"Big Data" had just as much to do with President Obama's victory as phrases like "Etch A Sketch" and "47 percent," says linguist Geoff Nunberg. Big Data is also behind anxieties about intrusions on our privacy, whether from the government's anti-terrorist data sweeps or the ads that track us on the Web.
Language commentator Geoff Nunberg wonders why it's so hard for writers to craft realistic, natural-sounding dialogue when we are surrounded by speech in our daily lives. He says it may take a special kind of attentiveness to hear -- and remember -- how people really talk.
The 2006 award season is drawing to a close and linguist Geoff Nunberg gets in just under the wire with the announcement of the first annual Becky award, bestowed by a group of linguists.
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.
Language Commentator Geoffrey Nunberg continues his discussion of sexism in language. He says the obvious concerns - like whether to use "mankind" or "humanity" - only scratch the surface.
Many students prepare for the SAT by drilling themselves on esoteric, arcane and recondite words -- like esoteric, arcane and recondite. Linguist Geoff Nunberg doesn't discourage these efforts, but he does have a word of caution: memorizing a definition is hardly the same as learning a new word.
The French are having a huge cultural row over some spelling changes the government is about to put into effect. It leads our linguist Geoff Nunberg to wonder why we never have controversies over spelling like the French do. Why do we insist on putting up with a spelling system that everybody acknowledges is a chaotic mess?
An appeals court ruled recently that the FCC couldn't fine the Fox network for indecency for broadcasting a "fleeting expletive" during an awards show. What does the ruling mean — and what qualifies as a "fleeting expletive" these days, anyway?