7 October 2009
Inside Higher Ed has an interview with Jesse Sheidlower about the latest edition of his book, The F-Word.
Sex and the Single Lexicographer
2 October 2009
Jesse Sheidlower, of the Oxford English Dictionary and author of The F Word (which is out in a new edition) has a piece in Slate on the difficulties in including sexual terms in the dictionary.
Note that women don’t “prong” men, they “peg” them.
Future of the Local News
2 October 2009
This is a bit off-topic for this site, but it’s a subject I’m very much interested in. Much has been written recently about the future of news coverage, particularly local news coverage. What will happen to our polity if local newspapers, which are pretty much the only source of hard news about local government and events, shut down?
The inimitable Clay Shirky questions this basic assumption. How much of a local newspaper’s resources are devoted to actual news coverage? The answer is surprising.
William Safire Dies at Age 79
28 September 2009
Originally posted 27 Sep
William Safire, longtime New York Times political columnist and author of that newspaper’s Sunday “On Language” column died today at age 79. The cause was pancreatic cancer.
Safire was a speechwriter for the Nixon-Agnew administration, noted for coining such phrases as “nattering nabobs of negativism.” From 1973-2005 he wrote his twice-weekly column on politics for the Times. And from 1979 to earlier this month he wrote the weekly column on language. He was also the editor of Safire’s Political Dictionary and numerous other books on language and usage.
He was probably the most widely read and famous commentator on language in the United States, even if his approach was idiosyncratic, his research sometimes sketchy, and his pronouncements often at odds with those of professional linguists. He certainly did have a gift for coming up with a clever turn of phrase. He will be missed.
Update (28 Sep):
Some remembrances from various language commentators on the web:
Grant Barrett
Metaphorically Speaking
28 September 2009
The Boston Globe ran this piece on the psychology of metaphors. It’s not the greatest of articles--I would have liked to have seen some links to real research, but the general topic is interesting.
