Ben Zimmer

Arit John, “Do We Really Need to Shorten the Word ‘The’?” (The Atlantic Wire, July 5, 2013)

This may very well be the first time someone has decided to advocate on behalf of the. Linguist and language columnist Ben Zimmer told The Atlantic Wire that, while he could think of similar campaigns to popularize ‽ (aka the interrobang, that very unpopular combination of question mark and exclamation point) as well as marks to denote sarcasm, no one has ever tried to shorten the before. And probably for good reason. “I’m not sure that this is something that people are crying out for,” Zimmer told us in a phone interview Friday. “People seem to be just fine using the word the.”

Read the rest here.

Interview on WBUR’s “Radio Boston” about the colorful language of the Whitey Bulger trial. (July 3, 2013)

Linguist Ben Zimmer’s been listening closely to the trial of James “Whitey” Bulger, and he says witness testimony has “opened up a time capsule of old-school Boston mobspeak” that traces its history back more than 300 hundred years.

(Show page, audio, related Boston Globe column)

Appearance on Fox NY News, “Communicating by Sharing Photos, Videos” (July 2, 2013)

It’s hard to argue the popularity and impact of social media has changed the way we stay in touch with each other.
Whether it’s a simple photo that lets the world know how we’re feeling or a video captured on social media apps like vine.
Experts agree we are experiencing a communication evolution unlike any we’ve seen in human history.
Ben Zimmer, a linguist, says photo sharing and innovation in social media are creating a new form of language.

Interview on KUOW’s “The Conversation with Ross Reynolds” about Justice Scalia’s use of the word “argle-bargle” and mobspeak from the Whitey Bulger trial. (June 27, 2013)

The Supreme Court’s decision to strike down the Federal Defense of Marriage Act was big news yesterday and the coverage and analysis continues today. Justice Antonin Scalia’s dissent in the decision caught the eye of language lover and writer Ben Zimmer. On the 22nd page of his dissent Justice Scalia used the term argle-bargle. Zimmer, language columnist for the Boston Globe, explains the strange word to Ross Reynolds.

(Show page, related Word Routes column)

Rebecca Greenfield, “The Brouhaha Behind ‘Argle Bargle’: A Linguistic Explanation” (The Atlantic Wire, June 26, 2013)

“‘Argle-bargle’ is formed by what’s known as rhyming reduplication,” linguist Ben Zimmer told The Atlantic Wire. “Reduplication,” is when “a word formation process by which some part of a base (a segment, syllable, morpheme) is repeated, either to the left, or to the right, or, occasionally, in the middle,” as the Lexicon of Linguistics explains it. So, it’s like okey-dokey or mumbo-jumbo.

It’s not exactly Supreme Court level language, which is exactly why Scalia chose it. People use these types of terms to sound either juvenile or pejorative, which was the justice’s point: These other opinions aren’t just wrong, they’re argle-bargle level wrong, or plain dumb. “I think Scalia’s pejorative intentions were clear, but he was looking for something a bit more exotic than ‘mumbo-jumbo,'” added Zimmer.

Read the rest here. (Related Word Routes column, Language Log post)

Interview on NPR’s Weekend All Things Considered about the colorful language of the Whitey Bulger trial. (June 23, 2013)

This week, we’ve been immersed in news about mobs both real and fictional, with the death of Sopranos star James Gandolfini and the continuing trial of James “Whitey” Bulger.

The Sopranos gave us a primer on mob language like “clipping” a “rat.” But Bulger’s Winter Hill Gang and his Boston Irish cohort were the real deal. Members of Bulger’s old cohort came to the witness stand and used the real-life slang of their gang days.

That caught the ear of linguist Ben Zimmer, who tells Jacki Lyden, host of weekends on All Things Considered, that he’s been fascinated by quotes from the trial.

(Show page, audio, related Boston Globe column)

Interview on the Southern California Public Radio show “Take Two” about the language of the Whitey Bulger trial. (June 21, 2013)

It was just one year ago that famed mobster Whitey Bulger was captured in his Santa Monica apartment. The outlaw had evaded authorities for 16 years.

Bulger’s trial got underway last week and linguist Ben Zimmer has been keeping an ear to the salty talk of former mob men.

(Show page, audio, related Boston Globe column)

Rebecca Greenfield, “Why ‘To Tweet’ Is Lowercase But ‘To Google’ Is Not” (The Atlantic Wire, June 14, 2013)

“The simple answer is that ‘tweet’ isn’t a trademark, or at least it didn’t start as one,” linguist Ben Zimmer told The Atlantic Wire. A word like Google, because it doubles as both the proper noun and verb — Google the company and Google “to search” — has always had an official trademark. And in that case, the verb version keeps the style of its proper noun brand-name.

Unlike made-up nouns Google  or Xerox, Twitter takes its name from a real verb. “Twitter is a ‘suggestive name,’ as it is based on an actual word, twitter, imitative of a bird chirping,” Zimmer explained to the Wire. “And because of that suggestiveness, early adopter were encouraged to think of ‘tweet’ as a kindred term, since it too is an onomatopoetic term for a bird’s chirping.” Both tweet and Twitter as verbs remained acceptable for awhile. And while Twitter got the trademark from the get-go, tweet developed organically and only gained official US Patent and Trademark Office stamp of approval in 2011 — long after its colloquial usage began.

Read the rest here.

Rebecca Hiscott, “Oxford English Dictionary Deigns to Allow Twitter’s Definition of ‘Tweet’ Into Its Hallowed Tome” (Betabeat, June 14, 2013)

According to lexicographer Ben Zimmer, the general rule of thumb for the OED is that a word must be in use for around ten years to warrant inclusion, but the rules can be relaxed, particularly in the case of tech-related words.

“It’s happened a few times when it comes to ‘techie’ words that have taken off very quickly,” Mr. Zimmer told Betabeat. “Two examples are Google, as a verb, and podcast, as a noun or verb. Both of those took off quickly enough that the [OED] felt the words were entrenched enough and weren’t going anywhere.”

“The criteria are really just that it needs to have a very strong record in terms of print sources,” he added. “So if ‘tweet’ is appearing everywhere in major publications, then there’s really no denying that it’s become firmly fixed in the lexicon.”

Read the rest here.