Irregular gleanings and a last shot at Modern English usage
The Oxford Etymologist responds to readers comments on his most recent blog post topics.
In praise of phrases
Writers need to love words—the good, the bad, and the irregular. And they need to respect syntax, the patterns that give words their form. But when writers understand the power of phrases, their sentences shine.
End birth alerts that separate at-risk Indigenous mothers from their children
“Born Innocent” uncovers the ongoing legacy of state-mandated family separation on Indigenous and other minority communities, with a particular focus on women and children.
An etymological cul-de-sac: the verbs “flaunt” and “flout”
The Oxford Etymologist explores the history and development of the verb “flaunt”, “to display ostentatiously,”
The Buddha’s never-ending story
Vanessa R. Sasson and Kristin Scheible explain how the Buddha’s life story is not an individual narrative, but a cosmic one, brimming with previous and future buddhas.
Melville’s wisdom: making the past speak to the present
Damien B. Schlarb discusses how “Melville’s wisdom,” the version of moral philosophy Herman Melville crafts in his fiction through his engagement with biblical wisdom literature, may help us confront our own moment of informational inundation and uncertainty.
Language history and we, part two (actually, a conclusion)
The Oxford Etymologist considers feminist perspectives of language development, split infinitives, and the pronoun “they” as discussed in Valerie Fridland’s “Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English.”
Revisiting toxic masculinity and #MeToo [podcast]
On this episode of The Oxford Comment, we explore two recognizable components in contemporary conversations on gender and gendered violence: that of “toxic masculinity” and of the #MeToo movement with scholars Robert Lawson and Iqra Shagufta Cheema.
Exploring language and masculinities in the media landscape
Robert Lawson explores both toxic masculinity and positive masculinity in the media landscape, from Andrew Tate to the television show Brooklyn 99.
Language history and we: the case of “like”
The Oxford Etymologist considers “like” as discussed in Valerie Fridland’s “Like, Literally, Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English.”
Etymology gleanings for June 2023
The Oxford Etymologist answers readers’ questions about American English vowels, the word “night”, and “love” in English and Greek.
Reputations at Stake: 10 cautionary recommendations for leaders
There are multiple rewards and risks that stem from how we manage our reputation, from the macro level for countries and governments through to the meso level for organisations and to the micro level for leaders and managers.
The heavy burden of the past: the history of the conquest of México and the politics of today
The history of the conquest of Mexico by Spanish conquistadors in the sixteenth century remains a complex topic of discussion. Various interpretations have emerged throughout the years, each offering unique insights into this pivotal moment in Mexican history. Andrés Manuel López Obrador, Mexico’s president, has taken up the issue and uses it to promote his populist policy.
Dangerous neighbors: “sore” and “sorrow”
Quite naturally, speakers connect words that sound alike. From a strictly scholarly point of view, “sore” and “sorrow” are unrelated, but for centuries, people thought differently, and folk etymology united the two long ago.
Helping verbs are curious, AND fascinating
English has a big bagful of auxiliary verbs. You may know these as helping verbs as they help the main verb express its meaning.
“Lying” in computer-generated texts: hallucinations and omissions
There is huge excitement about ChatGPT and other large generative language models that produce fluent and human-like texts in English and other human languages. But these models have one big drawback, which is that their texts can be factually incorrect (hallucination) and also leave out key information (omission).