Tag Archives: language

Here are a few of the words and terms added to the 2012 edition of the Merriam-Webster Dictionary by its editor Peter Sokolowski: F-bomb, sexting, man cave, earworm, energy drink, flexitarian, mash-up, e-reader, craft beer, and shovel-ready. A couple of existing words have had new definitions added: toxic (in a political sense) and underwater (regarding home mortgages.) Flexitarian, which describes …

Via CBS News: Great Britain: they speak the same language as Americans, only not really. With the London Olympics about to get underway, Team USA decided to take some time and learn the local dialects. In a series called “Thank You Britain,” athletes try their hand at the classic “Cockney” accent in amusing videos sure to make you go chicken …

Members of Reddit’s LGBT forum are split on whether the above claim could have really happened. And whether it was the right thing to do. (Via Unicorn Booty)

Some transgender advocates are seeking to have the psychological establishment change its terminology as the profession overhauls its main diagnosis manual for the first time in almost 20 years. Advocates have spent years lobbying the American Psychiatric Association to rewrite or even remove the categories typically used to diagnose transgender people, arguing that terms like Gender Identity Disorder and Transvestic …

Today’s the day for such sufferers.

From In The Life: Homophobic slurs and anti-gay hate speech are commonplace among many of the professional athletes who are role models for young people. IN THE LIFE examines pervasive homophobia in the world of sports and speaks with professional athletes who are standing up to put an end to it. Then, transgender advocates Isis King and Janet Mock discuss …

Several times each year I urge JMG readers to never post comments advocating the physical harm of any person or place. Suggesting that the enemies of equality “kill themselves” falls into that category. Such comments will be removed the moment I learn of them and repeated infractions will result in banning. Please don’t give them ammunition against us.

The Supreme Court today unanimously ruled in favor of broadcasters who say they are unfairly punished for “isolated moments” of obscenity and profanity that slip onto the airwaves. In an 8-0 vote, justices concluded the Federal Communications Commission cannot enforce its current policies against “fleeting” expletives and nudity on over-the-air programs, both live and scripted. The agency had levied hefty …

2009’s word is definitely much older. Naughty language.(Via Bilerico)

It’ll cost you $20 to drop an F-bomb in Middleborough. At a town meeting Monday night, residents voted 183-50 to approve a proposal from the police chief to impose a $20 fine on public profanity. Officials insist the proposal was not intended to censor casual or private conversations, but instead to crack down on loud, profanity-laden language used by teens …

Details.

“Pedophilia is not by choice, last I checked. In his sermon, Pastor Knapp blamed the Bush administration for its tolerance of gay people. Says that he claims that set the stage, in fact, for the Obama administration to endorse same-sex marriage. Like I said: they can’t make this stuff up. Unbelievable. Speechless, right? Again, we gotta outline here, when he …

A New York state appeals court ruled today that falsely calling somebody “gay” can longer be considered slander. The court says that although falsely calling someone gay or lesbian has for decades been grounds for slander, that’s no longer the case because being gay is no longer seen by society as negative. The decision Thursday involves the case of a …

Massive PDF version is here.

The name of Mitt Romney’s Super PAC has got folks wondering what the hell it means. It’s an actual contradiction, an inscrutable zen koan for this election cycle. It is, concedes a top Romney supporter, “a head-scratcher.” The Democratic consultant Paul Begala, who heads Obama’s counterpart group Priorities USA, goes one step further. “It drives me fucking crazy,” Begala said. …

The NYC Department of Education is raising eyebrows after issuing a list of 50 words it plans to strike from standardized tests because they are “distracting to segments of the city’s diverse student population.” Such tests have been criticized over the years for using word problems that are alien to impoverished children, such as questions about silverware settings at the …

The Family Research Council is appalled. The left is so embracing of calling themselves prostitutes, hookers and whores that they have made a line of clothing “Sluts for Obama.” Most offensive – they even have baby clothing with the phrase. (I would assume the Obama “O” is trademarked – will the Obama campaign try to put a stop to it?) …

“While the thought-police replace our language with words that advance their political aims, they’ve also mastered the misappropriation of others. Take the word ‘racist.’ It’s about the worst thing one can be called in our society. And it’s now being applied to those brave enough to speak out against Islamic fundamentalists. Pointing out the obvious — that mainstream Muslim thought …

About seven years ago I wrote this: When gay marriage finally becomes widespread, how quickly (if at all) will we act to correct each other when we identify someone’s significant other? “There goes David and his husband.” “Oh, they aren’t married, just living together.” Will we do that? Will we give those who choose not to marry a verbal downgrade …