Gretchen McCulloch
@gretchenmcculloch.com
Internet linguist. Wrote Because Internet, NYT bestseller about internet language. Co-hosts @lingthusiasm.com, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics.
she/her 🌈
Montreal en/fr 🇨🇦
gretchenmcculloch.com
she/her 🌈
Montreal en/fr 🇨🇦
gretchenmcculloch.com
Longer description, just in case:
January 2, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Longer description, just in case:
Made one of those 2026 bingo cards:
December 31, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Made one of those 2026 bingo cards:
Lo, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer –
That beast didn’t have unshiny nostrils!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Anglo Saxon meter:
allthingslinguistic.com/post/1359368...
That beast didn’t have unshiny nostrils!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Anglo Saxon meter:
allthingslinguistic.com/post/1359368...
December 24, 2025 at 11:24 PM
Lo, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer –
That beast didn’t have unshiny nostrils!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Anglo Saxon meter:
allthingslinguistic.com/post/1359368...
That beast didn’t have unshiny nostrils!
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Anglo Saxon meter:
allthingslinguistic.com/post/1359368...
Salted caramel paired with Carry On by @rainbowrowell.bsky.social
I remember when the salted caramel trend was suddenly everywhere, which reminds me of this magical system relying on living usage
The final day of #BooksAreMyJam!
What other book would you add and what jam would it go with?
I remember when the salted caramel trend was suddenly everywhere, which reminds me of this magical system relying on living usage
The final day of #BooksAreMyJam!
What other book would you add and what jam would it go with?
December 24, 2025 at 10:16 PM
Salted caramel paired with Carry On by @rainbowrowell.bsky.social
I remember when the salted caramel trend was suddenly everywhere, which reminds me of this magical system relying on living usage
The final day of #BooksAreMyJam!
What other book would you add and what jam would it go with?
I remember when the salted caramel trend was suddenly everywhere, which reminds me of this magical system relying on living usage
The final day of #BooksAreMyJam!
What other book would you add and what jam would it go with?
Strawberry rhubarb paired with The Raven Tower by @annleckie.com: rhubarb is another word for nonsense, and the narrator of this linguistically intriguing book is barred from nonsense out of danger it'll become true
Day 23 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 23 of #BooksAreMyJam
December 23, 2025 at 6:52 PM
Strawberry rhubarb paired with The Raven Tower by @annleckie.com: rhubarb is another word for nonsense, and the narrator of this linguistically intriguing book is barred from nonsense out of danger it'll become true
Day 23 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 23 of #BooksAreMyJam
Raspberry lychee jam paired with The Art of Language Invention by David J Peterson: the multiple pronunciations of lychee/litchi reminded me of the retconning necessary to make some of the original Game of Thrones names fit in with the subsequently fleshed-out Dothraki language
Day 22 #ThisIsMyJam
Day 22 #ThisIsMyJam
December 22, 2025 at 8:12 PM
Raspberry lychee jam paired with The Art of Language Invention by David J Peterson: the multiple pronunciations of lychee/litchi reminded me of the retconning necessary to make some of the original Game of Thrones names fit in with the subsequently fleshed-out Dothraki language
Day 22 #ThisIsMyJam
Day 22 #ThisIsMyJam
Strawberry passion fruit paired with The Language of Food by Dan Jurafsky, since I've eaten both fruits under many names: fraise, erdbeere, maracuyá, lilikoi...
Day 21 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a linguistics-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
Day 21 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a linguistics-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
December 21, 2025 at 7:32 PM
Strawberry passion fruit paired with The Language of Food by Dan Jurafsky, since I've eaten both fruits under many names: fraise, erdbeere, maracuyá, lilikoi...
Day 21 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a linguistics-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
Day 21 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a linguistics-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
Blackcurrant peach with Sichuan peppercorns paired with True Biz by @novicsara.bsky.social (my much-battered copy from taking it with me to ASL camp last summer), for the feeling of being simultaneously numb and on fire
Day 20 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 20 of #BooksAreMyJam
December 20, 2025 at 6:16 PM
Blackcurrant peach with Sichuan peppercorns paired with True Biz by @novicsara.bsky.social (my much-battered copy from taking it with me to ASL camp last summer), for the feeling of being simultaneously numb and on fire
Day 20 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 20 of #BooksAreMyJam
Mandarins, Italian paired with Index, a History of the by Dennis Duncan
Day 19 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a language-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
Day 19 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a language-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
December 19, 2025 at 10:43 PM
Mandarins, Italian paired with Index, a History of the by Dennis Duncan
Day 19 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a language-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
Day 19 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a language-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
Pink peppercorn and cherry with a spicy book of gestures that I apparently acquired in high school at some point and forgot about until rediscovering it in a box recently?
Day 18 of #ThisIsMyJam
Day 18 of #ThisIsMyJam
December 19, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Pink peppercorn and cherry with a spicy book of gestures that I apparently acquired in high school at some point and forgot about until rediscovering it in a box recently?
Day 18 of #ThisIsMyJam
Day 18 of #ThisIsMyJam
Cinnamon clementine pear, a bright yellow jam which I found particularly delicious, paired with a bright yellow Because Internet that I wrote myself!
Day 17 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair linguistics-y books from my shelves with each day's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
Day 17 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair linguistics-y books from my shelves with each day's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
December 17, 2025 at 11:35 PM
Cinnamon clementine pear, a bright yellow jam which I found particularly delicious, paired with a bright yellow Because Internet that I wrote myself!
Day 17 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair linguistics-y books from my shelves with each day's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
Day 17 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair linguistics-y books from my shelves with each day's jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar
Orange yuzu grapefruit marmelade paired with Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn for their shared Z. It taught me what an episolary novel and a pangram were as a young person and cemented our @lingthusiasm.bsky.social partnership early on when we realized we were both fans of it
Day 16 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 16 of #BooksAreMyJam
December 16, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Orange yuzu grapefruit marmelade paired with Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn for their shared Z. It taught me what an episolary novel and a pangram were as a young person and cemented our @lingthusiasm.bsky.social partnership early on when we realized we were both fans of it
Day 16 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 16 of #BooksAreMyJam
Orange guava lime jam with Language City by Ross Perlin
(I promise the real cover is more eye-catching than my advance copy)
Stories of the 700 languages actively spoken in New York City, by the same processes of human movement that let me eat guava today in snowy Montreal
#ThisIsMyJam Day 15
(I promise the real cover is more eye-catching than my advance copy)
Stories of the 700 languages actively spoken in New York City, by the same processes of human movement that let me eat guava today in snowy Montreal
#ThisIsMyJam Day 15
December 15, 2025 at 6:39 PM
Orange guava lime jam with Language City by Ross Perlin
(I promise the real cover is more eye-catching than my advance copy)
Stories of the 700 languages actively spoken in New York City, by the same processes of human movement that let me eat guava today in snowy Montreal
#ThisIsMyJam Day 15
(I promise the real cover is more eye-catching than my advance copy)
Stories of the 700 languages actively spoken in New York City, by the same processes of human movement that let me eat guava today in snowy Montreal
#ThisIsMyJam Day 15
When I visited Australia a few years ago it was mango season, so I've paired this ginger mango jam with Gesture: A Slim Guide by @superlinguo.bsky.social, who's my cohost on @lingthusiasm.bsky.social and the reason I was there!
Day 14 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 14 of #BooksAreMyJam
December 14, 2025 at 5:39 PM
When I visited Australia a few years ago it was mango season, so I've paired this ginger mango jam with Gesture: A Slim Guide by @superlinguo.bsky.social, who's my cohost on @lingthusiasm.bsky.social and the reason I was there!
Day 14 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 14 of #BooksAreMyJam
Did you know that a word for honey but not for bees has been reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European, leading to theories that they traded for honey?
Honey apricot with Proto: How one ancient language went global by @lauraspinney.bsky.social
Day 13 of #BooksAreMyJam
Honey apricot with Proto: How one ancient language went global by @lauraspinney.bsky.social
Day 13 of #BooksAreMyJam
December 13, 2025 at 5:37 PM
Did you know that a word for honey but not for bees has been reconstructed for Proto-Indo-European, leading to theories that they traded for honey?
Honey apricot with Proto: How one ancient language went global by @lauraspinney.bsky.social
Day 13 of #BooksAreMyJam
Honey apricot with Proto: How one ancient language went global by @lauraspinney.bsky.social
Day 13 of #BooksAreMyJam
Raspberry redcurrant jelly with Babel: Around the world in twenty languages by Gaston Dorren. Redcurrant makes me think of Europe, so I've paired it with this Dutch writer's window into the twenty most spoken languages of the world.
Day 12 of #ThisIsMyJam!
Day 12 of #ThisIsMyJam!
December 12, 2025 at 10:10 PM
Raspberry redcurrant jelly with Babel: Around the world in twenty languages by Gaston Dorren. Redcurrant makes me think of Europe, so I've paired it with this Dutch writer's window into the twenty most spoken languages of the world.
Day 12 of #ThisIsMyJam!
Day 12 of #ThisIsMyJam!
Pineapple, rum, and vanilla gives me old and golden vibes that I'm pairing with Bea Wolf: @zachweinersmith.bsky.social retelling Beowulf as a kids fable in full Anglo Saxon meter. It's glorious
Day 11 of #ThisIsMyJam: books from my shelves paired with jams from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
Day 11 of #ThisIsMyJam: books from my shelves paired with jams from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
December 12, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Pineapple, rum, and vanilla gives me old and golden vibes that I'm pairing with Bea Wolf: @zachweinersmith.bsky.social retelling Beowulf as a kids fable in full Anglo Saxon meter. It's glorious
Day 11 of #ThisIsMyJam: books from my shelves paired with jams from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
Day 11 of #ThisIsMyJam: books from my shelves paired with jams from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar
Yes, OK is also a silly language fad in origin from the 1830s, truly there is nothing new under the sun
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK
December 11, 2025 at 5:33 AM
Yes, OK is also a silly language fad in origin from the 1830s, truly there is nothing new under the sun
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OK
Blueberry, lychee, rose jam paired with To Shape A Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
An Indigenous girl learns to work with a dragon in an alt history of American colonization (with really interesting linguistic elements) plus a jam featuring fruits from both places
#BooksAreMyJam Day 10
An Indigenous girl learns to work with a dragon in an alt history of American colonization (with really interesting linguistic elements) plus a jam featuring fruits from both places
#BooksAreMyJam Day 10
December 10, 2025 at 6:26 PM
Blueberry, lychee, rose jam paired with To Shape A Dragon's Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
An Indigenous girl learns to work with a dragon in an alt history of American colonization (with really interesting linguistic elements) plus a jam featuring fruits from both places
#BooksAreMyJam Day 10
An Indigenous girl learns to work with a dragon in an alt history of American colonization (with really interesting linguistic elements) plus a jam featuring fruits from both places
#BooksAreMyJam Day 10
Vanilla caramel, a classic flavour, with the oldest pop linguistics book I own, a used copy of Language Made Plain by Anthony Burgess
(yes, the Clockwork Orange guy also wrote an intro to linguistics - the penciled flyleaf reminds me I bought it used for 50¢, in high school)
#BooksAreMyJam day 9
(yes, the Clockwork Orange guy also wrote an intro to linguistics - the penciled flyleaf reminds me I bought it used for 50¢, in high school)
#BooksAreMyJam day 9
December 10, 2025 at 12:39 AM
Vanilla caramel, a classic flavour, with the oldest pop linguistics book I own, a used copy of Language Made Plain by Anthony Burgess
(yes, the Clockwork Orange guy also wrote an intro to linguistics - the penciled flyleaf reminds me I bought it used for 50¢, in high school)
#BooksAreMyJam day 9
(yes, the Clockwork Orange guy also wrote an intro to linguistics - the penciled flyleaf reminds me I bought it used for 50¢, in high school)
#BooksAreMyJam day 9
Lemon verbena white nectarine and peach with The Language Lover's Puzzle book by @alexbellos.bsky.social
This wordlist feels like the intro to a word problem, and this book contains language puzzles in profusion, plus solutions if you get stuck & context notes on the languages
#BooksAreMyJam day 8
This wordlist feels like the intro to a word problem, and this book contains language puzzles in profusion, plus solutions if you get stuck & context notes on the languages
#BooksAreMyJam day 8
December 8, 2025 at 3:28 PM
Lemon verbena white nectarine and peach with The Language Lover's Puzzle book by @alexbellos.bsky.social
This wordlist feels like the intro to a word problem, and this book contains language puzzles in profusion, plus solutions if you get stuck & context notes on the languages
#BooksAreMyJam day 8
This wordlist feels like the intro to a word problem, and this book contains language puzzles in profusion, plus solutions if you get stuck & context notes on the languages
#BooksAreMyJam day 8
Coffee caramel spread paired with The Fifth Season by @nkjemisin.bsky.social (whose geology-based swear word system I loved linguistically) for their extensive histories of systemic exploitation
It's day 7 of #BooksAreMyJam!
It's day 7 of #BooksAreMyJam!
December 8, 2025 at 1:39 AM
Coffee caramel spread paired with The Fifth Season by @nkjemisin.bsky.social (whose geology-based swear word system I loved linguistically) for their extensive histories of systemic exploitation
It's day 7 of #BooksAreMyJam!
It's day 7 of #BooksAreMyJam!
Lavender and apricot are foods that underwent long and meandering journeys through the ancient world to get to us today, so I'm pairing them with The Odyssey (translation by Emily Wilson)
It's day 6 of #BooksAreMyJam!
It's day 6 of #BooksAreMyJam!
December 6, 2025 at 6:06 PM
Lavender and apricot are foods that underwent long and meandering journeys through the ancient world to get to us today, so I'm pairing them with The Odyssey (translation by Emily Wilson)
It's day 6 of #BooksAreMyJam!
It's day 6 of #BooksAreMyJam!
Apple cinnamon caramel, with Babel by @rfkuang.bsky.social: an initial rush of sweetness, a lingering aftertaste that's far more complex. A book about the tension of translation as powerful magic
Day 5 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 5 of #BooksAreMyJam
December 5, 2025 at 3:48 PM
Apple cinnamon caramel, with Babel by @rfkuang.bsky.social: an initial rush of sweetness, a lingering aftertaste that's far more complex. A book about the tension of translation as powerful magic
Day 5 of #BooksAreMyJam
Day 5 of #BooksAreMyJam
Cerise and violette are both foods that double as colour terms, so Day 4 #BooksAreMyJam is @korystamper.bsky.social True Color, about the history of writing colour definitions in black and white dictionaries. This is my advance copy but it's coming out next year and I highly recommend it!
December 4, 2025 at 8:47 PM
Cerise and violette are both foods that double as colour terms, so Day 4 #BooksAreMyJam is @korystamper.bsky.social True Color, about the history of writing colour definitions in black and white dictionaries. This is my advance copy but it's coming out next year and I highly recommend it!