Geoff Nunberg appears in the following:
'Disinformation' Is The Word Of The Year — And A Sign Of What's To Come
Monday, December 30, 2019
Foreign nations have been systematically spreading falsehoods on social media for years; in 2019, it seemed like the world began to fully grasp the ramifications of disinformation campaigns.
Ironic, Informal And Expressive, 'New Rules Of Language' Evolve Online
Tuesday, August 20, 2019
A lively new book by Gretchen McCulloch dissects the common vernacular that forms the cornerstone of online communication. Because Internet parses emojis, lols and punctuation — or lack thereof.
Opinion: Even A Grammar Geezer Like Me Can Get Used To Gender Neutral Pronouns
Tuesday, August 06, 2019
For anyone struggling to use "they" as a singular pronoun, linguist Geoff Nunberg says: Just practice. He believes human language processing capacity is far more adaptable than people realize.
Algorithmic Intelligence Has Gotten So Smart, It's Easy To Forget It's Artificial
Friday, June 28, 2019
Artificial intelligence becomes hard to ignore when it starts taking over tasks that used to require human judgment — such as winnowing job applications or prioritizing stories in a news feed.
'Socialism' Isn't The Scare Word It Once Was
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
It isn't yet clear where "socialist" will settle in the vocabulary of the American left, as it jostles with labels like "liberal" and "progressive." But it's not the S-word anymore.
Opinion: Migrant Girl's Death Reveals A Need For More Interpreters Along The Border
Thursday, January 03, 2019
Seven-year-old Jakelin Caal died in U.S. custody in December. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says her death might have been prevented had border agents spoken the Mayan language Q'eqchi'.
Opinion: 'Nationalist' Arises, With Myriad Connotations, As The Word Of 2018
Wednesday, November 14, 2018
President Trump created a firestorm when he described himself as a "proud" nationalist at a recent rally. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says the word carries a specter of racism and belligerence.
Opinion: A Linguist's Defense Of 'Falsehood'
Friday, September 07, 2018
Geoff Nunberg says that "falsehood" isn't just a decorous synonym for "lie." Instead, it has a moral weight of its own — especially when it comes to the effects of what someone says.
Opinion: Why The Term 'Deep State' Speaks To Conspiracy Theorists
Thursday, August 09, 2018
Linguist Geoff Nunberg says it's common for citizens of democracies to express concerns about the government. But the term "deep state" refers to something more nefarious — and conspiratorial.
Opinion: U.S. And U.K. Remain United, Not Divided, By Their Common Language
Tuesday, July 17, 2018
Linguist Geoff Nunberg says none of the differences between American and British English would be interesting if the nations didn't share a core vocabulary grown from a common literary tradition.
So Longhand: Has Cursive Reached The End Of The Line?
Thursday, May 31, 2018
Linguist Geoff Nunberg believes there's value in writing by hand — but he doesn't see why the letters have to connect. "You may as well dictate what song we all have to sing in the shower," he says.
As Fissures Between Political Camps Grow, 'Tribalism' Emerges As The Word Of 2017
Wednesday, December 06, 2017
"The meme of the moment is to say that American politics has become 'tribal,'" linguist Geoff Nunberg says. One sign of the division is the fact that no one can agree on how to use the word.
50 Years After The Summer Of Love, Hippie Counterculture Is Relegated To Kitsch
Wednesday, October 04, 2017
Looking back on the vanished styles and language of the hippie movement, linguist Geoff Nunberg says, "The most persistent single pejorative term to come out of the era is 'hippie' itself."
The Enduring Legacy Of Jane Austen's 'Truth Universally Acknowledged'
Tuesday, July 25, 2017
Linguist Geoff Nunberg describes the opening sentence to Pride and Prejudice as a "masterpiece of indirection" that is frequently repurposed, but whose irony is never matched.
After Years Of Restraint, A Linguist Says 'Yes!' To The Exclamation Point
Tuesday, June 13, 2017
F. Scott Fitzgerald once declared that using an exclamation point was like laughing at your own joke, but linguist Geoff Nunberg begs to differ. He has begun embracing the mark in his own writing.
Lincoln Said What? Bogus Quotations Take On A New Life On Social Media
Monday, May 15, 2017
Many of those quotes we see on Facebook or Instagram are attributed to authors who never said them. Does it matter when we get a quotation wrong? Linguist Geoff Nunberg says, not always.
'Normal': The Word Of The Year (In A Year That Was Anything But)
Thursday, December 22, 2016
Linguist Geoff Nunberg says that the fact that people are talking a lot about "the new normal" is a sign that we're living in strange and unsettling times.
Not Fit To Print? When Politicians Talk Dirty, Media Scramble To Sanitize
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
Donald Trump isn't the first politician to use coarse language, but linguist Geoff Nunberg says the 2005 Access Hollywood tape of him discussing women's genitalia wasn't like other live-mic incidents.
A Resurgence Of 'Redneck' Pride, Marked By Race, Class And Trump
Tuesday, September 06, 2016
The media have used a variety of epithets to describe white working-class Trump supporters. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says these terms embody the class contention that is central to this year's election.
Is Trump's Call For 'Law And Order' A Coded Racial Message?
Thursday, July 28, 2016
Donald Trump's promise to be the "law-and-order" candidate revived a slogan often associated with Nixon's 1968 presidential campaign. Linguist Geoff Nunberg discusses the term's racial underpinings