Matt Hunt Gardner (he/him)
@matthuntgardner.bsky.social
Sociolinguist, nerd, cook 🏳️🌈
Lecturer QMUL, Visiting Scholar Oxford
Lecturer QMUL, Visiting Scholar Oxford
Ok, now it’s just too easy. Both “take” and “make” should have the same ending. Given context the subject should be thou, giving Takest not Taketh. If Taketh’s subject is an unstated he/she/it/one (which prompts -eth ending) then make should be maketh or makes. #linguistics
March 14, 2025 at 6:03 PM
Ok, now it’s just too easy. Both “take” and “make” should have the same ending. Given context the subject should be thou, giving Takest not Taketh. If Taketh’s subject is an unstated he/she/it/one (which prompts -eth ending) then make should be maketh or makes. #linguistics
Though, it's not Channel 4ths fault. Apparently no one ever really followed the rules (though mostly it was using will where prescriptivists wanted will) not the cheeky shall here. From Fowler (1926: 525) section "shall & will". Such shade.
March 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Though, it's not Channel 4ths fault. Apparently no one ever really followed the rules (though mostly it was using will where prescriptivists wanted will) not the cheeky shall here. From Fowler (1926: 525) section "shall & will". Such shade.
Another bad borrowed prestige using grammatical forms. #linguistics Trad. grammars state (basically) "shall" for positive polarity, "will" for negative for 1PSig, and the reverse for other subjects. Thus "Though shalt not pass" is okay but "Thy XX shall awaken..." is technically an error.
March 10, 2025 at 1:40 PM
Another bad borrowed prestige using grammatical forms. #linguistics Trad. grammars state (basically) "shall" for positive polarity, "will" for negative for 1PSig, and the reverse for other subjects. Thus "Though shalt not pass" is okay but "Thy XX shall awaken..." is technically an error.
The use of “thou” was pretty much dead (outside Bible quotes) by the end of the 17th century. The use of “who” to introduce a restricted relative clause didn’t take off until the 19th century. Just saying. #linguistics
March 10, 2025 at 10:48 AM
The use of “thou” was pretty much dead (outside Bible quotes) by the end of the 17th century. The use of “who” to introduce a restricted relative clause didn’t take off until the 19th century. Just saying. #linguistics
#linguistics I have been hearing so much more "on accident" lately that I decided to check its presence across a bunch of English corpora. The variation between "on accident", "by accident", and "accidentally" is robust, but "on accident" is a relatively minor player (0%-10.7%).
March 3, 2025 at 10:35 AM
#linguistics I have been hearing so much more "on accident" lately that I decided to check its presence across a bunch of English corpora. The variation between "on accident", "by accident", and "accidentally" is robust, but "on accident" is a relatively minor player (0%-10.7%).
February 4, 2025 at 5:55 PM
Best linguistic landscape find from Inverness County, Nova Scotia #acadie #linguistics #translanguaging
December 25, 2024 at 6:28 AM
Best linguistic landscape find from Inverness County, Nova Scotia #acadie #linguistics #translanguaging
While watching #SmoggieQueens on BBC this week I saw this.
December 12, 2024 at 11:15 AM
While watching #SmoggieQueens on BBC this week I saw this.
Perhaps more diversity at National Express would have caught the unintended meaning here. Not sure if the missing exclamation point after
“Crackers” would have helped either. 🤔
“Crackers” would have helped either. 🤔
November 30, 2024 at 5:54 PM
Perhaps more diversity at National Express would have caught the unintended meaning here. Not sure if the missing exclamation point after
“Crackers” would have helped either. 🤔
“Crackers” would have helped either. 🤔
I beg to differ, NYT! #linguistics #langsky
Ok, it’s an adjective based on the proper name of mountains but still.
Ok, it’s an adjective based on the proper name of mountains but still.
November 30, 2024 at 5:46 PM
I beg to differ, NYT! #linguistics #langsky
Ok, it’s an adjective based on the proper name of mountains but still.
Ok, it’s an adjective based on the proper name of mountains but still.
Talk about ambiguous antecedents!!!!! I had to read the article to parse this headline, which may have been the whole point of it.
people.com/oliver-hudso...
people.com/oliver-hudso...
November 28, 2024 at 11:33 PM
Talk about ambiguous antecedents!!!!! I had to read the article to parse this headline, which may have been the whole point of it.
people.com/oliver-hudso...
people.com/oliver-hudso...
Evidence for the structural cohesiveness of phrasal verbs? Also prosody in the wild. #linguistics #langsky
November 17, 2024 at 7:56 AM
Evidence for the structural cohesiveness of phrasal verbs? Also prosody in the wild. #linguistics #langsky
I think my Canadian Shift is showing. #linguistics #langsky
November 16, 2024 at 1:16 AM
I think my Canadian Shift is showing. #linguistics #langsky
#linguistics #langsky Things that keep me awake at night.
March 11, 2024 at 4:15 PM
#linguistics #langsky Things that keep me awake at night.
Apparently shwaffle already exists.
March 1, 2024 at 5:19 PM
Apparently shwaffle already exists.
#linguistics #langsky I slipped a poem by #ChatGPT in with a selection of poems (authors redacted) for my English students to analyze. Happily, they quickly suspected it was somehow inauthentic. The prompt: "write a postmodern poem". The title was "Echoes in the Digital Haze".
February 19, 2024 at 3:56 PM
#linguistics #langsky I slipped a poem by #ChatGPT in with a selection of poems (authors redacted) for my English students to analyze. Happily, they quickly suspected it was somehow inauthentic. The prompt: "write a postmodern poem". The title was "Echoes in the Digital Haze".
#linguistics #lingsky The 2023 ADS word of the year was “enshittification”. Perhaps next year “enshittocene” will be a contender for best new portmanteau.
February 9, 2024 at 11:59 PM
#linguistics #lingsky The 2023 ADS word of the year was “enshittification”. Perhaps next year “enshittocene” will be a contender for best new portmanteau.
Yet another pulmonic ingressive *yeah* from Prof. Leo Dalton (played by William Gaminara) in Silent Witness S16E08. This feature is supposedly not found in Southern British English.
February 9, 2024 at 11:27 PM
Yet another pulmonic ingressive *yeah* from Prof. Leo Dalton (played by William Gaminara) in Silent Witness S16E08. This feature is supposedly not found in Southern British English.
In the continued hunt for ingressive pulmonic discourse particles in further varieties of English I present to you Leo Dalton (London/Sheffield accent) in S14e03 of Silent Witness at 41:52. #langsky #linguistics.
February 4, 2024 at 4:01 PM
In the continued hunt for ingressive pulmonic discourse particles in further varieties of English I present to you Leo Dalton (London/Sheffield accent) in S14e03 of Silent Witness at 41:52. #langsky #linguistics.
#linguistics In the continued search for ingressive pulmonic discourse markers outside of the Atlantic-Baltic areas, I suggest to you Father Manny's use of *yeah↓* at 44:45 in the first episode of the Showtime/Paramount+ show #TheCurse
January 24, 2024 at 12:17 PM
#linguistics In the continued search for ingressive pulmonic discourse markers outside of the Atlantic-Baltic areas, I suggest to you Father Manny's use of *yeah↓* at 44:45 in the first episode of the Showtime/Paramount+ show #TheCurse
Besides catching UK actors before they made it big, the other unexpected perk is all the early naughties fashion
January 19, 2024 at 8:02 PM
Besides catching UK actors before they made it big, the other unexpected perk is all the early naughties fashion
#linguistics Was I asleep when the New Yorker decided to introduce the umlaut in words like reëlection (re-election)?? Will we start to see *coöperation* and *continuüm* and *waterskiïng*??
January 13, 2024 at 10:09 AM
#linguistics Was I asleep when the New Yorker decided to introduce the umlaut in words like reëlection (re-election)?? Will we start to see *coöperation* and *continuüm* and *waterskiïng*??
The lunch = snack system aligns with calling certain crackers “Milk Lunch”. Also, dinner = lunch aligns with calling cafeteria workers at school “Dinner Ladies” (which we did growing up)
January 4, 2024 at 8:10 AM
The lunch = snack system aligns with calling certain crackers “Milk Lunch”. Also, dinner = lunch aligns with calling cafeteria workers at school “Dinner Ladies” (which we did growing up)
(repost from X) While looking for "yeah" backchannel examples for my upcoming ADS talk #LSA2024 #linguistics I found this excellent Lunch/Dinner/Supper super token. Context: Young NS women talking to older NS woman about her retirement home where she only takes the mid-day meal. 1/2
January 3, 2024 at 4:07 AM
(repost from X) While looking for "yeah" backchannel examples for my upcoming ADS talk #LSA2024 #linguistics I found this excellent Lunch/Dinner/Supper super token. Context: Young NS women talking to older NS woman about her retirement home where she only takes the mid-day meal. 1/2
See also: Sober Curious #linguistics
November 15, 2023 at 3:06 PM
See also: Sober Curious #linguistics