English Language

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers recent claims about the relation between vocabulary size and social class.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the word greed.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on language purists and post modernism.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the words –hero— and –legend.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the obscurity of the Pledge of Allegiance.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg discusses the word "clarity."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers "journalese".

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers obscure legal language and the word 'prurient' used in the landmark 1973 Supreme court ruling on obscenity.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg reflects on the evolution of World Wide Web naming conventions, such as attaching "e" or "cyber" in front of everything Internet.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the word "chastity."

Linguist Geoff Nunberg comments on the way films like Star Wars have influenced the language of corporate culture. Enron picked names such as Jedi Capital and Obi-1 Holdings, Inc. to hide funds offshore.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg does some of his own checking on liberal bias in the media.

John McWhorter's newest book is called The Power of Babel: A Natural History of Language. He has written on Ebonics, language and African Americans, and the origins of the Creole Language. His other books include Losing the Race: Self-Sabotage in Black America and Word on the Street: Debunking the Myth of 'Pure' Standard English. McWhorter is a professor at the University of California at Berkeley.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg talks about plagiarism in light of stories last month about historians Doris Kearns Goodwin and Stephen Ambrose plagiarizing other texts.

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg on the names of cars, past and present.

Linguist Geoffrey Nunberg looks at the word, "evil".

Language commentator Geoff Nunberg looks at the term "capitalism." He says it is back in fashion after an era of "free enterprise".

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on retronyms.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg considers the word of the year — past and present.

Linguist Geoff Nunberg on the terms "highbrow," "middlebrow," and "Lowbrow."