Uber's "God view" shows a map of the cars in an area and the silhouettes of the people who ordered them. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says Uber-Santa doesn't just know when you've been sleeping, but where.

Language commentator recalls how he learned Italian by watching dubbed American movies while studying abroad, and considers why Italian filmgoers prefer dubbing over subtitles.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the borrowing of English words in Europe.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the way the words of courtship are showing up on the newspaper business pages.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg says the compromises we refuse to make say the most about our character. "Sometimes we stand on principle for the heady satisfaction of showing that we can't be pushed around," he says.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg explains Misapprehensions, a game for people who find Jeopardy too easy.

The pithy, 17-syllable poems fit neatly into Twitter's 140-character limit. "Twaiku" has taken off. Linguist Geoff Nunberg says the pervasive little poems have filled the cultural space that was once occupied by light verse.

A linguistic perspective on when an apology is not an apology.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the efforts to make talking robots.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg reviews a new book called "Doublespeak" by William Lutz, chairman of the Committee on Public Doublespeak of the National Council of Teachers of English. Lutz has been keeping files with examples of doublespeak used in politics and advertising and has compiled some of them in his book.

The word lifestyle has moved around in our culture since it first appeared more than 35 years ago. Our linguist says the word has gone from being a way to differentiate the '60s counterculture to a marketing tool and now to a political catchphrase.

Our resident linguist looks at the differences in the language used to describe Republicans and Democrats.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg contemplates the finer points of punctuation.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg comments on the history of slang, and refers to two books about it: Johnathan Lighter's Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang (1994) and "Flappers 2 Rappers" by Tom Dalzell (1997).

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the phrase "under the bus," which has been used throughout the heated presidential primaries.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg looks at the influence of the word on the visual arts...starting with the Dada movement and the montage works of the 30s, up to current poster and electric sign work by Jenny Holzer.

Enter Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the epic Anglo-Saxon poem "Beowulf" -- which is considered to be the origin of English literature and which has been newly translated by poet Seamus Heaney.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg comments on how the internet has change the way we talk. For example, the frequent use of words like cyber, e-cash, e-mail.

It's one of the most common words in English, and one of the most maligned. But it has been doing useful work for centuries, and lately it's acquired a new, hip meaning. Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg gives us his thoughts on the little word, "um."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the words –hero— and –legend.