https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/public/ recent bookmarks from mcmorgan 2021-07-09T14:33:10+00:00 https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2021/07/brandeis-language-police-have-suggestions-you/619347/ mcmorgan these sanctions are based on no general agreement among even sensitive, sociologically concerned people. Couched as compassionate counsel, this list is mostly a series of prim concoctions by people who, one suspects, simply need more to do. In the end, working to change conditions is much more important than obsessively curating the words and expressions we use to describe them.]]> linguistics rhetoric politics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:4d8a6b23a66b/ 2019-12-26T19:23:42+00:00 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=45575 mcmorgan This is apparently is an example of semantic bleaching, similar to the process that turned very and really (and more recently literally) into intensifiers. The OED lists so as an "adv. and conj." glossed as "In the way or manner described, indicated, or suggested; in that style or fashion", with examples going back to the 9th century. Over the centuries, if the bleaching theory is correct, a sense emerged that's something more like "in relation to the issue described, suggested, or presupposed". “So” also seems to indicate a connection between the interviewer and interviewed, a suggestion that the answer really is going to address the question. But often, the interviewed answers a different question, snd the particle becomes a rhetorical backhander. Compare it to using “Well ...” in the same context. “So” indicates that the response is canned, being delivered by rote - which also appears in the general tone of voice and cadence. “Well” can suggest the response is more thoughtful and tailored for the context. ]]> linguistics semantic_bleaching so semiotics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:09072a92fd78/ 2019-10-14T13:57:21+00:00 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=44656 mcmorgan linguistics gender grammar https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:8db6ac78b35a/ 2019-07-12T13:11:54+00:00 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=43605 mcmorgan Manjoo is apparently suggesting that everyone should choose the opt-out option, at least with respect to pronoun choices, so that they replaces he and she just as you replaced thou. This will certainly get pushback from traditionalists like Mary Norris. Will there also be objections from people on the other side, who want to see explicit non-gendered pronoun choice retained as an expression of personal identity? ]]> identity linguistics pronouns https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:d171e70d863b/ 2019-07-11T14:35:36+00:00 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=43559 mcmorgan My focus in this post will be on the Supreme Court's conclusion that at the time the Second Amendment was proposed and ratified, bear arms unambiguously meant 'carry weapons, for purposes of being prepared for a confrontation,' without regard to whether the carrying was in connection with military service. What I conclude is that even without taking account of how bear arms was actually used, the court's arguments don't hold up. Assuming for the sake of argument that bear arms could reasonably have been understood to mean what the court said it meant, the court didn't show that it unambiguously meant that. If you doubt the conclusions, you can run your own analysis on the data he provides. > the pool of data that is inconsistent with Heller (not including lines that are ambiguous) is increased by about two-thirds, from 505 to 847. ]]> second_amendment linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:fa7114cfc855/ 2019-07-01T14:14:24+00:00 https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=43432 mcmorgan EU linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:1386c6dc4412/ 2018-07-18T15:01:55+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=39224 mcmorgan negation trump politics linguistics rhetoric https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:34df3d10473c/ 2018-05-28T13:01:42+00:00 https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/posteverything/wp/2018/05/23/trumps-bizarre-understanding-of-capitalization-is-surprisingly-strategic/?noredirect=on mcmorgan Initial capitals make words and ideas seem Really Important. They are to meaning-making what flag pins are to patriotism and gold-plating is to value — cheap signals of depth and quality that are somehow taken seriously by enormous numbers of people. (How seriously? There’s not one but two PolitiFact articles dedicated to discussions of Obama’s pin philosophy.) This capitalization technique is common in get-rich-quick and quack medicine books desperate to sell readers on the Truth of their claims. ]]> rhetoric linguistics trump capitalization https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:53fb967ddeb5/ 2018-03-11T15:02:16+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=3764 mcmorgan Linguistic_change classification linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:732462410380/ 2017-12-12T20:46:02+00:00 https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.cnn.com/cnn/2017/12/12/politics/donald-trump-gillibrand-tweet-analysis/index.html mcmorgantrump politics linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:36a63812e46d/ 2017-08-10T13:00:35+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=34000 mcmorgan linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:f69492c0a26d/ 2017-08-08T02:45:23+00:00 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/aug/07/usda-climate-change-language-censorship-emails?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other mcmorgan “These records reveal Trump’s active censorship of science in the name of his political agenda,” said Meg Townsend, open government attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. ]]> linguistics trump rhetoric semantics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:6ef3625573dc/ 2017-05-24T07:29:51+00:00 http://docs.voyant-tools.org/tools/ mcmorgan tools linguistics https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:fcdf34ac552f/ 2017-01-02T15:28:11+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=30164 mcmorgan But it's hard to put "informative Dirichlet priors" into a palatable mass-media sandwich.]]> linguistics register https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:b4efbafc7959/ 2017-01-02T15:23:28+00:00 http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/01/01/very-the-loud-empty-word-that-defines-president-elect-trump.html mcmorgan an administration that privileges the volume of the song more than its melody. Like the word itself, the 45th president is an indiscriminate megaphone, adding fire- and horsepower to whosoever holds his attention]]> linguistics register memes https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:fc73baf95dc3/ 2016-08-17T18:43:20+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=27515 mcmorganlinguistics orality erhetoric Authenticity ethos https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:b0f6ecb0d53e/ 2015-08-28T13:46:58+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20963 mcmorgan bs linguistics idiom jargon https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:8fb710133d34/ 2015-05-15T15:46:38+00:00 https://www.academia.edu/12372400/Audience_Invoked_vs_Audience_Addressed_in_Pinkers_The_Sense_of_Style?auto=download&campaign=weekly_digest mcmorgan rhetoric stylebook review linguistics https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:055029f09ae0/ 2014-03-22T19:51:29+00:00 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/10692897/Are-grammar-Nazis-ruining-the-English-language.html mcmorgan linguistics grammar prescriptivism https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:dae1776f3e85/ 2014-01-10T22:31:17+00:00 http://www.lel.ed.ac.uk/~gpullum/passive_loathing.pdf mcmorgan linguistics Linguistic_change https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:9a03ad7c960d/ 2013-12-30T16:21:38+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=9363 mcmorgan DH linguistics grammar https://pinboard.in/ https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:fc9c1b22e1e5/ 2013-12-26T04:41:10+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=9000 mcmorgan grammar linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:93179476eb60/ 2013-09-16T15:43:57+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=7069 mcmorganlinguistics jargon https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:bb7cb1b8d037/ 2013-07-16T19:49:28+00:00 http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=5315 mcmorgan erhetoric linguistics prosestyle https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:90b83cfbf447/ 2013-02-16T02:51:55+00:00 http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2012/05/21/congressional-speech/ mcmorgan Linguistic_change linguistics rhetoric https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:a3a56b50bb97/ 2012-12-10T15:24:41+00:00 http://chronicle.com/blogs/linguafranca/2012/12/07/a-rule-which-will-live-in-infamy/?cid=wb mcmorgan linguistics FYC prescriptivism https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:4fbcb6e03b34/ 2011-03-19T02:57:37+00:00 http://techcrunch.com/2011/03/18/the-pedants-revolt-does-the-aps-killing-of-e-mail-mark-a-worrying-escalation/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Techcrunch+%28TechCrunch%29 mcmorgan editing stylebook linguistics #en3177 publishing https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:53d821ed9400/ 2011-01-05T20:10:06+00:00 http://thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2010/12/29/myth-instant-communication-is-shallow/ mcmorgan linguistics cultofamateur https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:4bcbcd3deeaf/ 2010-11-19T14:45:46+00:00 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Techcrunch/~3/aRF25dGX4dw/ mcmorgan facebook twitter linguistics fyc https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:a05896d5b279/ 2010-06-08T23:28:09+00:00 http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Webworkerdaily/~3/utnz5j0JXjU/ mcmorganerhetoric linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:1360ebb5accd/ 2009-05-28T22:47:39+00:00 http://www.whitneyannetrettien.com/thesis/ mcmorgan linguistics cutups newliteracy newmedia https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:b873254cb124/ 2008-08-31T14:50:56+00:00 http://www.plainenglish.co.uk/ mcmorganfyc fyw linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:5ad78b75d248/ 2008-03-07T13:22:47+00:00 http://mp3.morningcoffeenotes.com/cn025Feb08.mp3 mcmorgan linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:7abdcdaa80e9/ 2007-07-10T17:29:53+00:00 http://www.bl.uk/collections/sound-archive/accents.html mcmorganlanguage linguistics dialects accents https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:1a75bd262e3e/ 2006-11-06T13:00:21+00:00 http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/05/magazine/05cyber.html?_r=1&oref=slogin&pagewanted=all mcmorgan linguistics literacy web2.0 fyc twwt https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:d050ab504797/ 2006-08-24T12:48:11+00:00 http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001843.html mcmorgan linguistics prescriptivism grammar https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:caffa0735a27/ 2006-08-24T12:25:35+00:00 http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002493.html mcmorgan erhetoric email linguistics research scholarship journalism https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:cb69b5462c7a/ 2006-08-12T14:30:10+00:00 http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003312.html mcmorganLanguageLog linguistics https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:d0b75625d755/ 2006-08-12T14:23:23+00:00 http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003414.html mcmorgan linguistics language LanguageLog 2101 https://pinboard.in/u:mcmorgan/b:91db7037e603/