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.
Much ado about nothing? The US Supreme Court’s Warhol opinion
Is there any future guidance in the opinion about other fair use disputes from The Andy Warhol Foundation v. Goldsmith? Yes, not in the majority opinion, but rather in Justice Gorsuch’s concurring opinion for himself and Justice Jackson.
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.
From Dr Google to ChatGPT: are the tides turning in how cancer patients access information?
The discussions surrounding ChatGPT, a state-of-the-art natural language processing AI, are hard to miss. With its capabilities to draft articles, engage in written conversations, and provide complex coding solutions, ChatGPT holds great potential to revolutionize how people seek health information. In November 2022, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, first powered by GPT-3.5 architecture; it is now even […]
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).
Plain as day?
The Oxford Etymologist looks at the origin of the word “day” and its connections across the Indo-European language world.
The great gun conundrum [podcast]
In this podcast episode, we discuss the history of the gun debate in the US with Robert J. Spitzer and how a reform of policing can deter gun violence with Philip J. Cook.
Is a 15-week limit on abortion an acceptable compromise?
A recent opinion piece claims that the overturning of Roe v. Wade has resulted in “a partial healing of the nation’s civic culture.”
Real patterns and the structure of language
There’s been a lot of hype recently about the emergence of technologies like ChatGPT and the effects they will have on science and society. Linguists have been especially curious about what highly successful large language models (LLMs) mean for their business.
Confronting bud and buddy
The Oxford Etymologist tackles the convoluted history of “bud” and “buddy” – the final part of the series.
Rethinking the future of work: an interview with Phil McCash
One of the best ways organisations can enhance their employees’ careers is through access to career coaching. Career coaching can be accessed through external providers or delivered internally by suitably trained members of staff.
Public health challenge: taking on the commercial determinants of health
How can the public health community use the commercial determinants of health lens to better protect human and planetary health and reduce the stark health inequities that characterize the world today? We suggest four cross-cutting strategies.
“There is no writer can touch sir Walter Scott”: Joyce and the Wizard of the North
There is a network of intertextual links between Walter Scott and James Joyce. Richard Barlow teases out some of the allusions and references to Scott and his work in Joyce’s texts, comparing the different visions of history offered by these two writers.