After more than a week of gruesome media coverage, linguist Geoff Nunberg takes a close look at the words we use to describe events that mesmerize and horrify, that sensitize and desensitize, that transfix and repel us at the same time.
For most readers, the beauty of Jane Austen's style lies in her elegant syntax and punctuation. Now, an Oxford scholar has created a furor by suggesting that the credit for Austen's style should really be given to the man who edited her novels. But linguist Geoff Nunberg remains skeptical.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg doesn't enjoy everything about the English language. There are phrases that get on his nerves and words that he prefers not to use. And Nunberg says he's not the first person to have linguistic pet peeves — nor will he be the last.
As President Bush and Sen. John Kerry look to their second face-to-face meeting Friday night, linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the language of the 2004 debates.
Once word got out about Sen. Harry Reid's recently reported 2008 remarks about then-candidate Barack Obama's skin color and speech, just about everybody thought he needed to apologize — not least Reid himself. But people had different stories about why.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the sending of Valentine's messages via telephone, the postal system, and e-mail. What does it say about the evolution of personal communication?
Linguist Geoff Nunberg says that the attention paid to how people talk says more about class status and regionalism than a decline in effective communication. He explains.
Language Commentator Geoffrey Nunberg will discuss the effects of Minitel, the computer distributed by the telephone system in France that has brought a word processor to every home with a phone.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg takes issue with the use and misuse of loaded terms like holocaust, genocide, and terrorism in political discourse. He says that a person's reluctance to use such inflated terms doesn't mean they take an issue any less seriously.
