fight. Furious solidarity to all trans people today and every day.

An important reminder as the Supreme Court makes its judgement - not a single trans person was heard from at any point during this case before them, even a trans judge who applied was refused. This is, as usual, the British state acting as cis people to impose their will on trans people.

Just found this picture and GASPED. I MUST learn all the skills necessary to make my own spider-witch hat IMMEDIATELY. www.instagram.com/threadhanded...

Sometimes the #LinguisticLandscape can be delightful

The Labour party, people! Feeling very grateful that I did not vote Labour in 2024, or my hygiene levels would not be feeling great, tbh. Fuck off with your Tory STOP THE BOATS pandering.

Really interesting to hear Beukes' thoughts about her writing process using the cards as prompts. It's a great idea for an interview! (And the soundtrack to The Last of the Mohicans had a similar hold on me back in the 90s.)

The most twisted part of this is that Sussex was fined for writing that they would not tolerate "transphobic propaganda" in their policy, but in reality they supported Stock, threatened the students who protested, & publicly championed her right to spread as much transphobic propaganda as she liked.

Yeah, this is what epistemicide looks like. "Do not treat trans people like they are deserving of dignity. Do not speak against their dehumanization. It is illegal to push back against their vilification. The right to spread transphobia supersedes trans perspectives and voices."

This is excellent. It's also why I decided to be a spider.

If you're in the UK and have ever used any kind of gender-affirming voice training (coaching, youtube, whatever), my student would love to hear from you. It's anonymous! universityofkent.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_... #linguistics

This has absolutely RUINED my Monday.

I’m grateful for this strong statement. It disgusts me that Streeting has met AND sympathised with abusive parents of trans youth. He’s ignored my request to meet. He continues to cite Appleby’s DHSC report to support the PB ban despite my evidence casting doubt on its validity. Have asked again.

This is 100% right. A number of principled Labour councillors have already done exactly this (@broxtoweindies.bsky.social and many others as well) but the Labour MPs are, so far, all far too timorous. No more meek compliance! It's time to act!

My 9yo likes learning big words and has a memory like a steel trap. As a result, they just told me, months after I explained what a plesionym was, that 'plesionym' is actually a plesionym of 'synonym'. #linguistics

Great list here, with books for all ages! (Because grown-ups should read children's books too.) Though maybe stop liking it now. Poor Ian...

This is from a real interview with Rachel Reeves. (non-paywalled link, so you can verify for yourself that this is, indeed, real.)