Language

Assistant Managing Editor of The New York Times, Allan Siegal. He oversees usage and style at the Times. A revised and expanded edition of his “The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage” (Times Books) has just been published.

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 Geoff Nunberg considers the language of the stock market.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg discusses the word hacker.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the difference between irony and sarcasm.

Senior editor at The Atlantic Monthly, Barbara Wallraff, and author of the magazine’s “Word Count” column. Her new book about language usage is “”Word Count: Wherein verbal virtue is rewarded, crimes against the language are punished, and poetic justice is done” (Harcourt).

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the difficulties we’re having talking about the new millennium.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the word "virtual" as In virtual reality.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers how new-age psycho-babble has made It's way Into the corporate room.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg tells us what words he would like to see us get rid of for the year 2000.