Language commentator Geoff Nunberg argues that the increasingly insular and unintelligible vocabulary of businesses stems from a growing adherence to corporate culture.
The new eyeglass frames allow you to take pictures and browse the Internet while you wear them. Early adopters focused on the tiny screens have already been dubbed "glassholes." Fresh Air linguist Geoff Nunberg reminds us that in Shakespeare's time "distraction" was another word for madness.
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 says it's fitting that the Scripps National Spelling Bee is broadcast by ESPN. (And, by the way, a thamakau is a kind of canoe used in Fiji.)
Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg comments on how the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal has reminded us over the age-old debate over semantics. What is an inappropriate relationship? Can you have sex and still technically be a virgin?
Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the word "appeasement," which is being used in the debate about the war in Iraq. The word doesn't have favorable connotations.
With a national health-care conversation in high gear, linguist Geoff Nunberg notes that "government" (as in "government-run plan") wasn't always such a dirty word. From "G-men" to "government bureaucrats," on this edition of Fresh Air.
The flap over Don Imus' characterization of the Rutgers women's basketball team and his subsequent firing has linguist Geoff Nunberg thinking about how we make distinctions in language. Is offensive speech always unacceptable, or are there shades of difference depending on the context?
Linguist Geoff Nunberg says what makes the pledge important isn't the meaning of the words -- it's the way we've managed to keep the words from meaning much of anything at all.
