@benzimmer.bsky.social
Linguist, lexicographer, language commentator, all-around word nut. https://linktr.ee/benzimmer
Perhaps it started with the *other* Homer
06.12.2025 19:18 — 👍 1 🔁 0 💬 0 📌 0
New crossword for @slate.com! Couldn't pass up the Simpsons ref. slate.com/life/2025/12...
06.12.2025 16:13 — 👍 6 🔁 0 💬 1 📌 0Still tickets available for this! Come join us!
06.12.2025 16:11 — 👍 0 🔁 1 💬 0 📌 0
Happy to join @natanlast.bsky.social and Wyna Liu for a fun crossword event sponsored by JASA in NYC on 12/7. Come one, come all! Your ticket includes a copy of Natan's new book ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and supports a great cause. jasa.org/events/cross...
01.12.2025 17:55 — 👍 7 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 1
Happy to join @natanlast.bsky.social and Wyna Liu for a fun crossword event sponsored by JASA in NYC on 12/7. Come one, come all! Your ticket includes a copy of Natan's new book ACROSS THE UNIVERSE and supports a great cause. jasa.org/events/cross...
01.12.2025 17:55 — 👍 7 🔁 4 💬 0 📌 1
Why the funnest etymologies are almost always wrong benyagoda.substack.com/p/where-posh...
30.11.2025 19:40 — 👍 6 🔁 2 💬 2 📌 0
I've got today's @puzzmo.com crossword, with a cozy theme! 🛏️ 💤
www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2025-...
November linkstack (linkducken?), stuffed with words of the year, wordy gifts, and more. | Ht @gretchenmcc.bsky.social @e-briannica.bsky.social @mikepope.com @grammargirl.bsky.social @stefanfatsis.bsky.social @babynames.bsky.social @kottke.org @nybooks.com fritinancy.substack.com/p/november-l...
28.11.2025 15:28 — 👍 8 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Your latest Workplace Word Origins roundup, aka LinkedIn leftovers, on the blog hits 'Black Friday,' 'boutique,' and 'chef.'
mashedradish.com/2025/11/28/w...
Credit to @benzimmer.bsky.social and @btaylorblake.bsky.social for work on 'Black Friday,' coverage of which was I felt due for a reheat.
New crossword for @slate.com, with an easy one for Pluribus fans!
slate.com/life/2025/11...
Antedating seems like a hobby a lot of you would enjoy, especially after you hear Ben's great stories about his discoveries!
Watch: youtu.be/W5SkQo_Dw48
Read: grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/ant...
Listen: pod.link/173429229
Remember how @benzimmer.bsky.social and I talked about the origin of "Big Easy" in last week's podcast?
The show was all about finding earlier uses of words.
Well, it happened again! Ben emailed yesterday to say Barry Popik found even earlier uses of "Big Easy" from 1952.
Jazz was such a big deal that the American Dialect Society picked "jazz" as the Word of the Century for the 1900s.
We also talked about the origin of "The Big Easy," "hella," "scalawag," and "Ms." — great stories all!
Listen as you're getting ready for the game tonight: pod.link/173429229
Baseball players on the West Coast were talking about "jazz curves" and telling each other to "give it some of the old jazz" (meaning vim and pep).
The word traveled from San Francisco to Chicago to New Orleans, becoming the name for one of America's most iconic musical genres. 2/3
Are you watching the World Series tonight?
Well, here's a fun fact to share with your fellow fans:
In this week's podcast, @benzimmer.bsky.social explains how "jazz" was baseball slang from 1912. Yes, "jazz" started as a BASEBALL term! 1/3
🎧 pod.link/173429229
new indie puzzle highlights, feat. @xws.bsky.social and a double dose of @benzimmer.bsky.social: blog.bewilderinglypuzzles.com/2025/10/indi...
30.10.2025 17:02 — 👍 11 🔁 3 💬 1 📌 0
Watch: youtu.be/W5SkQo_Dw48
Read: grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/ant...
Thumbnail for Grammar Girl podcast episode titled 'Antedating Words with Ben Zimmer.' Features the female host with long brown hair on the left pointing at the words and guest Ben Zimmer with dark hair and a short beard and mustasch on the right against a green background, with a retro-futuristic blue time machine illustration in the center featuring a clock face and antenna.
This week, I talked with @benzimmer.bsky.social about the linguistic detective work of antedating words — finding earlier usages than those published in dictionaries.
Learn about the surprising origins of "Ms.," "scallywag," and the baseball history of "jazz"!
🎧 Listen now: pod.link/173429229
live now with today's @slate.com from @benzimmer.bsky.social, @defector.com by @benzimmer.bsky.social and a blog puz from @giltcomplex.bsky.social!
www.twitch.tv/crossweirdtv
There's a special tribute in today's @slate.com crossword.
slate.com/life/2025/10...
The Crossword, Oct. 20: Pitch Perfect defector.com/the-crosswor...
20.10.2025 15:44 — 👍 8 🔁 2 💬 2 📌 2
Is "-fishing" a new libfix? I look into "chatfishing" along with "hatfishing" and "curtfishing" — and, of course, "catfishing." | ht @benzimmer.bsky.social @myl1947.bsky.social
open.substack.com/pub/fritinan...
I've got the @slate.com Sunday crossword (with a special shout-out to 34-Down)
slate.com/life/2025/10...
I'm back again with another Saturday Stumper (super-tough @newsday.bsky.social crossword).
brainsonly.com/global/netwo...
www.gamelab.com/games/stans-...
New @slate.com puzzzzzle from me!
slate.com/life/2025/10...
16-Across: Tolkien tree hidden in "Tolkien tree" (three letters) slate.trib.al/ohM0TJ4
08.10.2025 09:52 — 👍 2 🔁 2 💬 0 📌 0
My latest crossword for @puzzmo.com may shock you.
www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2025-...
solve today's midi crossword by @benzimmer.bsky.social (edited by @acommonrose.bsky.social !) to see what 1992 solo debut album makes a marquee appearance (and what apt answer he paired it with)
www.puzzmo.com/puzzle/2025-...
live now streaming the regulars + puzzles from @benzimmer.bsky.social, @gppasco.bsky.social, erik agard and a turtle downs only on green!
www.twitch.tv/crossweirdtv
Big day for lexicographical unboxing! Received the just-published 12th edition of @merriam-webster.com's Collegiate Dictionary (a big surprise to everyone in the dictionary game) and @stefanfatsis.bsky.social's long-awaited journey through modern lexicography, UNABRIDGED. Get 'em both!
01.10.2025 17:14 — 👍 41 🔁 7 💬 3 📌 1
