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Have you registered to attend? There's still time to sign up! Join us today for a book party to celebrate the release of Martha Barnette's "Friends with Words."

Grab your virtual spot: ThatWordChat.com

#ThatWordChat #BookLaunch #AmReading #AmEditing

This afternoon at 4:30 p.m. So great to welcome back @marthabarnette.bsky.social!

Pouring rain is noisy.

Ritalin was named after a woman named Rita (no joke!).

I learned this from @marthabarnette.bsky.social of @waywordradio.org when we talked about her new book "Friends with Words." :)

Check it out!

APPLE PODCASTS: bit.ly/3ITohHc
SPOTIFY: bit.ly/4lZKt0Y
FRIENDS WITH WORDS: bit.ly/4ml0CxN

Premiere alert: #ThatWordChat featuring John Kelly goes live on YouTube today at 4:30 PM ET.

Watch here: bit.ly/ThatWordVideo

#Lexicography #Linguistics #Editing #Etymology

On Aug. 5, Martha Barnette joins #ThatWordChat for the launch of her new book, "Friends with Words: Adventures in Languageland."

Register to grab your virtual seat: ThatWordChat.com

#Linguistics #Publishing #WritersLife #BookLaunch

The largest language model anyone could ever need (With apologies to Gilbert and Sullivan) I am the largest language model anyone could ever needI’m trained on hefty datasets that no one sane would ever readI’ll answer any question with great eloq…

I am the largest language model anyone could ever need
I’m trained on hefty datasets that no one sane would ever read
I’ll answer any question with great eloquence and attitude
As long as you indulge me with a little factual latitude
stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/2025/07/29/t...

Spectacular Historical #Dictionary of #ScienceFiction antedating of "jump gate", otherwise associated chiefly with Babylon 5. @ausir.bsky.social found a 1966 example from Poul Anderson in Galaxy, antedating 1993.

sfdictionary.com/view/250/jum...

When you were a kid, did you always wave at a caboose when you saw one?

There are four possible answers:

a) Of course!
b) That was before my time.
c) What’s a caboose?
d) Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? That would get me slapped!

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The first known use of 'avocado toast' was in 1928.
The Great Depression was a year later.

Now, we're not saying that that's the reason, but...

Sign, sign, sign. Dictionary work is a public good.

It is a coincidence that ‘emoji’ and ‘emoticon’ sound alike.

‘Emoji’ is a Japanese term meaning ‘pictograph’ (‘e’ is “picture, drawing” + ‘moji’ is “letter, character”).

‘Emoticon’ is ‘emotion’ + ‘icon.’

🤯

A table showing emoji arranged in rows according to their category, and with the emoji in each row sorted from most positive on the left to most negative on the right.

To mark World Emoji Day 🎉 (and, uh, the publication of my book 📖), I put together a little emoji quiz for my publisher, W. W. Norton. Have a crack at it here! wwnorton326.outgrow....

(And buy my book here! shadycharacters.co.u...)

What do emoji have in common with punctuation marks like the pilcrow and interrobang? Keith Houston joins us today to chat about his latest book, "Face with Tears of Joy."

Register here: thatwordchat.com

#WritingCommunity #Linguistics #Typography #EmojiHistory #AmReading

This is excellent news for emoji nerds!

Pont Alexandre III over the Seine, Paris

photo of the Arc de Triomphe, Paris

photo of the Eiffel Tower, Paris

Bastille Day fireworks, Paris

Celebrating freedom and the fall of fortresses. Adieu, Ancien Régime and monarchies everywhere. Bienvenue, Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité! Bonne Fête Nationale to all who celebrate. Learn more: tinyurl.com/y5a472ss

Yes, please! I have a couple of word books from your library via @wisekaren.bsky.social. I will take them! Are you still using the appropriate-for-the-occasion Gmail account?

Time to rearrange my shelves. Bexley Library is having a sale from a single estate with scores of dictionaries—most non-English. I scored a Webster's 3rd Unabridged, a Random House Unabridged, the first volume of the Dictionary of American Regional English, and Mawson's "The Dictionary Companion."

The cover of "Face with Tears of Joy", showing the evolution of the eponymous symbol from emoticon to 3D rendered emoji.

I had fun yesterday doing a couple of interviews for BBC radio: first on Radio 4's Today programme, together with Susie Dent, which listeners in the UK can listen to here (www.bbc.co.uk/sounds...) at around 2:55.
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Editing | Mark Allen Editorial Mark Allen Editorial LLC provides copy editing, writing, and proofreading, focusing on honesty and clarity and with expertise in word usage and style guides.

I freshened up my website, where I have a short list of frequently asked questions about English usage and a quiz where you can test your usage knowledge. Check it out at markalleneditorial.com. #words #usage #style

I already have tickets for #Columbus. Join me there!

A block of text from a published academic paper with the parenthetical "(should we cite the crappy Gabor paper here?)" in the middle of a sentence.

Dear copyeditor: DON'T LEAVE COMMENTS INLINE. THE COMMENT FEATURE IS THERE FOR A REASON.

Leaving comments inline is how you get stuff like this making it all the way to press. x.com/davidjayharr...

[Some rude additions noted on @stronglang.bsky.social, if that's your bag]

Apols, but I love browsing new additions to the OED. The latest batch includes bee dance, brain rot, Bulgarianize, daffiness, ditziness, femtech, gloopiness, grim-faced, solar storm, and shoogly:
www.oed.com/information/... #words

I’ve been a senior for 14 years? Not even #AARP would buy that.

Trump's WTF Moment Another presidential norm is shattered as an F-bomb is dropped on the White House South Lawn

Language friends Stan Carey and @mashedradish.bsky.social are quoted in this piece about Trump crossing a new language red line with a comment about the ceasefire that hadn't quite stuck yet.

It's obviously not the most important thing but may be of interest to language lovers.

Reviewer 2 just revealed a lot about themself. And it’s not flattering

Twitter of old would've provided several plausible answers. I think I've heard it A-A-V-E, never Ave or Avee or Aahvey.