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Allan Metcalf

Stories by this Author

  • stamper
    Lingua Franca

    Kory Stamper, Lexicographer, Is Working On a New Book

    By Allan Metcalf December 12, 2018
    Allan Metcalf reports the latest news from the author of the acclaimed Word by Word.
  • Cape crow (Wikimedia Commons)
    Lingua Franca

    Eat These Words

    By Allan Metcalf November 29, 2018
    Allan Metcalf relishes a wide menu of origin stories about food and drink in the current issue of a scholarly journal on etymology that has never gone online.
  • Unpresidented tweet
    Lingua Franca

    Is Donald Trump the Andrew Jackson of Our Time?

    By Allan Metcalf November 6, 2018
    Both shocked their adversaries, Jackson by his lack of formal education, Trump by his indifference to cultivated talk. Allan Metcalf looks for lessons in that history on Election Day.
  • CIUDAD HIDALGO, MEXICO - OCTOBER 21: on October 21, 2018 in Ciudad Hidalgo, Mexico The caravan of thousands of Central Americans, mostly from Honduras, plans to eventually reach the United States. U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to cancel the recent trade deal with Mexico and withhold aid to Central American countries if the caravan isn't stopped before reaching the U.S. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)
    Lingua Franca

    Caravansary

    By Allan Metcalf October 23, 2018
    An immense group of people is walking across Mexico, drawing our attention as it draws ever closer. Allan Metcalf notes the power of caravan to evoke visions.
  • <small>Creative Commons</small>
    Lingua Franca

    2018, in a Word. But What Word?

    By Allan Metcalf October 18, 2018
    Allan Metcalf contemplates candidates for 2018’s Word of the Year (or phrase, as in some years). “Shouting head,” anyone? “Tweetstorm”?
  • secondclock
    Lingua Franca

    Got a Minute? How Long It Lasts Depends on Where You Are.

    By Allan Metcalf October 10, 2018
    Allan Metcalf examines the flexibility of 60 seconds.
  • Four happy young adults having fun while taking selfies with their cell phones.
    Lingua Franca

    ‘Selfie’: One Word to Characterize a Generation

    By Allan Metcalf October 4, 2018
    Transparently both selfish and selfless, it is an almost perfect way to express the millennial attitude, says Allan Metcalf.
  • kibosh
    Lingua Franca

    From Criminal Slang to Modern Acceptability: ‘Kibosh’

    By Allan Metcalf September 27, 2018
    From the etymologist Gerald Cohen, Allan Metcalf learns why to stay out of range of the kibosh.
  • Twins-fraternal-identical-180
    Lingua Franca

    To Each Their Own Language

    By Allan Metcalf September 19, 2018
    Everyone understands their own language a little differently. Could that assumption lead us to the anonymous White House blogger? Allan Metcalf explains why not.
  • Anonymous.img1_.CrytoIDalterada-1440x564_c
    Lingua Franca

    Who Is ‘Anonymous’? An Extraordinary Writer

    By Allan Metcalf September 9, 2018
    The linguist Allan Metcalf looks for clues to the author of the New York Times column on the administration’s anti-Trump cabal.
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