Because Language (becauselangpod)
@becauselanguage.com
A show about linguistics, the science of language. Your hosts (in order of coolness): Hedvig Skirgård, Daniel Midgley, and Ben Ainslie (tie for 2nd).
Unexpected antifa
Scrabble accepts it, so Scrabble knows it’s not a formal organization
February 10, 2026 at 4:38 AM
Unexpected antifa
Time for the worst #WotY2025.
Words are a proxy for the communities that use them, so who do they hate this year? Let's see.
African-Americans, as always.
Business types, yes.
Oo, children! That's new.
Also Australian and British English speakers catching strays.
www.lssu.edu/resources/ab...
Words are a proxy for the communities that use them, so who do they hate this year? Let's see.
African-Americans, as always.
Business types, yes.
Oo, children! That's new.
Also Australian and British English speakers catching strays.
www.lssu.edu/resources/ab...
February 10, 2026 at 2:58 AM
Time for the worst #WotY2025.
Words are a proxy for the communities that use them, so who do they hate this year? Let's see.
African-Americans, as always.
Business types, yes.
Oo, children! That's new.
Also Australian and British English speakers catching strays.
www.lssu.edu/resources/ab...
Words are a proxy for the communities that use them, so who do they hate this year? Let's see.
African-Americans, as always.
Business types, yes.
Oo, children! That's new.
Also Australian and British English speakers catching strays.
www.lssu.edu/resources/ab...
Trust issues with everyone forever
is my takeaway
is my takeaway
I never ever want to hear one more word about how linguists who don’t worship this man are somehow inferior scholars. I always knew he was anti-black because of the way he talked about sociolinguistics; he’s consistently argued that considering what actual human beings do is a waste of time.
/6 No, when society tells you to shun someone, be SKEPTICAL. Like Noam Chomsky. Noam Chomsky KNEW that it’s the dark forces of American imperialism that don’t want him to listen to a famous child rapist teach him about black people being inferior.
February 2, 2026 at 4:37 AM
Trust issues with everyone forever
is my takeaway
is my takeaway
Reposted by Because Language (becauselangpod)
Today is the first day of #Hawaiian #Language Month
dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/news-r...
(H/T @becauselanguage.com)
dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/news-r...
(H/T @becauselanguage.com)
NEWS RELEASE: Hi-Ema Celebrates Hawaiian Language With Mahina ʻōlelo Hawaiʻi In February | Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency
HI-EMA CELEBRATES HAWAIIAN LANGUAGE WITH MAHINA ʻŌLELO HAWAIʻI IN FEBRUARY FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEFebruary 16, 2024 HONOLULU ̶ The beautiful and vibrant Hawaiian language is being celebrated throughou...
https://dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/news-release-hi-ema-celebrates-hawaiian-language-with-mahina-ʻolelo-hawaiʻi-in-february/
February 1, 2026 at 12:59 PM
Today is the first day of #Hawaiian #Language Month
dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/news-r...
(H/T @becauselanguage.com)
dod.hawaii.gov/hiema/news-r...
(H/T @becauselanguage.com)
About right
February 2, 2026 at 2:35 AM
About right
This is going at the top of my 101 class. Serious.
On my recent paper about linguistic intuition and the nature of language
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/how-i-stoo...
thomscottphillips.substack.com/p/how-i-stoo...
How I stood on the shoulders of giants
A few years ago I experienced a rare privilege. I saw and and understood a truth about the nature of reality that no-one else had ever seen before.
thomscottphillips.substack.com
January 29, 2026 at 3:56 AM
This is going at the top of my 101 class. Serious.
Love this!
I wonder about other languages.
I wonder about other languages.
January 27, 2026 at 5:13 AM
Love this!
I wonder about other languages.
I wonder about other languages.
Overjoyed to learn a new word — underbus — at the expense of the odious Greg Bovino
January 27, 2026 at 5:08 AM
symbolic compliance
#WordOfTheWeek
#WordOfTheWeek
The biggest risk in this moment is something sociologists call “symbolic compliance.”
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
That’s when an institution that is violating civil rights gives the public just enough symbolic victories that accountability efforts lose steam before there has been any meaningful change.
January 27, 2026 at 4:06 AM
symbolic compliance
#WordOfTheWeek
#WordOfTheWeek
dual state
#WordOfTheWeek
#WordOfTheWeek
"The Dual State explains how the Nazi regime managed to maintain a day-to-day normalcy for many of its citizens, while at the same time establishing a domain of lawlessness and state violence in order to realize its terrible vision of ethnonationalism."
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
www.theatlantic.com/magazine/arc...
America Is Watching the Rise of a Dual State
For most people, the courts will continue to operate as usual—until they don’t.
www.theatlantic.com
January 26, 2026 at 9:32 PM
dual state
#WordOfTheWeek
#WordOfTheWeek
Yesterday it was cows using tools, today its penguins using satellite imagery.
January 22, 2026 at 5:59 AM
So much fun to chat about so the words — and give some spicy takes! 😛
Thanks @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social and Trent and @savithry.bsky.social !
Thanks @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social and Trent and @savithry.bsky.social !
thank you to @savithry.bsky.social and daniel from @becauselanguage.com for joining trent and me in our discussion of possible word of the year candidates for 2025!
youtu.be/LHWMXXIVSF0?...
youtu.be/LHWMXXIVSF0?...
2025's Word of the Year
YouTube video by Liberal Currents
youtu.be
January 19, 2026 at 2:01 AM
So much fun to chat about so the words — and give some spicy takes! 😛
Thanks @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social and Trent and @savithry.bsky.social !
Thanks @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social and Trent and @savithry.bsky.social !
Pleased to say I called this (as an individual, not as a show) @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social
it’s official: -slop (combining form and/or headword) is the @americandialect.org #WOTY2025 !!
January 10, 2026 at 3:07 AM
Pleased to say I called this (as an individual, not as a show) @caitlinmoriah.bsky.social
Reposted by Because Language (becauselangpod)
Slop is the 2025 Word of the Year! #woty2025
a man sitting on a stack of pepsi boxes
ALT: a man sitting on a stack of pepsi boxes
media.tenor.com
January 10, 2026 at 2:31 AM
Slop is the 2025 Word of the Year! #woty2025
January 10, 2026 at 2:28 AM
Pretty new — Green's has an entry for CHOPPED but it's in the sense of "drunk", not "ugly".
greensdictofslang.com/search/basic...
#WotY2025 #WotY25
greensdictofslang.com/search/basic...
#WotY2025 #WotY25
January 10, 2026 at 2:22 AM
Pretty new — Green's has an entry for CHOPPED but it's in the sense of "drunk", not "ugly".
greensdictofslang.com/search/basic...
#WotY2025 #WotY25
greensdictofslang.com/search/basic...
#WotY2025 #WotY25
That's AI is Most Useful Word of the Year! #woty25
January 10, 2026 at 2:16 AM
SLOP is a heavy hitter this year for sure
Slop is Digital Word of the Year!
#woty2025
#woty2025
January 10, 2026 at 2:08 AM
SLOP is a heavy hitter this year for sure
Masons of the world rejoice! #WotY2025
January 10, 2026 at 1:44 AM
Masons of the world rejoice! #WotY2025
Completely off my radar, but congrats to the reheated nachos
Reheated nachos is the Most Creative Word of the Year! #woty25
January 10, 2026 at 1:43 AM
Completely off my radar, but congrats to the reheated nachos
Excited for the @americandialect.org #WotY2025 vote!
Looking to hear from correspondents on the ground.
Looking to hear from correspondents on the ground.
January 10, 2026 at 1:10 AM
Excited for the @americandialect.org #WotY2025 vote!
Looking to hear from correspondents on the ground.
Looking to hear from correspondents on the ground.
nuremberg (verb)
#WordOfTheWeek
#WordOfTheWeek
abolish ice is the moderate position to be honest. whichever candidate promises to nuremberg the ice agents has my vote at this point
January 8, 2026 at 6:33 AM
nuremberg (verb)
#WordOfTheWeek
#WordOfTheWeek
Reposted by Because Language (becauselangpod)
In celebration of Mamdani's first day in office, the map from our 2016 NYC atlas celebrating Queens as the most linguistically diverse place on earth. (800 languages spoken in NYC, according to NY's Endangered Language Institute, which collaborated with us on this map.
January 3, 2026 at 3:21 AM
In celebration of Mamdani's first day in office, the map from our 2016 NYC atlas celebrating Queens as the most linguistically diverse place on earth. (800 languages spoken in NYC, according to NY's Endangered Language Institute, which collaborated with us on this map.
And the BL Word of the Week of the Year, as voted by listeners:
temu (derog.): a cheap or knock-off version
We think it reflects a complicated relationship with companies we do business with. Even as we use them, we feel the shadiness.
See or hear this episode
becauselanguage.com/131-wotwoty-...
temu (derog.): a cheap or knock-off version
We think it reflects a complicated relationship with companies we do business with. Even as we use them, we feel the shadiness.
See or hear this episode
becauselanguage.com/131-wotwoty-...
December 20, 2025 at 2:10 PM
And the BL Word of the Week of the Year, as voted by listeners:
temu (derog.): a cheap or knock-off version
We think it reflects a complicated relationship with companies we do business with. Even as we use them, we feel the shadiness.
See or hear this episode
becauselanguage.com/131-wotwoty-...
temu (derog.): a cheap or knock-off version
We think it reflects a complicated relationship with companies we do business with. Even as we use them, we feel the shadiness.
See or hear this episode
becauselanguage.com/131-wotwoty-...