linguistics

A Dictionary of Euphemisms for Imperial Decline

By William J. Astore / TomDispatch Apr 18, 2016 Cloaking violent, even murderous actions in anodyne language might help a few doubting functionaries sleep easier at night, but it should make the rest of us profoundly uneasy. Dig deeper ( 10 Min. Read )

Is Income Inequality Actually About Housing?

Staff / Truthdig Nov 23, 2015 An MIT graduate has a new theory about the root cause of inequality; more Mexican immigrants have gone back to their native country since the 2008 economic crash than have moved to the U.S.; and a professor of linguistics explains why English is an extremely weird language. These discoveries and more after the jump. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Secret Service Seeks to Automate Social Media Message Evaluation

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Jun 16, 2014 To help it judge whether to take specific threats online seriously, the U.S. Secret Service has offered a contract for analytics software that can be used "to detect sarcasm and false positives" on Twitter and other social media. Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )

Male Speech Patterns Are Changing

Alexander Reed Kelly / Truthdig Dec 13, 2013 "Uptalk," the habit of increasing the pitch of one's voice at the end of sentences, is on the rise among California males, new research shows. Dig deeper ( 2 Min. Read )

Lone Frenchman Fights to Save Dying Alaskan Language

Staff / Truthdig Aug 10, 2010 It's not entirely clear what, besides a love of linguistics and an apparently compelling documentary, spurred young Guillaume Leduey to launch a one-man campaign to resuscitate an Alaskan language, Eyak (continued). Dig deeper ( 1 Min. Read )