Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the derogative words used to describe many of Donald Trump's supporters - words like hillbilly, white trash, and redneck, and what those words say about class conflict.
Much has been made of the effects the recent financial crisis will have on "Main Street." Linguist Geoff Nunberg. He discusses how this term gained such popular — and presidential — usage.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg explores the place factoids have in our lives -- those bits of information that pass off for facts but aren't actually verifiable.
Linguist Geoff Nunberg looks back at the tradition of American political oratory. Debates and speeches drew crowds by the thousands in the 19th century., but television has reduced much of that discourse to soundbites. The rare moments in which we can hear a speech in full remind us of how much fun politics must have been in the past, says Nunberg.
These days, there’s a lot of public concern about objectionable content on the Web. Fresh Air’s Linguist Geoff Nunberg discusses the problems with so-called “censorware”, the software programs that claim to screen out pornography and other offensive material.
Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines the blurbs on book jackets...those hyperbolic quotes that declare seemingly every new book to be "a blockbuster" or "runaway best-seller."
Linguist Geoff Nunberg compares the different ways France and the U.S. covered the Olympics -- and what they say about these countries' attitudes toward their respective languages.
It's word-of-the-year time again. Collins Dictionary chose "Fake news" and Dictionary.com went with "complicit." Others have proposed #metoo, "alternative facts," "take a knee," "resistance" and "snowflake."
Commentator Geoff Nunberg considers brand names. They make up a significant proportion of the average person's vocabulary. Nunberg says the English language is being privatized.
