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lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Lingthusiasm
@lingthusiasm.bsky.social
7.8K followers 1.4K following 3.9K posts
A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics! By @gretchenmcc.bsky.social and @superlinguo.bsky.social

"Fascinating" -NYT
"Joyously nerdy" -Buzzfeed

lingthusiasm.com

Not sure where to start? Try our silly personality quiz: bit.ly/lingthusiasmquiz
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lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Lingthusiasm @lingthusiasm.bsky.social · Oct 17
Sounds come out of them, signs are located at them, and they're fodder for many picturesque metaphors

In this episode we get enthusiastic about the NOSE!
109: On the nose - How the nose shapes language
We often invoke the idea of language by showing the mouth or the hands. But the nose is important to both signed and spoken languages: it can be a resonating chamber that air can get shaped by, as wel
soundcloud.com
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gretchenmcc.bsky.social
I haven't had such a great time watching linguistics singing and dancing since last year's "I put the glamour/back into grammar" video
lingthusiasm.bsky.social Lingthusiasm @lingthusiasm.bsky.social · 2d
This is a thoroughly delightful video from some linguists in Finland marrying Finnish etymology with Finnish folk dancing and even if you know nothing about any of these things their enthusiasm is contagious

(and it has English subtitles)
youtu.be/0FoOuV76vKA?...
Jankata
YouTube video by Kärhämä
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Reposted by Lingthusiasm
superlinguo.bsky.social
We watched this in our meeting today and it was charming, catchy and linguistically informative:
lingthusiasm.bsky.social Lingthusiasm @lingthusiasm.bsky.social · 2d
This is a thoroughly delightful video from some linguists in Finland marrying Finnish etymology with Finnish folk dancing and even if you know nothing about any of these things their enthusiasm is contagious

(and it has English subtitles)
youtu.be/0FoOuV76vKA?...
Jankata
YouTube video by Kärhämä
youtu.be
November 14, 2025 at 12:10 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
This is a thoroughly delightful video from some linguists in Finland marrying Finnish etymology with Finnish folk dancing and even if you know nothing about any of these things their enthusiasm is contagious

(and it has English subtitles)
youtu.be/0FoOuV76vKA?...
Jankata
YouTube video by Kärhämä
youtu.be
November 13, 2025 at 11:57 PM
Reposted by Lingthusiasm
gretchenmcc.bsky.social
At this year's @lingcomm.bsky.social conference, we learned that the UK has been celebrating National Linguistics Day on November 26th, and everyone immediately went, hey, can't we make that World Linguistics Day?

Well, now it's only 20 days away, so time to get your celebration plans in order!
lingthusiasm.bsky.social Lingthusiasm @lingthusiasm.bsky.social · 9d
Are you doing anything for World Linguistics Day on Nov 26th?

In our latest bonus episode, we get enthusiastic about linguistics-related celebrations, from International Mother Tongue Day to Talk Like A Pirate Day
Bonus 105: World Linguistics Day | Lingthusiasm
Get more from Lingthusiasm on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:38 AM
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linguisticdiscovery.com
Does the language you speak affect how you see the world?

This idea is called the *linguistic relativity hypothesis* or *Sapir-Whorf hypothesis*, and the @Lingthusiasm.bsky.social podcast put out a great episode treating this topic back in March.
Lingthusiasm - Lingthusiasm Episode 102: The science and fiction...
Lingthusiasm Episode 102: The science and fiction of Sapir-Whorf It’s a fun science fiction trope: learn a mysterious alien language and acquire superpowers, just like if you’d been zapped by a…
lingthusiasm.com
November 6, 2025 at 8:35 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Are you doing anything for World Linguistics Day on Nov 26th?

In our latest bonus episode, we get enthusiastic about linguistics-related celebrations, from International Mother Tongue Day to Talk Like A Pirate Day
Bonus 105: World Linguistics Day | Lingthusiasm
Get more from Lingthusiasm on Patreon
www.patreon.com
November 7, 2025 at 1:35 AM
Reposted by Lingthusiasm
katenepveu.bsky.social
thank you to @lingthusiasm.bsky.social for telling me about www.etymonline.com which is free and so useful!
Online Etymology Dictionary
The online etymology dictionary (etymonline) is the internet's go-to source for quick and reliable accounts of the origin and history of English words, phrases, and idioms.
www.etymonline.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:34 AM
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superlinguo.bsky.social
This is one of my favourite Lingthusiasm episode genres: Find one topic that lets us traipse through a whole heap of different subfields of linguistics.

The nose takes us through etymology, phonetics, sign phonology, idioms and gesture. It's a very fun episode.
October 19, 2025 at 11:43 PM
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veilandhollow.bsky.social
Just listened to @lingthusiasm.bsky.social on my way home from work. Time to strap on the old nosebag!

#linguistics #lingthusiasm #theoldnosebag
October 20, 2025 at 9:02 PM
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efrex.bsky.social
Highly enjoyable, as always. Love that “nasal voice” is a Janus word; need to add that to the list.

Biblical Hebrew uses “nose” (אף) idiomatically as an emotional center (presumably from its link to breathing)

“yichar af” / “nose burning” = “anger”
“erech apayim” / “extended nose” = “patience”
October 21, 2025 at 12:53 PM
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simonperera.bsky.social
«Los hombres cis usan el espacio de las vocales menos que otros grupos de población como los hombres LGTBIAQ+ y las mujeres.»

— @lingthusiasm.bsky.social (y que casualmente me contó también @freeool.bsky.social el otro día:
www.instagram.com/p/DOMtz25DN0H/)
Login • Instagram
Welcome back to Instagram. Sign in to check out what your friends, family & interests have been capturing & sharing around the world.
www.instagram.com
October 21, 2025 at 1:43 PM
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lingthusiasm.bsky.social
We've also made a new greeting card design that says {Merry/marry/Mary} Holidays!

Whether you say these words the same or differently, we hope this card leads to joyful discussions of linguistic variation

www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/1728...
Merry/marry/Mary Holidays! by Lingthusiasm | Redbubble
Want to congratulate a linguist? This card is here to help! With the word "congrats" transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet surrounded by a cheerful, confetti-like design of reds and yel...
www.redbubble.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:34 AM
Reposted by Lingthusiasm
sackofbooks.bsky.social
When somebody says they're listening to the most recent episode of @lingthusiasm.bsky.social.
a man with a mustache wearing a hat and a suit
Alt: Paul Newman's character from The Sting sliding a finger along the side of his nose (which is a secret way for con men to recognise each other in the movie).
media.tenor.com
October 17, 2025 at 11:50 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
One of us has now read Hellspark because of this rec and is making the other of us get it immediately, it's great and very linguistics-y!
attewode.bsky.social Trish B @attewode.bsky.social · Sep 23
@lingthusiasm.bsky.social I wonder if you've ever read 'Hellspark' by Janet Kagan and what you think of it if you have. It's a sci-fi murder mystery that is all about linguistics
October 17, 2025 at 4:20 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Sounds come out of them, signs are located at them, and they're fodder for many picturesque metaphors

In this episode we get enthusiastic about the NOSE!
109: On the nose - How the nose shapes language
We often invoke the idea of language by showing the mouth or the hands. But the nose is important to both signed and spoken languages: it can be a resonating chamber that air can get shaped by, as wel
soundcloud.com
October 17, 2025 at 3:23 AM
Reposted by Lingthusiasm
dclm.bsky.social
So I only just listened* to this episode, but @lingthusiasm.bsky.social comes through again with interesting content that’s going in my class slides. Also gonna check out that book by Ross Perlin.
*It’s a podcast AND they post v good transcripts
October 16, 2025 at 7:22 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Yeah so one of us has just read an advance copy of this book and you're probably going to want to preorder it
korystamper.bsky.social Kory Stamper @korystamper.bsky.social · Jul 15
Good morning, kids and people, today in book, we have a cover:

(Preorder this jawn at www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/555914... and use the Bookshop link if you can!)
The book cover for my latest book, "True Color: The Strange and Spectacular History of Defining Color--from Azure to Zinc Pink." It's a tan ground with multicolored...folded-over cards, or windows with shades, or books that are kind of fanned open, or color chips (it's meant to be mysterious) in a 4x3 grid with the title and the author name (mine) between each row.
October 12, 2025 at 2:30 AM
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gretchenmcc.bsky.social
If you like comic poems with good scansion or linguistic analyses of pop cultural phenomena, may I point out that I cohost @lingthusiasm.bsky.social, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics?

Find your perfect starter episode here: bit.ly/lingthusiasmquiz
Which Lingthusiasm episode are you?
Answer a few fun questions and this Highly Scientific quiz will tell you which episode of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics, matches your personality best!
bit.ly
October 10, 2025 at 3:20 AM
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gretchenmcc.bsky.social
Anyway I wrote an article back in 2013 analyzing permutations on Benedict Cumberbatch which you may read and sub in Timothée Chalamet should you so desire
web.archive.org/web/20250322...
A Linguist Explains the Rules of Summoning Benedict Cumberbatch -The Toast
A willing foe, and sea room.
web.archive.org
October 9, 2025 at 9:25 PM
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gretchenmcc.bsky.social
Higgledy piggledy
Timothée Chalamet
Has a name meriting
Endless design

Much like his forerunner
Benedict Cumberbatch:
Hexasyllabically,
Easy to rhyme
tweet from childish branzino @absflora: timothée chalamet is the new benedict cumberbatch in the sense that you can say ANYTHING and we know who you mean. tiffany chevrolet. timpanogos charlemagne. symphony cabernet. jiminy castaway.
October 9, 2025 at 6:57 PM
Reposted by Lingthusiasm
andrewhinton.bsky.social
Learn about demonyms just in time for Halloween 👹
lingthusiasm.bsky.social Lingthusiasm @lingthusiasm.bsky.social · Oct 3
You may have learned about synonyms & homonyms in school. But do you know about contronyms, hypernyms, eponyms, backronyms, retronyms, demonyms, razzonyms, phantonyms...

In our latests bonus ep we get enthusiastic about our favourite words ending in nym!
Bonus 104: What's in a nym? Synonyms, antonyms, and so many more | Lingthusiasm
Get more from Lingthusiasm on Patreon
www.patreon.com
October 9, 2025 at 11:23 AM
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solene314.bsky.social
@lingthusiasm.bsky.social This post would be very weird for someone who understand "frown" as something done with the eyebrows. As I did before, because the french translation is explicit about it (it's "froncer les sourcils", no idea if it's used in Canada too).
vazdimet.com Morgan Biscup @vazdimet.com · Oct 2
6yo: It would be cool if we could move our teeth around in our mouth. So when you want to smile you can make them curve up, or curve down when you want to frown, and flossing would be WAY EASIER.

#parenting
October 3, 2025 at 8:46 AM
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phaseolus.bsky.social
I'd never heard (or maybe noticed) the term 'acoustic bike' until I listened to a linguistics podcast two days ago that told me it's an example of a retronym
Gretchen: When you say this in a sentence, people will sometimes give you a double take, but they will understand you. Like, “Oh, yeah, I’m just gonna get the acoustic bicycle because the electric bicycle is on the fritz,” and they’re like, “Acoustic? Oh.” Lauren: It’s wild that that is actually – is “acoustic” gonna become productive do you think? Gretchen: Well, this is the thing. I put this on Bluesky because I was so entertained by it, and a number of people got very mad at me because they’re like, “This can’t possibly be the word for it. We should call it an ‘analog bicycle’.” But I was like, the other one isn’t a digital bicycle. An “e-bike” is not the same as a “digital bike.” A digital bike is one you ride in a videogame. Some people were saying a “manual bike,” but technically “manual” means with the hands. And if there’s one thing you don’t use for a bike typically, it is the hands. A hand-operated bike is an entirely different object. These exist. But the typical bike is not that. Lauren: But also, manual cars only got called “manual cars” because we invented automatic transmission. This is just a series of revelations for me. Gretchen: Yeah. But my favourite responses are the ones that were like, “All right. If ‘acoustic’ is productive now, I guess that means I have an acoustic toothbrush.” Lauren: How retro of you. Gretchen: It’s not an electric toothbrush. I think it’s so silly and so surprising. “Bicycle” has gone through this specifically several times because the current bicycles that we have with two wheels of equal size, when they were introduced, they were called “safety bicycles” because they were easier to handle than the earlier dominant style which had one large wheel and one small wheel. Lauren: Like a “penny farthing” or something like that. Gretchen: Well, “penny farthing” is a retronym because – Lauren: No! Gretchen: [Laughs] Those first got called an “ordinary bicycle,” much like a “standard transmission,” and then they’re really not the…
October 5, 2025 at 2:34 PM
Reposted by Lingthusiasm
phaseolus.bsky.social
credit: this Lingthusiasm podcast ep bsky.app/profile/ling...
Gretchen: [Laughs] Those first got called an “ordinary bicycle,” much like a “standard transmission,” and then they’re really not the ordinary kind of bicycle that anybody has. Lauren: So, you had an ordinary bike and a safety bike, but then we just started calling them “bikes” and “penny farthings,” and now you have “e-bikes.” You can imagine a world in which if they became the standard technology, they would just be bikes. You’d have an “acoustic” or a “mechanical” bike or something like that. Gretchen: This shift has happened over my lifetime with a word like “phone.” If you say, “I’m on my phone” – well, “I’m on my phone,” a bit different from “I’m on the phone” or like, “Where’s the phone?” The older use of landline phone is really much more about THE phone situation, whereas this is much more about MY phone situation. But if you say, “Draw a picture of a phone,” my default in imagery is the handheld touchscreen thing that I didn’t have when I was a child because they didn’t exist. I didn’t even have as a word when I was a child. A “phone” was a landline phone. “Phone” has gone through several stages with respect to this. Lauren: I’m not gonna lie. When you said you wanted to do an episode so you could talk about retronyms, I thought you were just gonna make your “acoustic bicycle” joke. I did not expect to actually go on a massive lexical change journey with you.
October 5, 2025 at 2:37 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
You may have learned about synonyms & homonyms in school. But do you know about contronyms, hypernyms, eponyms, backronyms, retronyms, demonyms, razzonyms, phantonyms...

In our latests bonus ep we get enthusiastic about our favourite words ending in nym!
Bonus 104: What's in a nym? Synonyms, antonyms, and so many more | Lingthusiasm
Get more from Lingthusiasm on Patreon
www.patreon.com
October 3, 2025 at 2:41 AM