Tag Archives: language

Dan Savage mints another one.

The Arizona Department of Education has begun telling schools that must remove teachers whose English is heavily accented or ungrammatical if they are teaching students who are still learning English themselves. State education officials say the move is intended to ensure that students with limited English have teachers who speak the language flawlessly. But some school principals and administrators say …

Icelanders are apparently in stitches over the newscasters’ attempts to pronounce the name of their global-economy destroying volcano.

Judging by this video, it appears some teabaggers have given up their lie that the term originated as a description of a “perverted gay sex practice” and are now proudly claiming the name. Watch it until the end.

In a case involving radio shock jocks, a New Jersey district court has reversed an earlier precedent and ruled that defamation law no longer covers being called gay. U.S. District Court Judge Joel Pisano reversed an earlier precedent and ruled that a person (even a public figure) cannot sue for defamation simply because he or she was called gay. Reversing …

“Mantique” – An attractive gay man over the age of 50. From the Queers United “word of the gay” series.

In Italy you can now be fined for calling someone gay if you mean it in an insulting way. Italian gays are debating whether that’s a good thing. Is it an insult to call somebody gay? That is the question Italians are pondering as they await a pivotal court decision on gay marriage expected this week. Last week, in an …

A fascinating CBS poll reveals that support for the repeal of DADT varies greatly depending on whether “homosexual” or “gay” is used in the wording of the question. In the poll, 59 percent say they now support allowing “homosexuals” to serve in the U.S. military, including 34 percent who say they strongly favor that. Ten percent say they somewhat oppose …

Linguists have long noted the slow demise of regional American accents, a phenomenon partially blamed on the “television accent” and partially blamed on the perception that such accents denote a working class origin, leading some to accent reduction training. The NYC accent in particular is thought by many to be especially crude, wrought as is with a uniquely colorful vernacular. …

Canada’s National History Society has changed the name of its 90 year-old magazine because “vulgar internet meanings” of the original name were blocking the title from schools and libraries. So kids in Canada can’t even look up actual beavers on the internet? Isn’t the beaver the national animal, the Canuck version of the bald eagle? And of course, beaver meant …

(Via – Friendly Atheist)

Several times in recent weeks, commenters on this and other LGBT blogs have feuded over reader statements that the perpetrators of hate crimes deserve to get raped in prison. This has generated a number of complaining emails to me, including a couple from LGBT prisoner activists. Pertinent to that issue, the photos above are part of a new awareness campaign …

Why must TV’s talking heads insist on saying “on the ground” when they just mean “there.” Stop that right now. That’s all I got.

My loyal companion Aaron tips us to a piece in the New York Times titled A Letter From London, in which an Englishman says that we’re really not so bad. It’s worth the entire read, but here’s a short excerpt: When I finally got to America myself, I found that not only were the natives friendly and hospitable, they were …

Brad Graham, the gay blogging pioneer who coined the term “blogosphere” in 1999, has died unexpectedly at the age of 41. His body was found Monday at his home in the city’s Shaw Neighborhood. Although the time and the cause of death remain unknown, Graham seems to have died of natural causes, said Steven Woolf, artistic director of the Repertory …

Happy Palindrome Day. Here’s one Palin-drome to get you started: Harass Sarah.

The language cops have set up a site demanding that you say the new year their way. Say the year “1810” out loud. Now say the year “1999” out loud. See a pattern? It’s been easier, faster, and shorter to say years this way for every decade (except for the one that just ended) instead of saying the number the …

“Gay-marry” is one of the New York Times’ buzzwords of 2009. Some of the other words on the list: birther, Tenther, Octomom, Tea Party, Cash For Clunkers, I’ma let you finish, mini-Madoff, netbook.

“I have long advocated using the term ‘bigot’ sparingly when referring to gay-rights opponents. It’s not that I don’t think bigotry is a serious problem. On the contrary, it’s vital to identify bigotry for what it is and to expose its tragic effects. It’s also important to learn the lessons of history, including the ways in which bigotry can hide …