Mastodawn

DanC Apr 23, 2023

New episode of Lexis podcast is now available. We've got an interview with Anna Islentyeva about her paper on the representation of masculinity in print-based advertising.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/2jEaBQ4dl7xGc5s7zD5k7i?si=W2m8-omiTWyZgL1mJaSluw&dd=1

Episode 38 - Anna Islentyeva and the representation of masculinity in advertising

Listen to this episode from Lexis on Spotify. Here are the show notes for Episode 38, in which Lisa and Dan talk to Dr Anna Islentyeva of Innsbruck University, Austria about the representation of masculinity in advertising, including: The “Real Men Score” paper she has recently published with her team Stereotypes around gender representation Methodologies and approaches to data Multimodal approaches to visual texts Anna’s university page: https://www.uibk.ac.at/anglistik/staff/islentyeva/islentyeva.html Anna on Twitter: https://twitter.com/hei_anni The “Real Men Score” paper: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HZsad35JBMD0kM4FqpXpWn8xWnIzAiL-/view?usp=share_link Anna Islentyeva, Elisabeth Zimmermann, Nadia Schützinger & Andrea Platzer (2023) ‘Real Men Score’: Masculinity in Contemporary Advertising Discourse, Critical Discourse Studies, DOI: 10.1080/17405904.2023.2173625 The study that Anna mentioned into perfume advertising was by Helen Ringrow and this is her book The Language of Cosmetics: The Language of Cosmetics Advertising | SpringerLink And in our regular Lang in the News segment, Jacky and Dan talk about linguistic accommodation, the power of accents and why politicians love to talk down to us. Northern lessons for southern Tories https://twitter.com/christopherhope/status/1649520363926110210?t=pCM6q2gelPqBiOFGy4bQcA&s=19 https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/04/21/how-do-you-sex-a-limpet-susie/ Rishi Sunak’s downwards convergence Here’s the clip: https://twitter.com/sturdyAlex/status/1640280827086143488 Is it “hilariously inauthentic”(Alex Andreou)? Is it “sheer desperation by an out of touch rich boy trying to show he is in tune with the public” (Dave Lawrence in replies to tweet above https://twitter.com/dave43law/status/1640326877842685954?s=20 )? Or is it just another example of politicians (of all parties) trying to sound more human and a perfectly natural way of doing language? Jane Setter article about people keeping/losing accents: https://theconversation.com/why-some-people-lose-their-accents-but-others-dont-linguistic-expert-201986 George Osborne: 'Mockney' George Osborne backs working Briddish with dodgy accent George 'Mockney' Osborne: Chancellor in Estuary accent shocker George Osborne, gawd bless yer | Victoria Coren | The Guardian Academics 'dropping regional accents' to fit in at elite universities (linked story to accommodation) Ed Miliband with Russell Brand: Accent on common ground as Miliband takes on Russell Brand's estuary twang The cultural significance of Ed Miliband's mockney accent | The Spectator Has Ed Miliband changed his accent to get elected? Tony Blair: London Journal; Britons Prick Up Their Ears: Blair's a Li'l Peculiar I don’t have a posh accent – am I bothered? | Suzanne Moore | The Guardian Accents in Higher Education: Academics 'dropping regional accents' to fit in at elite universities British academics try to hide regional accents, study finds Alex Barratta’s work on accents and teaching Research exposes prejudice over teachers with northern accents Contributors Lisa Casey blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates) Dan Clayton blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog) Mastodon: Jacky Glancey Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey Jill Lavender Twitter: https://twitter.com/JillLavs Matthew Butler Twitter: https://twitter.com/MatthewbutlerCA Music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys

Spotify

DanC Jan 31, 2023

Chad Loder Jan 30, 2023

Twitter, which recently suspended my account and the accounts of several other journalists, is allowing a verified account to post recruitment videos urging American soldiers to join Russia's Wagner Group PMC, a neo-Nazi linked paramilitary organization designated as a transnational criminal organization by the US government.

DanC Jan 13, 2023

Chad Loder Jan 13, 2023

Journalist collective Ignite The Right has just been suspended from Twitter, joining @igd_news, @CrimethInc, @chadloder, @VPS_Reports, and countless other research and news collectives to be banned from the platform by Elon Musk and Twitter's new deputy Trust & Safety Chief Andy Ngo.

Follow them on Mastodon: @UnmaskUTR

Ignite The Right is dedicated to documenting and preserving evidence of the white supremacists who organized and attended the deadly 2017 Unite The Right rally in Charlottesville.

In October, Ignite The Right famously exposed a Boston-area cop as a neo-Nazi and organizer of Unite The Right rally. The nazi cop was fired from the police force and the DA is reviewing every case he ever touched.

EDIT: Andy Ngo is not actually officially working at Twitter. "Deputy" was meant in the sense of a deputized citizen.

DanC Jan 7, 2023

Geraldine Jan 6, 2023

I've been researching how ancient civilizations cleaned their butts after pooping (I'm writing a book!) and y'all, the Ancient Greeks were SUPER punk rock. They used bits of broken ceramic like a scoop (don't worry - the edges were smoothed out) and sometimes THE BITS OF POTTERY WERE INSCRIBED WITH THE NAMES OF THEIR ENEMIES.

They literally wiped their butts with their enemies' names. I am in awe.

https://daily.jstor.org/this-is-how-they-wiped-themselves-in-ancient-rome/#:~:text=Ancient%20Greeks%20exiled%20their%20enemies,%2C%E2%80%9D%20it%20was%20a%20curse.

This Is How They Wiped Themselves in Ancient Rome - JSTOR Daily

A very gross but extremely informative look at the archaeology of toilet hygiene.

JSTOR Daily

DanC Jan 2, 2023

Enjoyed Wednesday (appealed to the teenage goth in me) and am currently being unsettled by Souls. Seems like there's a lot of good stuff to watch at the moment, with Kindred, Constellation, Mrs Jones and Shadow & Bone on my list for later (+ For All Mankind if I can get an Apple TV trial for long enough). Anything else I should check out?

DanC Dec 31, 2022

New Lexis pod episode here featuring an interview with @drclaireh on forensic linguistics and a chat about words of the year 2022.
https://anchor.fm/lexispodcast/episodes/Episode-36---Claire-Hardaker-and-forensic-linguistics-e1srsej

Episode 36 - Claire Hardaker and forensic linguistics by Lexis

Here are the show notes for Episode 36, in which Dan and Lisa talk to Dr Claire Hardaker about: Forensic linguistics What language can reveal about us The benefits and problems of technology in forensic linguistics The role of the forensic linguist in an unequal society The future of forensic linguistics Claire’s Lancaster University page: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about/people/claire-hardaker Claire’s en clair podcast: http://wp.lancs.ac.uk/enclair/ Claire on Twitter: https://twitter.com/drclaireH Claire on Mastodon: https://mastodonapp.uk/@drclaireh And in our regular Lang in the News segment, Lisa and Dan talk about Words of the Year- which ones have been chosen so far, how they have been selected, why they work (or don’t?) and what they might tell us about 2022. Collins: ‘Sums up 2022’: Permacrisis chosen as Collins word of the year | Culture | The Guardian A year of ‘permacrisis’ - Collins Dictionary Language Blog Oxford Dictionaries: https://languages.oup.com/word-of-the-year/2022/#WOTY2022vote https://www.independent.co.uk/news/goblin-mode-meaning-word-of-the-year-oxford-dictionary-b2239839.html ‘Goblin mode’: new Oxford word of the year speaks to the times | Language | The Guardian Slobbing out and giving up: why are so many people going ‘goblin mode’? | Life and style | The Guardian Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/editorial/woty Merriam Webster: Word of the Year 2022 | Gaslighting | Merriam-Webster Macquarie: Teal named Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year – ‘an emblem of Australia’s political landscape’ Dictionary dot com: Dictionary.com’s 2022 Word Of The Year Is… Dictionary.com announces word of the year: ‘woman’ | US news | The Guardian Dan’s Independent article about WOTY2022: 2022’s Words of the Year and what they tell us | The Independent » Words of the Year American Dialect Society

Anchor

DanC Dec 25, 2022

Ben Zimmer Dec 24, 2022

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Long before the currently trending "nepo babies," "nepotism" emerged from the Latin word for nephew, "nepos," used for the centuries-old practice of appointing papal kin to positions of ecclesiastical power. https://on.wsj.com/3PPpKxE

‘Nepotism’: Family Favors Named for Popes’ Nephews

Medieval clergymen, like contemporary celebrities, had a habit of conferring professional privileges on their relatives

WSJ

DanC Dec 24, 2022

Low Quality Facts Dec 23, 2022

I really struggled with the icing for my gingerbread barn and it accidentally became a gingerbread slaughterhouse.

Show thread

DanC Dec 23, 2022

It's primarily aimed at A level English Language students but this one's got some interesting stuff about journalism more generally.

DanC Dec 23, 2022

We've done a new episode of our language podcast, Lexis, interviewing Harriet Williamson of The Independent about writing good opinion pieces. We also pull apart a Telegraph opinion piece about accent bias.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/7eAbVe2MY6cnUI3Xdf51Pa?si=TmQnD_RRTYqCIjy3U-96xA

Episode 35 - an opinion articles special with Harriet Williamson

Listen to this episode from Lexis on Spotify. Here are the show notes for Episode 35, an opinion articles special, in which Dan and Jacky talk to Harriet Williamson, the Voices Commissioning Editor at The Independent about: Opinion articles and what makes a good one, including pieces about language issues The job of a commissioning editor Paths into journalism Educating the public about language Harriet’s Independent page: https://www.independent.co.uk/author/harriet-williamson Harriet on Twitter: https://twitter.com/harriepw Indy Voices on Twitter: https://twitter.com/IndyVoices Harriet’s article on accent-shaming: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/accent-bias-shaming-bbc-english-b2216735.html Harriet on why, if you want to be a writer, it pays to be a reader: https://www.independent.co.uk/independentpremium/editors-letters/better-writer-journalism-reading-stephen-king-b2140181.html Victoria Richards’ article on language and refugees: https://www.independent.co.uk/voices/suella-braverman-invasion-migrants-firebombing-b2214905.html And in our regular Lang in the News segment, Lisa, Jacky and Dan discuss and analyse an article by Michael Deacon of the Daily Telegraph that lays into the BBC’s Amol Rajan over his views on accents at the BBC. We also look at two letters from Telegraph readers in response to (and in support of) the Deacon article. We also see how many times we can say Amol Rajan’s name in the space of 30 minutes… Make sure you have the article to hand as we pull it apart! Michael Deacon article here (paywalled version): https://www.telegraph.co.uk/columnists/2022/09/28/amol-rajans-attack-posh-presenters-pure-inverted-snobbery/ Michael Deacon article here (Pressreader version): https://pressreader.com/article/281573769572585 Letters here: https://pressreader.com/article/282093460615450 Amol Rajan’s Cracking the Class Ceiling programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001fygr And reviewed here Telegraph: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/tv/2022/12/06/how-crack-class-ceiling-review/ Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2022/dec/06/tv-tonight-amol-rajan-class-ceiling-bbc-jamie-claudia-winkleman-the-traitors Amol Rajan’s initial points reported here: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/09/27/amol-rajan-accuses-bbc-posh-having-accent-bias

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