Katherine Connor Martin
@kconnormartin.bsky.social
Former lexicographer and Brooklynite. Current product director and UK-based USian.
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
'A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire. Combining historical records with modern mapping techniques, researchers mapped hundreds of thousands of kilometres of roads. The findings nearly double the known length of Roman roads.'
‘Google Maps’ for Roman roads reveals vast extent of ancient network
A high-resolution digital map nearly doubles the known length of the ancient road network.
www.nature.com
November 7, 2025 at 11:33 AM
'A high-resolution digital map allows people to plan their routes along the ancient roads of the Roman Empire. Combining historical records with modern mapping techniques, researchers mapped hundreds of thousands of kilometres of roads. The findings nearly double the known length of Roman roads.'
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
The OED on _aunt_ n. sense 1.b.
October 28, 2025 at 8:25 PM
The OED on _aunt_ n. sense 1.b.
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
The Life of a ‘Showgirl,’ #etymology edition.
Adapted from OED. Show + girl.
- 1750, young girl regarded as object of display, especially one who dresses/behaviors ostentatiously.
- 1816, young woman employed to model clothes.
- 1836–37, female performer in musicals, et al. (chorus girl)
Adapted from OED. Show + girl.
- 1750, young girl regarded as object of display, especially one who dresses/behaviors ostentatiously.
- 1816, young woman employed to model clothes.
- 1836–37, female performer in musicals, et al. (chorus girl)
October 3, 2025 at 2:14 PM
The Life of a ‘Showgirl,’ #etymology edition.
Adapted from OED. Show + girl.
- 1750, young girl regarded as object of display, especially one who dresses/behaviors ostentatiously.
- 1816, young woman employed to model clothes.
- 1836–37, female performer in musicals, et al. (chorus girl)
Adapted from OED. Show + girl.
- 1750, young girl regarded as object of display, especially one who dresses/behaviors ostentatiously.
- 1816, young woman employed to model clothes.
- 1836–37, female performer in musicals, et al. (chorus girl)
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
At almost 2,000 years old, this child’s wooden toy sword is a remarkable survival from Roman times!
Found in the living quarters of the cavalry barracks at Vindolanda fort in 2017. Dated c.120 AD. Chesterholm Museum 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
Found in the living quarters of the cavalry barracks at Vindolanda fort in 2017. Dated c.120 AD. Chesterholm Museum 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
October 2, 2025 at 11:55 AM
At almost 2,000 years old, this child’s wooden toy sword is a remarkable survival from Roman times!
Found in the living quarters of the cavalry barracks at Vindolanda fort in 2017. Dated c.120 AD. Chesterholm Museum 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
Found in the living quarters of the cavalry barracks at Vindolanda fort in 2017. Dated c.120 AD. Chesterholm Museum 📷 by me
#RomanFortThursday
#Archaeology
Lots of intriguing patterns in this survey about the disciplines in which Americans think humanity has already discovered all there is to know.
September 30, 2025 at 11:44 AM
Lots of intriguing patterns in this survey about the disciplines in which Americans think humanity has already discovered all there is to know.
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
Our medieval curator Alison Ray introduces Rawlinson Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. D. 252...a 15th Century necromancer's journal.
This manuscript contains spells written in Latin and Middle English, and would have served as a reference for a professional sorcerer.
#MedievalMonday
This manuscript contains spells written in Latin and Middle English, and would have served as a reference for a professional sorcerer.
#MedievalMonday
September 15, 2025 at 3:17 PM
Our medieval curator Alison Ray introduces Rawlinson Bodleian Library MS. Rawl. D. 252...a 15th Century necromancer's journal.
This manuscript contains spells written in Latin and Middle English, and would have served as a reference for a professional sorcerer.
#MedievalMonday
This manuscript contains spells written in Latin and Middle English, and would have served as a reference for a professional sorcerer.
#MedievalMonday
"An organic trend can take longer to percolate into general usage but an algorithmic trend like the “clanker” joke may be deliberately reproduced by influencers who are actively aware of memes and how platforms reward them" on.ft.com/45PYTuY via @FT
From skibidi to rizz, why the internet loves slang
The online engagement treadmill deliberately pushes niche language into the mainstream
on.ft.com
September 4, 2025 at 7:15 AM
"An organic trend can take longer to percolate into general usage but an algorithmic trend like the “clanker” joke may be deliberately reproduced by influencers who are actively aware of memes and how platforms reward them" on.ft.com/45PYTuY via @FT
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
Participants needed for research on innovative grammar in Australian English.
It will involve an anonymous online questionnaire that will take approximately 5-15 minutes to complete.
It will involve an anonymous online questionnaire that will take approximately 5-15 minutes to complete.
Acceptability and use of grammatical innovation in Australian English
limesurvey.mq.edu.au
August 18, 2025 at 1:48 AM
Participants needed for research on innovative grammar in Australian English.
It will involve an anonymous online questionnaire that will take approximately 5-15 minutes to complete.
It will involve an anonymous online questionnaire that will take approximately 5-15 minutes to complete.
Over time, ironic and self-aware use of Trumpisms gives way to established speech patterns that are unmoored from their origin. Many such cases. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/o...
Opinion | The Insidious Creep of Trump’s Speaking Style
www.nytimes.com
August 18, 2025 at 6:51 AM
Over time, ironic and self-aware use of Trumpisms gives way to established speech patterns that are unmoored from their origin. Many such cases. (Gift link) www.nytimes.com/2025/08/17/o...
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
The Language of Memes is coming soon now. In the meantime, here's a post on Fifteen Eighty Four, the blog of Cambridge University Press 🤓
cambridgeblog.org/2025/08/unco...
cambridgeblog.org/2025/08/unco...
August 14, 2025 at 7:48 AM
"in the multimodal predictive construction that is a Scumbag Steve meme, the subject argument suppression forms part of the ways in which the text has adjusted to the presence of the image."
A fun analysis of meme grammar.
A fun analysis of meme grammar.
August 14, 2025 at 7:44 AM
"in the multimodal predictive construction that is a Scumbag Steve meme, the subject argument suppression forms part of the ways in which the text has adjusted to the presence of the image."
A fun analysis of meme grammar.
A fun analysis of meme grammar.
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
A bad day at the printing press, London 1660.
lib-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Record/fbfb3...
lib-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Record/fbfb3...
July 30, 2025 at 9:06 AM
A bad day at the printing press, London 1660.
lib-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Record/fbfb3...
lib-cat.trin.cam.ac.uk/Record/fbfb3...
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
17 years ago today we sent off the 1st ed of the Historical Thesaurus to OUP for publication in 2009! Scary to think that someone born as we typed in the final word might now be an undergraduate starting this year… (Pictured is Christian Kay handing over the envelope to Tommy Cameron, our janitor.)
July 30, 2025 at 8:21 AM
17 years ago today we sent off the 1st ed of the Historical Thesaurus to OUP for publication in 2009! Scary to think that someone born as we typed in the final word might now be an undergraduate starting this year… (Pictured is Christian Kay handing over the envelope to Tommy Cameron, our janitor.)
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
Researchers!
Short-term fellowships for working with Beinecke Library (and all Yale special collections) are open for applications.
Deadline is July 31.
beinecke.library.yale.edu/programs/fel...
Short-term fellowships for working with Beinecke Library (and all Yale special collections) are open for applications.
Deadline is July 31.
beinecke.library.yale.edu/programs/fel...
Fellowships
beinecke.library.yale.edu
July 14, 2025 at 12:38 PM
Researchers!
Short-term fellowships for working with Beinecke Library (and all Yale special collections) are open for applications.
Deadline is July 31.
beinecke.library.yale.edu/programs/fel...
Short-term fellowships for working with Beinecke Library (and all Yale special collections) are open for applications.
Deadline is July 31.
beinecke.library.yale.edu/programs/fel...
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
The OED traces the first known print usage of "bag of dicks" to a 1995 New York Magazine article on the standup comedy scene, though the specific originator of the phrase is unclear. books.google.com/books?id=6eQ...
July 9, 2025 at 4:07 PM
The OED traces the first known print usage of "bag of dicks" to a 1995 New York Magazine article on the standup comedy scene, though the specific originator of the phrase is unclear. books.google.com/books?id=6eQ...
I was intrigued by this 1949 "Gayese-English Dictionary", shared by Lindsay Rose Russell, which included blank pages for the reader to add their own notes about the queer lexicon.
June 26, 2025 at 8:50 PM
I was intrigued by this 1949 "Gayese-English Dictionary", shared by Lindsay Rose Russell, which included blank pages for the reader to add their own notes about the queer lexicon.
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
For folks who enjoy archival photos, Texas Highways did a nice #Juneteenth piece documenting celebrations over the past 160 years. #TexasHistory #BlackHistory #BlackTexasHistory
texashighways.com/travel-news/...
texashighways.com/travel-news/...
The History of Juneteenth in Photos
Junteenth commemorates the issuance of General Order No. 3 in Galveston, informing enslaved people of their freedom and the end of the Civil War.
texashighways.com
June 19, 2025 at 10:37 AM
For folks who enjoy archival photos, Texas Highways did a nice #Juneteenth piece documenting celebrations over the past 160 years. #TexasHistory #BlackHistory #BlackTexasHistory
texashighways.com/travel-news/...
texashighways.com/travel-news/...
Interesting to see AusE apparently mildly siding with AmE over BrE. The Eggplant Axis.
Well spotted
June 17, 2025 at 9:50 AM
Interesting to see AusE apparently mildly siding with AmE over BrE. The Eggplant Axis.
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
The debut of "shitload" in the NYT is as good an occasion as any to read @ivacheung.com's vintage @stronglang.bsky.social post comparing it with "fuckton", "buttload", and other sweary units of measure: stronglang.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/u...
June 11, 2025 at 6:48 PM
The debut of "shitload" in the NYT is as good an occasion as any to read @ivacheung.com's vintage @stronglang.bsky.social post comparing it with "fuckton", "buttload", and other sweary units of measure: stronglang.wordpress.com/2015/01/31/u...
I can't be the only person to have started self-policing my use of LLM-coded locutions.
Farewell, "delve".
Farewell, "delve".
May 8, 2025 at 6:05 PM
I can't be the only person to have started self-policing my use of LLM-coded locutions.
Farewell, "delve".
Farewell, "delve".
Interesting to see the prominence of "bonkers" as a UK to US import. Besides its evocativeness I wonder if there is a motivation to avoid the mental-health connotation of "crazy"?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
Bonkers for Britishisms: the UK terms Americans have embraced
Researchers have catalogued the British words and phrases most used in US conversation, sparking delight and frustration
www.theguardian.com
April 12, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Interesting to see the prominence of "bonkers" as a UK to US import. Besides its evocativeness I wonder if there is a motivation to avoid the mental-health connotation of "crazy"?
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025...
If you are interested in how dictionaries have documented queer vocabulary and its impact on English, don't miss this upcoming webinar from the OED. It's a superb panel.
events.oup.com/oup-academic...
events.oup.com/oup-academic...
LGBTIAQ+ Lexicography in the Oxford English Dictionary
Join <em>OED</em> editors and guest speakers for a virtual discussion where they will delve into the world of queer vocabulary and its representation in dictionaries.
This event will explore the evo...
events.oup.com
April 10, 2025 at 5:30 PM
If you are interested in how dictionaries have documented queer vocabulary and its impact on English, don't miss this upcoming webinar from the OED. It's a superb panel.
events.oup.com/oup-academic...
events.oup.com/oup-academic...
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
Post a warning
March 23, 2025 at 12:45 PM
Post a warning
Reposted by Katherine Connor Martin
Happy OK Day!
On 23 March 1839, the word OK appeared for the first time in the Boston Morning Globe. It was a humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect". Funny abbreviations were kind of a fad at the time, kind of like the netspeak we see today.
We at Because Language hope your day is OK.
On 23 March 1839, the word OK appeared for the first time in the Boston Morning Globe. It was a humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect". Funny abbreviations were kind of a fad at the time, kind of like the netspeak we see today.
We at Because Language hope your day is OK.
March 23, 2025 at 4:09 AM
Happy OK Day!
On 23 March 1839, the word OK appeared for the first time in the Boston Morning Globe. It was a humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect". Funny abbreviations were kind of a fad at the time, kind of like the netspeak we see today.
We at Because Language hope your day is OK.
On 23 March 1839, the word OK appeared for the first time in the Boston Morning Globe. It was a humorous abbreviation for "oll korrect". Funny abbreviations were kind of a fad at the time, kind of like the netspeak we see today.
We at Because Language hope your day is OK.