Joshua Raclaw
@joshuaraclaw.com
sociocultural linguist working in trans and queer linguistics and conversation analysis. posts about yiddish, cooking, adhd, cats, professor stuff. (they/זײ) [ˈɹæ.klɔ] מיר װעלן זײ איבערלעבן
I like that a big part of secular Yiddish culture involves social groups where you just come and read a story aloud together, because I was an insufferable child who adored when teachers would ask for volunteers to read something aloud and now I get to do that forever
December 27, 2025 at 8:39 PM
I like that a big part of secular Yiddish culture involves social groups where you just come and read a story aloud together, because I was an insufferable child who adored when teachers would ask for volunteers to read something aloud and now I get to do that forever
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
oh brother, another bad post from political influencer beltway brian. i am furious at beltway brian all of the time. i share screencaps of beltway brian's posts with people who have no idea who he is. i hate all of beltway brian's posts and i read all of them every single day, including weekends
December 27, 2025 at 5:47 PM
oh brother, another bad post from political influencer beltway brian. i am furious at beltway brian all of the time. i share screencaps of beltway brian's posts with people who have no idea who he is. i hate all of beltway brian's posts and i read all of them every single day, including weekends
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
"Chomsky can no longer offer apologies or consolation to the survivors. But that does not relieve us of the responsibility to do so, part of which is acknowledging that someone who had such a huge impact on so many of us made such profoundly disturbing moral choices."
Chomsky, Epstein, and the responsibility of intellectuals
Burning down houses and raping their female inhabitants is the kind of imperialist standard operating procedure that Chomsky spent his life condemning in East Timor, in Iraq, in El Salvador. But when ...
canadiandimension.com
December 27, 2025 at 2:34 PM
"Chomsky can no longer offer apologies or consolation to the survivors. But that does not relieve us of the responsibility to do so, part of which is acknowledging that someone who had such a huge impact on so many of us made such profoundly disturbing moral choices."
yes i suppose “not pretty” (nit-sheyn; ניט־שײן) would in fact mean “ugly” thank you yiddish dictionary
December 27, 2025 at 5:20 PM
yes i suppose “not pretty” (nit-sheyn; ניט־שײן) would in fact mean “ugly” thank you yiddish dictionary
it is very nice that a neighbor is shoveling the ice and snow from the sidewalk in front of multiple houses, but 1:00am is a real weird time to show off that good samaritan spirit
December 27, 2025 at 6:10 AM
it is very nice that a neighbor is shoveling the ice and snow from the sidewalk in front of multiple houses, but 1:00am is a real weird time to show off that good samaritan spirit
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
They always make this threat and it never materializes. Here's the New York Post fear mongering about the wealthy leaving NYC under de Blasio. Look around. Does New York have fewer millionaires and billionaires than in 2014?
December 27, 2025 at 1:17 AM
They always make this threat and it never materializes. Here's the New York Post fear mongering about the wealthy leaving NYC under de Blasio. Look around. Does New York have fewer millionaires and billionaires than in 2014?
@erikas.online reading this article about raising kids in yiddish and it mentions how the first step is FINDING A YIDDISH SPEAKING PARTNER (sure yes) and lists all the places people met their yiddish sweeties and now i want to interview all the adorable couples who met at Yiddish immersion events
It takes a village to raise a child in Yiddish: How parents are doing it
„צו האָדעװען אַ קינד, באַדאַרף מען אַ דאָרף.“ דאָס װערטל, וואָס שטאַמט מסתּמא פֿון דער ניגערישער שפּראַך איגבאָ און אַנדערע צענטראַל־אַפֿריקאַנישע שפּראַכן — מײנט בקיצור אַז קינדער װערן נישט אױסשליסלע...
forward.com
December 27, 2025 at 3:24 AM
@erikas.online reading this article about raising kids in yiddish and it mentions how the first step is FINDING A YIDDISH SPEAKING PARTNER (sure yes) and lists all the places people met their yiddish sweeties and now i want to interview all the adorable couples who met at Yiddish immersion events
after the linguist ellen prince passed away, an obituary was published in the journal Language, where it describes prince formally learning yiddish in her early forties as her "getting serious about her heritage language"
December 27, 2025 at 1:51 AM
after the linguist ellen prince passed away, an obituary was published in the journal Language, where it describes prince formally learning yiddish in her early forties as her "getting serious about her heritage language"
האַלט דאָס קלײנגעלט, דו שמוציקע חיה אײנע
December 26, 2025 at 10:01 PM
האַלט דאָס קלײנגעלט, דו שמוציקע חיה אײנע
was introduced to the monogram of yiddish author and playwright peretz hirschbein (פרץ הירשביין) with its פּ and ה looking like a friendly little guy in a hat and beard and now i want a monogram
December 26, 2025 at 6:12 PM
was introduced to the monogram of yiddish author and playwright peretz hirschbein (פרץ הירשביין) with its פּ and ה looking like a friendly little guy in a hat and beard and now i want a monogram
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Indiana State Senator wishes you a Merry Christmas by… posting images of himself assaulting Santa Claus.
Are the fascists okay?
Are the fascists okay?
December 26, 2025 at 12:34 AM
Indiana State Senator wishes you a Merry Christmas by… posting images of himself assaulting Santa Claus.
Are the fascists okay?
Are the fascists okay?
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
“Went viral” is an old stock phrase in journalism that really does not capture the dynamic of how X dot Com has been tuned to give people like the one specific legislator here the power to intentionally cause this kind of outcome
Texas A&M University will not reinstate a lecturer who was fired after a video of her teaching about gender identity in a children’s literature class went viral, despite a faculty appeals panel unanimously concluding that her dismissal was not justified.
Texas A&M won’t reinstate fired lecturer despite findings
A vice chancellor upheld the firing of Melissa McCoul, seen in a viral video being confronted by a student on her gender identity teachings, saying the termination was done with “good cause.”
www.texastribune.org
December 26, 2025 at 2:11 PM
“Went viral” is an old stock phrase in journalism that really does not capture the dynamic of how X dot Com has been tuned to give people like the one specific legislator here the power to intentionally cause this kind of outcome
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
wanna see a ~200-word wiki entry that somehow manages to cover Yiddish, contract bridge, chess, Go, Schafkopf, Omar Sharif, lapwings, NIST, 1930 cinema and Jane Jacobs' theory of urban safety
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibitzer
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibitzer
Kibitzer - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
December 26, 2025 at 12:02 AM
wanna see a ~200-word wiki entry that somehow manages to cover Yiddish, contract bridge, chess, Go, Schafkopf, Omar Sharif, lapwings, NIST, 1930 cinema and Jane Jacobs' theory of urban safety
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibitzer
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kibitzer
tonight we watched john diehard save the hostages of nakatomi plaza
December 26, 2025 at 1:40 AM
tonight we watched john diehard save the hostages of nakatomi plaza
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Some absolutely top notch orange cattery here
October 24, 2025 at 12:44 PM
Some absolutely top notch orange cattery here
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
I like that the yiddish word for dream (kholem) takes an OY in the plural (khaloymes) while the word for month (khoydesh) loses its OY in the plural (khadoshim), once again proving that matter can never be created nor de-oyed
December 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I like that the yiddish word for dream (kholem) takes an OY in the plural (khaloymes) while the word for month (khoydesh) loses its OY in the plural (khadoshim), once again proving that matter can never be created nor de-oyed
I like that the yiddish word for dream (kholem) takes an OY in the plural (khaloymes) while the word for month (khoydesh) loses its OY in the plural (khadoshim), once again proving that matter can never be created nor de-oyed
December 25, 2025 at 9:01 PM
I like that the yiddish word for dream (kholem) takes an OY in the plural (khaloymes) while the word for month (khoydesh) loses its OY in the plural (khadoshim), once again proving that matter can never be created nor de-oyed
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
just feeling more and more like it’s journalistic malpractice not to lead with the fact that the instructor in question is trans
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.” https://cnn.it/4b6g3rd
Oklahoma instructor removed from teaching for failing a Bible-based gender essay | CNN
The University of Oklahoma has removed an instructor who was accused by a student of religious discrimination over a failing grade on a psychology paper in which she cited the Bible and argued that promoting a “belief in multiple genders” was “demonic.”
cnn.it
December 25, 2025 at 8:19 PM
just feeling more and more like it’s journalistic malpractice not to lead with the fact that the instructor in question is trans
my most low-stakes pet peeve is posts wishing “happy holidays” accompanied by the most christmasy imagery made on literal christmas, when there are no other holidays in rotation, just say “merry christmas”
December 25, 2025 at 8:29 PM
my most low-stakes pet peeve is posts wishing “happy holidays” accompanied by the most christmasy imagery made on literal christmas, when there are no other holidays in rotation, just say “merry christmas”
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Santa Claus, the Elijah the Prophet of American Christmas
- Di Forverts, 1917
- Di Forverts, 1917
December 25, 2025 at 2:48 PM
Santa Claus, the Elijah the Prophet of American Christmas
- Di Forverts, 1917
- Di Forverts, 1917
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
As a Jew, it’s fun watching the administration post Christian nationalist messages while also saying they are doing everything they can to curb antisemitism.
Here’s the U.S. government being officially religious in a country with no official religion.
December 25, 2025 at 3:37 PM
As a Jew, it’s fun watching the administration post Christian nationalist messages while also saying they are doing everything they can to curb antisemitism.
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
We talked about running these numbers at UM soc when it became so obvious that women TAs got more complaints for the same classes. Glad someone tested it formally.
Experimental evidence that students are more likely to contest grades when they are delivered by an evaluator with a female-sounding name.
"These findings suggest that women in evaluative positions face disproportionate resistance when delivering negative assessments."
"These findings suggest that women in evaluative positions face disproportionate resistance when delivering negative assessments."
December 25, 2025 at 3:30 PM
We talked about running these numbers at UM soc when it became so obvious that women TAs got more complaints for the same classes. Glad someone tested it formally.
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
It really is about the notes you don’t play
Kennedy Center Christmas Eve jazz concert canceled after Trump's name added reut.rs/3NfgBky
Kennedy Center Christmas Eve jazz concert canceled after Trump's name added
A planned Christmas Eve jazz concert at the Kennedy Center was canceled, with the host of the longtime annual performance attributing the decision to the addition of Republican U.S. President Donald Trump's name to the institution in Washington.
reut.rs
December 25, 2025 at 1:30 PM
It really is about the notes you don’t play