Saying that "language evolves" is no enough to dismiss complaints about the misuse of words, since "language erodes" is just as valid, but without the suggestion of progress. Read more (9 min, 2300 words).
Language Erodes
Tag: language
7 Swedish Words to Import
I describe a few words in Swedish i find myself wanting to use in English, for example when blogging. Read more (8 min, 2000 words).
Cat Couplings Revisited
I folliow up on "Cat Couplings" from 2019 with a bunch of new examples and further thinking on how and why cat couplings work. Read more (13 min, 3300 words).
Ahistorical Siblings
What are the equivalents of the word "ahistorical" for other disciplines? Read more (6 min, 1400 words).
Good vs. Good
I use a poor innocent guide book author as a target for complaining about empty consumerism, and explain why features of the Swedish language makes it slightly less unreasonable than it appears.
Read more (6 min, 1500 words).
Picking Apart Eugenics
A quick-and-dirty piece on what the hell people mean by "eugenics", promted by the fallout from a tweet by Richard Dawkins.
Read more(7 min, 1700 words).
It’s Not So Only
Are mental illnesses actual illnesses or are they unusual preferences? Or maybe this is a non-issue because it's only about words? Well, that's not so only. Read more (8 min, 1900 words).
Cat Couplings
"I prefer honest argumentation to dishonest rhetoric." Do I mean that rhetoric is essentially dishonest, or am I talking about the kind of rhetoric that's dishonest? That's a cat coupling. Read more (7 min, 1800 words).
Wordy Weapons of Is-Ought Alloy
Our words' relationship to reality is far more complicated than we realize. Thus, when we say things we think we state facts but we also endorse certain uses of words. That has consequences, which causes public discourse to become a war zone where we fight for control over our common pool of mental and social equipment. Read more (13 min, 3300 words).
Signed Google Translate
I try to interpret a Google translation of someone quoting me in Tamil. Deep insights result. Read more (4 min, 1100 words)
Everything Studies 