Posts from Lingua Franca
Coverage seems to invoke two complementary ideas, the dream of completeness and the desire to be kept safe. They meet, says Bill Germano, in the classroom, where there are no assurances.
A tiny error on a conference web page provides Geoff Pullum with a concrete example for teaching abstract concepts in philosophy.
Successful students, besides absorbing the content of their field, also have to be able to discuss it intelligently. The culminating exam varies, but Roger Shuy believes students who fail it deserve a second chance.
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.
MLA and APA style guides disagree on whether it’s OK to use, for example, “it’s.” Our blogger investigates: What do Laura Hillenbrand and Jill Lepore do?
Anne Curzan finds herself trying to define slang after one student misunderstands another’s remark on a snowy day.
Academics visiting Britain from the United States this holiday season will have trouble understanding some new words in the newspapers. Geoff Pullum has prepared a helpful Brexit glossary.
Rose Jacobs investigates the rise of multiple in news stories where many would suffice. Are journalists following a trend?
Whether in the academy or the law, interviewers should be wary of looking too hard for the right fit.
The word can weaken the adjective it precedes, says Ben Yagoda, but sometimes, as in When We Were Very Young, you need it. And then there’s the very-user-in-chief.