Tony Thorne
@tonythorne007.bsky.social
Slang, new language, etymology, cultural history. Language Consultant at King's College London.
Reposted by Tony Thorne
the fun thing about the BBC story is that I can't actually read about it for more than couple of minutes at a time because it makes me feel too insane :)
The worst you can accuse Panorama of doing is making a misleading edit – and I’d dispute that! – to make *a point that was true*.
The programme aired without anyone seeing any issues with the edit. It was on iPlayer for a year without complaints. Donald Trump *did* incite Jan 6th.
The programme aired without anyone seeing any issues with the edit. It was on iPlayer for a year without complaints. Donald Trump *did* incite Jan 6th.
Tory culture spox demanding the BBC "grovel" to Trump is baffling. Who is this supposed to chime with?
Just a bizarre line that no one who doesn't use X would ever think.
Just a bizarre line that no one who doesn't use X would ever think.
November 11, 2025 at 9:53 AM
the fun thing about the BBC story is that I can't actually read about it for more than couple of minutes at a time because it makes me feel too insane :)
Reposted by Tony Thorne
This feels like a reasonable time to share an article from The Telegraph from 2023, which certainly makes it seem that Matt Hancock knew that I was interviewed to appear on BBC Question Time (how?) and seemed to attempt to intervene to prevent my appearance.
Should politicians…
Should politicians…
November 11, 2025 at 9:36 AM
This feels like a reasonable time to share an article from The Telegraph from 2023, which certainly makes it seem that Matt Hancock knew that I was interviewed to appear on BBC Question Time (how?) and seemed to attempt to intervene to prevent my appearance.
Should politicians…
Should politicians…
Reposted by Tony Thorne
I'm leading a training session on class and classism for some tutors this week. Alongside my personal narrative (state-educated, first in family, mum with physical disability, dad = bus mechanic, w/c family from Hounslow), I'm drawing on the Sutton Trust report 'Elitist Britain 2025'.
November 11, 2025 at 10:50 AM
I'm leading a training session on class and classism for some tutors this week. Alongside my personal narrative (state-educated, first in family, mum with physical disability, dad = bus mechanic, w/c family from Hounslow), I'm drawing on the Sutton Trust report 'Elitist Britain 2025'.
Reposted by Tony Thorne
'people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing than are those who speak just one language.'
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Want a younger brain? Learn another language
A vast study suggests that being multilingual can slow down cognitive ageing.
www.nature.com
November 11, 2025 at 7:58 AM
'people who are multilingual are half as likely to show signs of accelerated biological ageing than are those who speak just one language.'
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Good thing that schools, universities and governments are so actively promoting modern languages then, isn't it? 1/2
Reposted by Tony Thorne
These look fab 😊
Free language tasters for beginners this week! Look at the #LeedsCityofLanguages programme! We're spoilt for choice!
How about trying a language taster for a new language? All of these will take place this week on campus! Which one will you choose!? #languages #mfl #leedscityoflanguages No need to book, just turn in!
November 11, 2025 at 10:45 AM
These look fab 😊
What autistic people – and those with ADHD and dyslexia – really think about the word ‘neurodiversity’
theconversation.com/what-autisti...
theconversation.com/what-autisti...
What autistic people – and those with ADHD and dyslexia – really think about the word ‘neurodiversity’
A new UK survey of more than 900 neurodivergent adults has revealed strong feelings about the language of neurodiversity.
theconversation.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:05 AM
What autistic people – and those with ADHD and dyslexia – really think about the word ‘neurodiversity’
theconversation.com/what-autisti...
theconversation.com/what-autisti...
Why threats to academic freedom are growing – and how universities can respond to intimidation
theconversation.com/why-threats-...
theconversation.com/why-threats-...
Why threats to academic freedom are growing – and how universities can respond to intimidation
When scholarship is politically steered, the public loses access to evidence and the means to hold power to account.
theconversation.com
November 11, 2025 at 9:01 AM
Why threats to academic freedom are growing – and how universities can respond to intimidation
theconversation.com/why-threats-...
theconversation.com/why-threats-...
Leaving my German spa hotel to buy a sausage. I’m going from Bad to Wurst.🥸
November 11, 2025 at 8:09 AM
Leaving my German spa hotel to buy a sausage. I’m going from Bad to Wurst.🥸
The expression "you've got me over a barrel" is American slang from the 1890s recorded in criminal and police usage, crossing into British colloquialism in the 1940s via detective fiction. Originally referring to corporal punishment in US schools and prisons.
November 10, 2025 at 1:39 PM
The expression "you've got me over a barrel" is American slang from the 1890s recorded in criminal and police usage, crossing into British colloquialism in the 1940s via detective fiction. Originally referring to corporal punishment in US schools and prisons.
Reposted by Tony Thorne
British Future is looking for a new Treasurer!
If you or someone you know has the skills and would like to join the trustee board of a dynamic thinktank working on issues of immigration, integration, race and identity, do please click on the link for more info:
www.britishfuture.org/jobs/treasur...
If you or someone you know has the skills and would like to join the trustee board of a dynamic thinktank working on issues of immigration, integration, race and identity, do please click on the link for more info:
www.britishfuture.org/jobs/treasur...
November 10, 2025 at 11:59 AM
British Future is looking for a new Treasurer!
If you or someone you know has the skills and would like to join the trustee board of a dynamic thinktank working on issues of immigration, integration, race and identity, do please click on the link for more info:
www.britishfuture.org/jobs/treasur...
If you or someone you know has the skills and would like to join the trustee board of a dynamic thinktank working on issues of immigration, integration, race and identity, do please click on the link for more info:
www.britishfuture.org/jobs/treasur...
Reposted by Tony Thorne
Since January 2022, we (me, 93% Club & SS) have been working a project that tackles accent bias in Higher Education, focusing on the 'elite' institution where we're based. Today, we're launching the project website which brings together all our work:
accentbias.ed.ac.uk
accentbias.ed.ac.uk
November 10, 2025 at 9:27 AM
Since January 2022, we (me, 93% Club & SS) have been working a project that tackles accent bias in Higher Education, focusing on the 'elite' institution where we're based. Today, we're launching the project website which brings together all our work:
accentbias.ed.ac.uk
accentbias.ed.ac.uk
Reposted by Tony Thorne
I’m not fussed by this, BUT! “Content” is a word for copy (& images and video) that is meant to acheive a goal (help complete a task), NOT creative work *intended* to entertain and *possibly* inform by default. But the suits used it to mean “the art we exploit for money” which IS the shitty part.
No other word has done more damage to the craft of writing in recent years than “content”. Even if you’re using the word “content” ironically, or as a cute little joke, don’t. When someone calls writing “content” they’re pissing on someone’s hard work & passion. “Content” is Technosatan’s henchword.
November 10, 2025 at 12:07 PM
I’m not fussed by this, BUT! “Content” is a word for copy (& images and video) that is meant to acheive a goal (help complete a task), NOT creative work *intended* to entertain and *possibly* inform by default. But the suits used it to mean “the art we exploit for money” which IS the shitty part.
I'll be on BBC Radio Bristol at 12.50 UK time today talking about the expression 'to have someone over a barrel'
November 10, 2025 at 11:04 AM
I'll be on BBC Radio Bristol at 12.50 UK time today talking about the expression 'to have someone over a barrel'
Reposted by Tony Thorne
"Universities teach us to ask questions without tidy answers. They train us to look for truths we didn’t know existed and to challenge assumptions we didn’t realise we held. At their best, they remind us that intellect isn’t about having opinions, it’s about earning them."
November 10, 2025 at 7:38 AM
"Universities teach us to ask questions without tidy answers. They train us to look for truths we didn’t know existed and to challenge assumptions we didn’t realise we held. At their best, they remind us that intellect isn’t about having opinions, it’s about earning them."
Reposted by Tony Thorne
Have you got your tickets? 🎟️
Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law
⏰ 18:00 to 20:00 | 📅 13 Nov | 📍 King's College London
🔗 www.kcl.ac.uk/events/court...
Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law
⏰ 18:00 to 20:00 | 📅 13 Nov | 📍 King's College London
🔗 www.kcl.ac.uk/events/court...
November 10, 2025 at 10:07 AM
Have you got your tickets? 🎟️
Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law
⏰ 18:00 to 20:00 | 📅 13 Nov | 📍 King's College London
🔗 www.kcl.ac.uk/events/court...
Courting: An Intimate History of Love and the Law
⏰ 18:00 to 20:00 | 📅 13 Nov | 📍 King's College London
🔗 www.kcl.ac.uk/events/court...
‘Content’: text (sometimes visual and audio material) as commodity
No other word has done more damage to the craft of writing in recent years than “content”. Even if you’re using the word “content” ironically, or as a cute little joke, don’t. When someone calls writing “content” they’re pissing on someone’s hard work & passion. “Content” is Technosatan’s henchword.
November 10, 2025 at 10:29 AM
‘Content’: text (sometimes visual and audio material) as commodity
Reposted by Tony Thorne
New publication on @ipragmatics.bsky.social, out now and available open access:
My work on the digital language ideologies of generative AI, in particular the "AI is here to stay" construction and its connections to presentism, techno-optimism, and tech bro culture
My work on the digital language ideologies of generative AI, in particular the "AI is here to stay" construction and its connections to presentism, techno-optimism, and tech bro culture
Presentism as a digital language ideology in generative AI discourse
This paper gives a critical discourse-analytical account of presentism as a digital language ideology. It outlines how this ahistorical understanding of sociotechnical change centering the here-and-no...
benjamins.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:55 AM
New publication on @ipragmatics.bsky.social, out now and available open access:
My work on the digital language ideologies of generative AI, in particular the "AI is here to stay" construction and its connections to presentism, techno-optimism, and tech bro culture
My work on the digital language ideologies of generative AI, in particular the "AI is here to stay" construction and its connections to presentism, techno-optimism, and tech bro culture
Reposted by Tony Thorne
✍️ Babel Young Writers' Competition! You could win publication in Babel (Spring 2026)!
📜 Guidelines: babelzine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Advert-Young-Writers-Competition-No54.pdf
🏆 Previous winner Dong Hyun Kang looks at wars on language: babelzine.co.uk/ArticlePDFs/...
📜 Guidelines: babelzine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Advert-Young-Writers-Competition-No54.pdf
🏆 Previous winner Dong Hyun Kang looks at wars on language: babelzine.co.uk/ArticlePDFs/...
November 10, 2025 at 7:03 AM
✍️ Babel Young Writers' Competition! You could win publication in Babel (Spring 2026)!
📜 Guidelines: babelzine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Advert-Young-Writers-Competition-No54.pdf
🏆 Previous winner Dong Hyun Kang looks at wars on language: babelzine.co.uk/ArticlePDFs/...
📜 Guidelines: babelzine.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Advert-Young-Writers-Competition-No54.pdf
🏆 Previous winner Dong Hyun Kang looks at wars on language: babelzine.co.uk/ArticlePDFs/...
Reposted by Tony Thorne
One for the linguists.
My dad was a working class lad done good, he spoke in a middle-class accent but when telling us off as kids he'd turn Cockney, like his dad. To my horror I've realised I now do the exact same. Normally I sound like Tom Hollander but when telling my kids off I go full Winstone
November 9, 2025 at 7:34 PM
One for the linguists.
Reposted by Tony Thorne
Congrats to @tsunglunone.bsky.social on the publication of "From online parody to mainstream media: The remediation of mock Vietnamese Mandarin in Taiwan" always exciting to see a new paper on mock language in a new context!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
From online parody to mainstream media: The remediation of mock Vietnamese Mandarin in Taiwan
This paper investigates how Ruan Yuejiao—a drag parody of a Vietnamese migrant spouse created by Taiwanese influencer A-Han—becomes remediated from be…
www.sciencedirect.com
November 9, 2025 at 6:44 PM
Congrats to @tsunglunone.bsky.social on the publication of "From online parody to mainstream media: The remediation of mock Vietnamese Mandarin in Taiwan" always exciting to see a new paper on mock language in a new context!
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Tony Thorne
You want some Christmas fun, poems and stories for your children? Then come to my show at the Old Vic Theatre, Waterloo, London on Dec 20
It's early! 9.30 am, but nearly sold out.
It's early! 9.30 am, but nearly sold out.
November 9, 2025 at 4:26 PM
You want some Christmas fun, poems and stories for your children? Then come to my show at the Old Vic Theatre, Waterloo, London on Dec 20
It's early! 9.30 am, but nearly sold out.
It's early! 9.30 am, but nearly sold out.
I got these for you…
November 9, 2025 at 4:39 PM
I got these for you…
Reposted by Tony Thorne
no amount of state propaganda will ever convince me this man is my enemy
November 9, 2025 at 3:05 PM
no amount of state propaganda will ever convince me this man is my enemy
Reposted by Tony Thorne
If you’d like to learn more about Mary Bishop & her extraordinary work, I wrote this for The Wellcome Collection in 2023.
But more than that, I would recommend looking for yourself at some of her work which is available to view online through their catalogue
wellcomecollection.org/stories/mary...
But more than that, I would recommend looking for yourself at some of her work which is available to view online through their catalogue
wellcomecollection.org/stories/mary...
November 9, 2025 at 1:50 PM
If you’d like to learn more about Mary Bishop & her extraordinary work, I wrote this for The Wellcome Collection in 2023.
But more than that, I would recommend looking for yourself at some of her work which is available to view online through their catalogue
wellcomecollection.org/stories/mary...
But more than that, I would recommend looking for yourself at some of her work which is available to view online through their catalogue
wellcomecollection.org/stories/mary...
Reposted by Tony Thorne
Een draadje over de verdwenen plakkaten van zwarte Amerikaanse soldaten , trumpiaanse bedoeningen op nl grondgebied, belachelijk.
1/ The US Government has quietly removed a memorial to Black soldiers who died in World War II from the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten, South Limburg. The move follows a complaint from the right-wing Heritage Foundation to the American Battle Monuments Commission. ⬇️
November 9, 2025 at 9:53 AM
Een draadje over de verdwenen plakkaten van zwarte Amerikaanse soldaten , trumpiaanse bedoeningen op nl grondgebied, belachelijk.