Lane Greene
@lanegreene.bsky.social
Editor and language guy at The Economist.
Author of Writing With Style: The Economist Guide (2023).
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Style-Economist-Guide-Books/dp/1639364374
Author of Writing With Style: The Economist Guide (2023).
https://www.amazon.com/Writing-Style-Economist-Guide-Books/dp/1639364374
I was delighted to review @dannybate.bsky.social's excellent "Why Q Needs U" in this week's Economist.
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
November 7, 2025 at 5:43 PM
I was delighted to review @dannybate.bsky.social's excellent "Why Q Needs U" in this week's Economist.
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
www.economist.com/culture/2025...
AI, soon to put mathematicians out of work. You just got ratioed.
October 22, 2025 at 5:50 PM
AI, soon to put mathematicians out of work. You just got ratioed.
His literal debt to society unpaid.
October 18, 2025 at 8:50 AM
His literal debt to society unpaid.
His language (“a violent armed resistance”) is getting worse by the day. It either is or — giving him the benefit of the doubt he hasn’t earned — seems to be designed to give the president the right to unleash “violence” in response, on US citizens and even a Trump-appointed judge.
October 6, 2025 at 5:23 AM
His language (“a violent armed resistance”) is getting worse by the day. It either is or — giving him the benefit of the doubt he hasn’t earned — seems to be designed to give the president the right to unleash “violence” in response, on US citizens and even a Trump-appointed judge.
"This is fake news!" followed immediately by confirmation that it's true ("follow the chain of command [and perp walk Comey] or get relieved.")
October 4, 2025 at 5:54 PM
"This is fake news!" followed immediately by confirmation that it's true ("follow the chain of command [and perp walk Comey] or get relieved.")
Back to back in my timeline, but only one outlet realizes it's publishing a joke.
October 3, 2025 at 1:42 PM
Back to back in my timeline, but only one outlet realizes it's publishing a joke.
Thank goodness for small mercies.
September 30, 2025 at 4:36 PM
Thank goodness for small mercies.
And yet. She's quite obviously pleased with her own level of game, and doesn't mind that you know it.
September 29, 2025 at 11:23 AM
And yet. She's quite obviously pleased with her own level of game, and doesn't mind that you know it.
I mean to fact-check this would be absurd, but the Chinese don't like wind energy? They're building turbines to sell everywhere else?
September 23, 2025 at 2:45 PM
I mean to fact-check this would be absurd, but the Chinese don't like wind energy? They're building turbines to sell everywhere else?
Re-submit a serious complaint that is written like a legal complaint or don't bother, a federal judge tells the Trump administration.
Not just improper but absurdly written: the original filing called Trump a "mega-celebrity" three times.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Not just improper but absurdly written: the original filing called Trump a "mega-celebrity" three times.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
September 19, 2025 at 5:19 PM
Re-submit a serious complaint that is written like a legal complaint or don't bother, a federal judge tells the Trump administration.
Not just improper but absurdly written: the original filing called Trump a "mega-celebrity" three times.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
Not just improper but absurdly written: the original filing called Trump a "mega-celebrity" three times.
www.washingtonpost.com/business/202...
A fact that J.D. Vance somehow forgot (and even the great @gelliottmorris.com, in his great post from Friday, did not note): Americans support political violence as a function of *who's in the White House*. Here are the figures from last year.
prri.org/research/cha...
prri.org/research/cha...
September 16, 2025 at 8:24 AM
A fact that J.D. Vance somehow forgot (and even the great @gelliottmorris.com, in his great post from Friday, did not note): Americans support political violence as a function of *who's in the White House*. Here are the figures from last year.
prri.org/research/cha...
prri.org/research/cha...
Hm. Very much hope this means the Supreme Court will look up “cause” in a legal dictionary and have a long think.
September 13, 2025 at 11:43 AM
Hm. Very much hope this means the Supreme Court will look up “cause” in a legal dictionary and have a long think.
Google's autocomplete options for "Is it possible for..." (I was going to search for "...a material to reach absolute zero in reality" but this is what it thought I might go for.
My fridge is on the fritz, you see. But also... *is* it possible for a ginger to tan?
My fridge is on the fritz, you see. But also... *is* it possible for a ginger to tan?
September 8, 2025 at 2:10 PM
Google's autocomplete options for "Is it possible for..." (I was going to search for "...a material to reach absolute zero in reality" but this is what it thought I might go for.
My fridge is on the fritz, you see. But also... *is* it possible for a ginger to tan?
My fridge is on the fritz, you see. But also... *is* it possible for a ginger to tan?
The middle-aged are no longer the most miserable. Today's youth are unhappier than my cohort—and there's nothing to say they won't get more miserable still—that is, the U-bend could hold, but from a worse starting point...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
August 29, 2025 at 10:21 AM
The middle-aged are no longer the most miserable. Today's youth are unhappier than my cohort—and there's nothing to say they won't get more miserable still—that is, the U-bend could hold, but from a worse starting point...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
www.economist.com/science-and-...
Does Howard Lutnick, whose job is promoting American commerce, think the Chinese are morons without TVs?
This admin's desperation to appear to swagger outweighs all other considerations.
www.ft.com/content/b8e3...
This admin's desperation to appear to swagger outweighs all other considerations.
www.ft.com/content/b8e3...
August 21, 2025 at 9:13 AM
Does Howard Lutnick, whose job is promoting American commerce, think the Chinese are morons without TVs?
This admin's desperation to appear to swagger outweighs all other considerations.
www.ft.com/content/b8e3...
This admin's desperation to appear to swagger outweighs all other considerations.
www.ft.com/content/b8e3...
Remembering the Whorf quote about how languages cut reality up in different ways. A Danish supermarket has a “pålæg” fridge—essentially things that go on (open-faced) sandwiches (see pic of pic).It’s where you find ham & salmon & various patés. But not cheese, which has its own slice of reality.
August 17, 2025 at 8:17 AM
Remembering the Whorf quote about how languages cut reality up in different ways. A Danish supermarket has a “pålæg” fridge—essentially things that go on (open-faced) sandwiches (see pic of pic).It’s where you find ham & salmon & various patés. But not cheese, which has its own slice of reality.
The text in Hungarian looks like this. On one level, equally gobbledygook. On another, instantly even more "foreign" to a Dane than Lithuanian is.
If my experiment shows anything it's that Indo-European speakers can somehow *feel* the Indo-Europeanness of even very distant cousins.
If my experiment shows anything it's that Indo-European speakers can somehow *feel* the Indo-Europeanness of even very distant cousins.
August 11, 2025 at 7:39 AM
The text in Hungarian looks like this. On one level, equally gobbledygook. On another, instantly even more "foreign" to a Dane than Lithuanian is.
If my experiment shows anything it's that Indo-European speakers can somehow *feel* the Indo-Europeanness of even very distant cousins.
If my experiment shows anything it's that Indo-European speakers can somehow *feel* the Indo-Europeanness of even very distant cousins.
I showed her the same text in Lithuanian and Hungarian. In less than five seconds she said "Lithuanian", even though Lithuanian looks like this, and is entirely opaque to non-Balts.
August 11, 2025 at 7:39 AM
I showed her the same text in Lithuanian and Hungarian. In less than five seconds she said "Lithuanian", even though Lithuanian looks like this, and is entirely opaque to non-Balts.
In case any Catalanophones want to check my/its work.
August 8, 2025 at 6:33 PM
In case any Catalanophones want to check my/its work.
It's relatively rare that the Oxford comma introduces a problem—in my unscientific view it removes ambiguity more often than it creates them. But here's a rare example.
Here's proof that the comma won't necessarily get you off the hook. (If it's there, problem. If it's not: problem.)
Here's proof that the comma won't necessarily get you off the hook. (If it's there, problem. If it's not: problem.)
July 31, 2025 at 5:47 PM
It's relatively rare that the Oxford comma introduces a problem—in my unscientific view it removes ambiguity more often than it creates them. But here's a rare example.
Here's proof that the comma won't necessarily get you off the hook. (If it's there, problem. If it's not: problem.)
Here's proof that the comma won't necessarily get you off the hook. (If it's there, problem. If it's not: problem.)
Hilarious translation from a national airline, Iberia. "Write your doubts here" to invite you to use their help-bot.
Have I still got it? Does my wife still find me attractive?
No, it's just a dud translation of "dudas", Spanish for both "doubts" and "questions" in this context.
Have I still got it? Does my wife still find me attractive?
No, it's just a dud translation of "dudas", Spanish for both "doubts" and "questions" in this context.
July 29, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Hilarious translation from a national airline, Iberia. "Write your doubts here" to invite you to use their help-bot.
Have I still got it? Does my wife still find me attractive?
No, it's just a dud translation of "dudas", Spanish for both "doubts" and "questions" in this context.
Have I still got it? Does my wife still find me attractive?
No, it's just a dud translation of "dudas", Spanish for both "doubts" and "questions" in this context.
July 8, 2025 at 10:20 PM
Also, I had not known this bit. Sound cumbersome, but I admire the effort to please everyone, even if impossible.
July 3, 2025 at 10:25 AM
Also, I had not known this bit. Sound cumbersome, but I admire the effort to please everyone, even if impossible.
On the other hand, these unaffiliated and often first-time voters have moved against Trump the fastest.
May 29, 2025 at 12:19 PM
On the other hand, these unaffiliated and often first-time voters have moved against Trump the fastest.