“In Yiddish’s arsenal of gently mocking dismissal, no single feature is quite as interesting as the “shm-” replacement”
In Yiddish’s arsenal of gently mocking dismissal, no single feature is quite as interesting...
Tag Archives: Language
“‘Community’ makes everything sound better”
“Community” is derived from the Anglo-Norman and Middle French communité, meaning, primarily, “joint ownership.”...
“When underlying conditions are already suffused with politics, doing nothing can itself constitute a political act”
Change, of course, is inherently destabilizing. It upsets an existing state of affairs that...
When Michael Oren shifted the definition of “existential”
In 2009, Michael B. Oren, soon to become Israel’s ambassador to the United States,...
“These days, pettiness is openly flaunted by the powerful…”
These days, pettiness is openly flaunted by the powerful, who are uniquely capable of...
“Part of what makes the modern use of ‘winning’ so strange is that it’s often used in contexts that are not competitions”
Part of what makes the modern use of “winning” so strange is that it’s...
“Now ownage communicates dominance, but it also belies an underlying impotence”
In the hacking context, owning someone is all about a display of superior technological...
“…despite the country’s fondness for aspirational rhetoric, our illiberal traditions have serious staying power, too”
As a point of strategy, it may behoove Democrats to embrace patriotic or nationalistic...
“In the present-day vernacular, people are most humbled by the things that make them look good”
To be humbled is to be brought low or somehow diminished in standing or...
“The “humblebrag” — a boast couched in a self-deprecating comment — has migrated from subtext to text…”
The “humblebrag” — a boast couched in a self-deprecating comment — has migrated from...