Dennis Baron
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drgrammar.bsky.social
Dennis Baron
@drgrammar.bsky.social
500 followers 140 following 520 posts
I write about language and … language and law (free speech and regulation); gender (pronouns!); tech (how tech affects readers and writers); language reform; and language policing. All from a historical perspective.
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drgrammar.bsky.social
So bankbooks are obsolete, 🐝?
New York Times Spelling Bee says bankbook is not a word
November 14, 2025 at 7:00 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
With the assault-by-sub-sandwich trial in progress here's a re-up of my post, "Is a sandwich a weapon? And if so, does it enjoy constitutional protection?" blogs.illinois.edu/view/25
Is a sandwich a weapon? And if so, does it enjoy constitutional protection?
blogs.illinois.edu
November 6, 2025 at 1:27 AM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Cry the spilt milk. Le Figaro quiz testing the equivalence of English and French idioms, great but maybe first get the English right?
Que signifie l’expression «to cry the spilt milk» (Pleurer sur le lait renversé) ? Être anxieux pour l’avenir Mélanger deux choses incompatibles Pleurer sur pas grand chose
November 5, 2025 at 12:25 AM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Two views of the University of Chicago . . .
The moon nearing fullness beside the Theological Seminary Tower at the University of Chicago A Lyft bike at the University of Chicago with the message "deport ice"
November 4, 2025 at 3:40 AM
drgrammar.bsky.social
It's the stuff concrete poems are made from.
New York times spelling bee says poetite is not in the word list
November 2, 2025 at 3:49 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
The Böcker Agilo is the perfect gift for the jewel thieves on your list.
Wry ad promoting the Böcker Agilo "when you have to go fast" it can move 400 kilos of treasure 40 metres per minute.
October 22, 2025 at 7:40 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
The euro sausage strikes again...
European Parliament to rule that anything called a sausage, burger, or cutlet must contain meat. No veggie sausages. Jim Hacker complains in 1984 episode of Yes, Prime Minister, the the EU will standardize the eurosausage, making the British banger illegal.
October 7, 2025 at 9:47 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
5 across No visa for you, Paul.
Guardian cryptic crossword clue reads "Stupid effin' old man's twittering nonsense?" Answer is covfefe
October 1, 2025 at 2:30 AM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Waiting to see if last night's rain means fish might be back ....
A blue heron in a small stream
September 24, 2025 at 10:46 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
That's ok, 🐝, I can wait.
New York Times Spelling Bee says godot is not a word.
September 22, 2025 at 1:52 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Pronouns in the news, 1955 edition: The clue for 27 across, "proposed third-person genderless pronoun," assumes that at least some solvers will be familiar with "thon."
A crossword puzzle June 22, 1995.
September 17, 2025 at 4:29 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
🐝 the speardanes would like a word...
new york times spelling bee says hwaet is not a word. opening of Beowulf: hwæt we gardena...
September 15, 2025 at 10:24 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Pronouns in the news, 1869 edition: San Francisco Woman Suffrage Society votes on use of generic "she" to refer to men who join. When that proposal failed, the group settled on "he or she." SF Chronicle, Dec. 26, p. 1.
The amendment proposed was, that wherever the word "she" occurred in this instrument, it should be construed to mean jointly "he or she." Thus: did a man happen to become President, Secretary or other officer of the band, it would be proper to term him "she," with a profound indifference and contempt for the nature of his sex.
September 11, 2025 at 5:55 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
A particularly photogenic coffee at Plein Air Café
mostly finished cappuccino.
September 10, 2025 at 10:53 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Me, on free speech, the flag burning ban, and, oh, did sombody say pronouns? scholarscircle.org
The Scholars' Circle
Insight into Today's Most Pressing Issues
scholarscircle.org
September 10, 2025 at 10:49 PM
Reposted by Dennis Baron
cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org
"Uses a variety of research methods to demonstrate how policies that concern language status are inseparable from economics, race, and identity politics."

Making English Official by Katherine S. Flowers | Out Now & #OpenAcccess

https://cup.org/4m0J21C

#LangSky 🐦🐦 🗺️ #Linguistics
Aerial photograph of two bridges over a body of water
September 8, 2025 at 7:05 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
My review of King & Conqueror: Wait for the tapestry.
Bayeux Tapestry panel: harold interfectus est
September 4, 2025 at 6:18 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
I get better hate mail than you do.
Reader fails to identify satire and goes on a diatribe in defense of English.
September 2, 2025 at 4:03 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Donald Trump doesn’t want non-English-speakers to assimilate. He just wants them gone. First he declared English official. Then his Dept. of Ed dropped support for English language learners. What's next for them? A ticket to Rwanda?
read about it here:
weboflanguage.substack.com/p/donald-tru...
Donald Trump doesn’t want non-English-speakers to assimilate.
He just wants them gone.
weboflanguage.substack.com
August 31, 2025 at 5:43 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Trying a substack to see if gets more traffic than a blog:

We, as Concerned Legal Lexicographers, submit this declaration in an attempt to answer the question, Is a sandwich a weapon? And if so, is it protected by the Constitution?

weboflanguage.substack.com/p/is-a-sandw...
Is a sandwich a weapon?
If so, is it protected by the Constitution?
weboflanguage.substack.com
August 27, 2025 at 6:25 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
Is a sandwich a weapon enjoying Second Amendment protection? Find out now on the Web of Language:

bit.ly/4lwuF4H
Is a sandwich a weapon?
bit.ly
August 19, 2025 at 7:30 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
After defining a sandwich (is a hot dog a sandwich? a taco? a blintz?) we must then determine whether a sandwich is a weapon.
Arms, In the understanding of law, are extended to any thing that a man wears for his defence or takes into his hands, or useth in wrath to cast at or strike another."
August 16, 2025 at 3:39 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
How not to correct anyone's pronouns and verbs, 1923 edition: 'His'n' is not English;; 'took' adds nothing to the hitting. Uh . . . [San Francisco Call and Post, Sept. 19, p. 14.]
Wrong: How's the folks? Right: How are the folks? The subject of the verb is folks, which is plural. Wrong: He took and hit her. Right: He hit her. Took and adds nothing to the idea of hitting. Its use is a vulgarism. Wrong: He'll get his'n. Right: He'll get his. The possessive pronoun of the third person singular, masculine gender, is his, not his'n. His'n is not English. Copyright 1923, King Feature Syndicate, Inc.
August 16, 2025 at 2:32 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
So BBC "culture" lists the best "fiction novels"--but what if I want some other kind of novel?
BBC Culture: These are the 12 best fiction novels of the year so far, according to BBC journalists.
August 14, 2025 at 10:31 PM
drgrammar.bsky.social
...and the portions are so small.
It has been alleged that Erin Patterson had cooked Simon a penne bolognese in November 2021, a chicken curry korma in May 2022 and a curry wrap in September 2022, which left him hospitalized on all three occasions.
August 8, 2025 at 2:48 PM