Language

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.

Commentator Maureen Corrigan recently attended the annual conference of the Modern Language Association in Washington D.C. She reports on what the academics are discussing and it's relevance to the rest of us.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg discusses choosing children's names.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg takes a look at enunciation and diction.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg examines the epitome of Americans trying to cop some highbrow British style, using the word "shall" when they mean "will."

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 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.

Commentator Patricia McLaughlin looks at the reasons certain kids name go in and out of style.

Language commentator Geoffrey Nunberg explains some of the reasons you shouldn't use a dictionary.

Language Commentator Geoffrey Nunberg, unhappy with his job description, tries on a few other possibilities while dissecting the very notion of a "language commentator."