Jen Nycz
@jennycz.bsky.social
Sociophonetician & Associate Prof @ Georgetown. Linguistics, cats, DC, science, quips. She/her.
Reposted by Jen Nycz
![4-panel vertical comic. (1) 100 Years Ago [two people standing next to bicycle with small car nearby] PERSON 1: It’s too dangerous riding a bike with these cars around. I should get a car, too. (2) 50 Years Ago [two people between smaller car and bigger car] PERSON 2 with short hair: Small cars are less safe in collisions with larger vehicles, so I should get a bigger one. (3) Today [two people between big car and even bigger car] PERSON 1: Everyone has huge SUVs now. If I don’t get the biggest one, I’m putting my family at risk. (4) Soon [two people next to large armored car with spiked clubs attached] PERSON 2: If I don’t install more whirling spike clubs, I’ll be destroyed by all the other drivers who...](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:cz73r7iyiqn26upot4jtjdhk/bafkreiby6can6k76yzfmv2czxs4pu2l7zie7bqbrpswi7h3ifmiadkuqvu@jpeg)
Reposted by Jen Nycz
Hi BlueSky! Georgetown Linguistics is here and ready to post about our department and community! Follow us for all things GU Linguistics! #linguistics #georgetown #GURT2026
November 6, 2025 at 5:57 PM
Hi BlueSky! Georgetown Linguistics is here and ready to post about our department and community! Follow us for all things GU Linguistics! #linguistics #georgetown #GURT2026
Reposted by Jen Nycz
"Hiring professors with PhDs is meaningless if administrators are the ones deciding what gets taught,” he said. “Faculty will start asking not, ‘Is this accurate?’ but ‘Will this get me in trouble?’ That’s not education, it’s risk management.”
#HigherEd
#HigherEd
Leonard Bright, president of the Texas A&M Chapter of the AAUP said faculty were not consulted on the proposed changes, which he called “a direct violation” of their expertise + freedom to teach. “If that’s the case, there’s just going to be a further black eye on higher education here in Texas.”
Texas A&M to vote on banning “race and gender ideology”
The proposal appears to mark the first time a Texas university system offers definitions of what kind of instruction related to race and gender should not be permitted.
www.texastribune.org
November 11, 2025 at 12:57 AM
"Hiring professors with PhDs is meaningless if administrators are the ones deciding what gets taught,” he said. “Faculty will start asking not, ‘Is this accurate?’ but ‘Will this get me in trouble?’ That’s not education, it’s risk management.”
#HigherEd
#HigherEd
Reposted by Jen Nycz
In her #NWAV53 plenary, King discusses an example of a juror being dismissed from the pool due to forestressing in the word police (so PO-lice), because the prosecutor claimed that the pronunciation showed animus towards law enforcement. And this is exactly why I study prosody!
November 6, 2025 at 4:27 PM
In her #NWAV53 plenary, King discusses an example of a juror being dismissed from the pool due to forestressing in the word police (so PO-lice), because the prosecutor claimed that the pronunciation showed animus towards law enforcement. And this is exactly why I study prosody!
Georgetown linguists are giving 6 talks and 2 posters at #NWAV53 this week! #Linguistics 🧵
November 5, 2025 at 5:10 PM
Georgetown linguists are giving 6 talks and 2 posters at #NWAV53 this week! #Linguistics 🧵
Reposted by Jen Nycz
Y'all know what to do!
November 1, 2025 at 7:38 PM
Y'all know what to do!
Reposted by Jen Nycz
Let’s be clear, most EBT users are white. The reason he’s specifically lying about “weaves” and we’ve seen so many AI fakes of Black women ranting about food stamps is they need to make BW the face EBT because they know many Americans don’t care if Black people suffer, and some actually wish for it.
ROB SCHMITT: People are using SNAP benefits to get their nails done, to get their weaves and their hair. This is a really ugly program.
SEN. RON JOHNSON: That program needs to be dramatically reformed.
SEN. RON JOHNSON: That program needs to be dramatically reformed.
November 1, 2025 at 5:22 PM
Let’s be clear, most EBT users are white. The reason he’s specifically lying about “weaves” and we’ve seen so many AI fakes of Black women ranting about food stamps is they need to make BW the face EBT because they know many Americans don’t care if Black people suffer, and some actually wish for it.
Reposted by Jen Nycz
NYC linguists give the linguistic answer, but also patiently explain why this isn't an excuse:
“We can learn hard names. We can do it. We can figure out how the spellings map to the sounds. We can all get there. We just have to practice.” - @laurelmack.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
“We can learn hard names. We can do it. We can figure out how the spellings map to the sounds. We can all get there. We just have to practice.” - @laurelmack.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
Why Can’t People Pronounce ‘Zohran Mamdani’? (Gift Article)
Friends and foes keep getting it wrong. Mr. Mamdani says, “It’s pretty phonetic honestly.”
www.nytimes.com
October 22, 2025 at 5:11 PM
NYC linguists give the linguistic answer, but also patiently explain why this isn't an excuse:
“We can learn hard names. We can do it. We can figure out how the spellings map to the sounds. We can all get there. We just have to practice.” - @laurelmack.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
“We can learn hard names. We can do it. We can figure out how the spellings map to the sounds. We can all get there. We just have to practice.” - @laurelmack.bsky.social
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
"Knowledge is worth your time because of how it shapes your mind...even when it's not obvious how you will profit from it. You are more than a future source of profit, and humanity's survival depends on all of us understanding this."
October 23, 2025 at 2:38 PM
"Knowledge is worth your time because of how it shapes your mind...even when it's not obvious how you will profit from it. You are more than a future source of profit, and humanity's survival depends on all of us understanding this."
Reposted by Jen Nycz
I'm working on my NWAV talk, and I just want to meditate on the beauty and the chaos of the hand-drafted vowel plots from Labov, Yaeger, Steiner (1972)
October 22, 2025 at 9:20 PM
I'm working on my NWAV talk, and I just want to meditate on the beauty and the chaos of the hand-drafted vowel plots from Labov, Yaeger, Steiner (1972)
Reposted by Jen Nycz
I'm just a simple country doctor, but maybe it was a bad idea to outsource so much of higher ed's infrastructure to private companies' proprietary technologies with single points of failure.
According to more than a dozen college and uni students, “the Canvas outage threw off their schedules, preventing them from not just submitting and viewing assignments but also from participating in-class activities, contacting professors, and accessing the textbooks and other materials…”
The AWS Outage Was a Nightmare for College Students
The outage impacted online learning platform Canvas, which is used by half of college students across the US, leaving many unable to access course materials or contact professors.
www.wired.com
October 21, 2025 at 4:11 PM
I'm just a simple country doctor, but maybe it was a bad idea to outsource so much of higher ed's infrastructure to private companies' proprietary technologies with single points of failure.
Reposted by Jen Nycz
Imagine working in a restaurant where the boss tells you the job performance is based only on tables served. But then every shift you are scheduled to the stockroom, the dishwashing station, and occasionally to like, trim the hedges outside.
Anyway. I'm an associate professor...
Anyway. I'm an associate professor...
October 19, 2025 at 6:32 PM
Imagine working in a restaurant where the boss tells you the job performance is based only on tables served. But then every shift you are scheduled to the stockroom, the dishwashing station, and occasionally to like, trim the hedges outside.
Anyway. I'm an associate professor...
Anyway. I'm an associate professor...
Reposted by Jen Nycz
I've received an 'exclusive' invite to try Nature's new 'research assistant', which will burn down a forest to provide a 'summary of the paper' I'm reading and I have SUCH exciting news for them, that's called an 'abstract' and the actual authors already wrote it for me, no forest-burning required.
October 17, 2025 at 2:10 PM
I've received an 'exclusive' invite to try Nature's new 'research assistant', which will burn down a forest to provide a 'summary of the paper' I'm reading and I have SUCH exciting news for them, that's called an 'abstract' and the actual authors already wrote it for me, no forest-burning required.
Reposted by Jen Nycz
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
October 17, 2025 at 12:16 PM
In about three years the entire university pivot to AI curricula and schools and programs is going to be so deeply embarrassing. We will all pretend it never happened and I will be standing there, looking at people with a mirror in my eyes. This is all so embarrassing.
Reposted by Jen Nycz
BREAKING from PP
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
More Than 170 U.S. Citizens Have Been Held by Immigration Agents. They’ve Been Kicked, Dragged and Detained for Days.
The government does not track how often immigration agents grab citizens. So ProPublica did. Our tally — almost certainly incomplete — includes people who were held for days without a lawyer. And near...
www.propublica.org
October 16, 2025 at 4:06 PM
BREAKING from PP
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
We found immigration agents have held more than 170 *citizens*
The govt doesn't track citizens held. So we did. We tallied:
Nearly 20 kids, two w/ cancer
More than 20 citizens held for day or more, incommunicado
www.propublica.org/article/immi...
by @nicolefoy.bsky.social
Reposted by Jen Nycz
if you're on the academic job market: check out the most recent episode of @quantitude.bsky.social, about The Job Talk - it's a great discussion of this kinda niche presentation genre & all it needs to accomplish (preview: it's not just about presenting all your research/making you look smart)
S7E05 The Academic Job Talk – QuantitudePod
quantitudepod.org
October 14, 2025 at 5:09 PM
if you're on the academic job market: check out the most recent episode of @quantitude.bsky.social, about The Job Talk - it's a great discussion of this kinda niche presentation genre & all it needs to accomplish (preview: it's not just about presenting all your research/making you look smart)
end of an era!
Tomorrow is the final episode of the show!
October 12, 2025 at 11:08 PM
end of an era!
Reposted by Jen Nycz
Full-throated defense of trans people is a good thing.
I wrote a little about some of the little details you might have missed in this video and why it hit me so hard as a trans person this morning:
www.burnsnotice.com/you-have-to-...
www.burnsnotice.com/you-have-to-...
October 11, 2025 at 8:03 PM
Full-throated defense of trans people is a good thing.
Reposted by Jen Nycz
I don’t really advise students about their degree courses but, my goodness, when it comes to options, tracks, the choices they make en route to their degrees, I tell them to do what they want to do, rather than what they might think they ought to do.
The advice I give young people on choice of degree programme. Choose something you love. You’ve got the rest of your life to be frustrated and miserable.
October 9, 2025 at 8:26 PM
I don’t really advise students about their degree courses but, my goodness, when it comes to options, tracks, the choices they make en route to their degrees, I tell them to do what they want to do, rather than what they might think they ought to do.
Advanced Tongue Route, obviously #IPA #Linguistics
What the Helen of Troy Does this Sign Mean? www.popville.com/2025/10/what...
What the Helen of Troy Does this Sign Mean? - PoPville
Is it related to the pay parking? All I can think of is playing tetris...
www.popville.com
October 9, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Advanced Tongue Route, obviously #IPA #Linguistics
Reposted by Jen Nycz
I need people to stop referring to conversion "therapy" as something that's been discredited or doesn't work. That's like saying torture is "discredited" or doesn't work. That they don't work for their stated purpose is secondary to the fact that they DO work for their REAL purpose:
October 7, 2025 at 3:16 PM
I need people to stop referring to conversion "therapy" as something that's been discredited or doesn't work. That's like saying torture is "discredited" or doesn't work. That they don't work for their stated purpose is secondary to the fact that they DO work for their REAL purpose:
Reposted by Jen Nycz
"certain types of bodies are indicative of moral repugnance" is a fascist logic. i know you fucking know better! shut the fuck up! your jokes arent even good!
October 7, 2025 at 10:40 PM
"certain types of bodies are indicative of moral repugnance" is a fascist logic. i know you fucking know better! shut the fuck up! your jokes arent even good!
Reposted by Jen Nycz
Big news! Starting in 2027, @cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org will publish the Journal of Black Language and Culture (JBLAC)—a new LSA journal highlighting the richness of Black language & culture across the globe.
Learn more: www.lsadc.org/content.asp?... @acharityhudley.bsky.social
Learn more: www.lsadc.org/content.asp?... @acharityhudley.bsky.social
October 6, 2025 at 4:17 PM
Big news! Starting in 2027, @cambup-linguistics.cambridge.org will publish the Journal of Black Language and Culture (JBLAC)—a new LSA journal highlighting the richness of Black language & culture across the globe.
Learn more: www.lsadc.org/content.asp?... @acharityhudley.bsky.social
Learn more: www.lsadc.org/content.asp?... @acharityhudley.bsky.social