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The “Southern Drawl” is here to stay, for now…
The following short article appeared in this morning’s Washington Post, revealing that “Southern Accent Reduction” classes in Tennessee were cancelled after staff protests. “Oak Ridge lab drops accent...
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Homophobe fires employee for writing about “homophones”
According to an article in The Salt Lake City Tribune, a man was fired from his English-teaching job after he penned a blog post explaining “homophones”. In linguistics, a homophone is a set of words...
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When we “borrow” words we never give them back
One of the ways that the English language enriches its vocabulary is by recruiting words from other languages. This is called “borrowing”, although this is a misnomer because once we borrow (steal) a...
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Sign language restaurants. A sign of things to come?
“Signs” is a new restaurant that just opened in Toronto. Here, your order will fall on deaf ears, literally. That’s the whole point, because Signs will be almost entirely staffed by servers who are...
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Eavesdropping: etymology, meaning, and some creepy little statues
Last night I watched Secret’s of Henry VIII’s Palace, a documentary about Hampton Court. (The party animal that I am!) The tour of the premises included the permanent residents of the palace’s Great...
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An Aussie Visits an Outback Steakhouse
The first time I visited an Outback Steakhouse the server approached the table with a grin and cried, “Howdy!” I replied, “Shouldn’t you say, ‘G’day mate!’?” He stared at me blankly and said, “Huh?” At...
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Goodbye Frank Sumption, pioneer of the “Ghost Box” that purportedly talks to...
I’ve just learned that Frank Sumption, inventor of the Frank’s Box, has died. Sumption was famous for this device which he claimed could be used to communicate with the dead. Today, the Frank’s Box is...
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Rongorongo: The Mysterious Writing System of Easter Island
Easter Island is one of the most isolated inhabited places on Earth. An early indigenous name for the island was Te Pito o te Henua, meaning “The Navel of the World” and this is exactly how it looks on...
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Words America Needs: Bludger
In a coffee shop yesterday morning I overheard the baristas telling the sorry story of Tim. A fellow barista, Tim has developed the reputation as someone who bums cigarettes, borrows money but never...
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Happy Septermeber!
Stop press! The BBC reports that a temporary council sign in Oxfordshire includes a glaring misspelling: Road Closed Here 29 Septermeber for 3 nights Yes, it’s an embarrassing inaccuracy. But did the...
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Aussie man awakes from coma speaking “fluent Mandarin”
The Daily Mail UK reports that Australian Ben McMahon was involved in a car accident that put him into a coma. When he awoke a week later, he could no longer speak English, all he could utter was...
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Who are “they” to tell us what to say?
My fellow Pitchstone author Greta Christina recently wrote the article Trans People and Basic Human Respect for The Humanist. The following paragraph sparked a debate about the use of singular they....
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Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic
My third title, Language Myths, Mysteries and Magic, has been released! The book is published by Palgrave Macmillan, and available in paperback, hardcover (how quaint!), and soon to be available in the...
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“I don’t have an accent!”
I often have difficulty being understood when I say “water” in my Australian accent. The word comes out sounding like wau-ta or wau-duh. So, in order to be understood, I usually put on my best American...
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Nu Shu – A secret writing system
Composer Tan Dun is best known for his Oscar-winning work on the martial arts film Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Dun’s latest work is Nu Shu: The Secret Songs of Women, which is inspired by a writing...
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Strange Frequencies
Yesterday I finally had an interview with the guys from Strange Frequencies Radio about Language Myths. (It was delayed many months because of publishing delays.) Hosts Jason Korbus and...
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This is not a menu from a 1912 London brothel…
The above image is doing the rounds of Facebook, Twitter, Jezebel, Imgur, and elsewhere, although it appears it was first published online about four years ago and it has reappeared on numerous...
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The Mysterious Voynich Manuscript
On the weekend I was contacted by a language lover who wanted to know my thoughts about linguist Stephen Bax’s attempts to decode the Voynich Manuscript. So, I’ve decided to republish an article about...
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Guessing the meaning of Aussie English words
In a recent Buzzfeed article a number of Americans were enlisted to try to guess the meaning of some Aussie slang words. Hilarity ensued, when ute (“utility vehicle”) was guessed to be a “cowboy” or a...
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Halloween
Halloween is the favorite holiday of many North Americans, although it’s not technically a holiday. Despite the fact that it’s not a day off work or school, it’s observed by many people. Adorable...
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