bgzimmer

bgzimmer, 14 hours ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: The Met Gala may have made "gala" a fashion buzzword, but it's actually been around for centuries to describe glamorous occasions where high society breaks out their finery. https://on.wsj.com/44y4NyH

bgzimmer, 14 days ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: The word "homeless" is getting displaced by "unhoused," favored by advocates seeking terminology that is less pejorative and more humanizing. https://on.wsj.com/4aP6yd5

bgzimmer, 1 month ago to random

Now presenting (from Natan Last, Parker Higgins @xor and me)... Crossword Craze, celebrating a century of crossword-mania. We'll be looking back at how the craze took off in 1924 from the vantage point of 2024. Subscribe to get it in your inbox! https://crosswordcraze.today/introducing/

bgzimmer, 1 month ago to random

One hundred years ago, two Columbia grads named Simon and Schuster published a book of crossword puzzles that set off a national mania. Now the crossword craze has been reborn in the digital era. My latest for WSJ. https://on.wsj.com/3U3zMPk

bgzimmer, 1 month ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: It all started as a joke among friends studying physics at the University of Alberta. Now 17 years later, everyone seems to be embracing the idea that "fluffle" is a collective noun for a group of rabbits. https://on.wsj.com/4au1bzk

bgzimmer, 1 month ago to random

Have you come across "fluffle" as a term for a group of rabbits? The collective noun that has taken social media by storm actually originated as a joke among a group of Canadian undergrads. My latest for WSJ. (Thanks to @wayword for helping solve the mystery!) https://on.wsj.com/4au1bzk

bgzimmer, 1 month ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: The writer O. Henry, who fled to Guatemala after embezzling money from a Texas bank, popularized the expression "banana republic," which lives on as a pejorative term for a small, unstable country dominated by foreign corporate interests. https://bit.ly/4cpSAzz

bgzimmer, 2 months ago to random

With the cult sci-fi classic "The Blob" getting a remake, my latest for WSJ looks at how the original movie had a big effect on the word "blob" itself, now used for various massive amorphous forces. https://on.wsj.com/3uCEoST

bgzimmer, 3 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Was it a "snub" when Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie didn't get Oscar nominations for "Barbie"? A word that originally referred to a cutting retort has become an awards-season cliché. https://on.wsj.com/4bnTEDk

bgzimmer, 3 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Daytime soap operas have been on TV for 75 years now. But how did they get their sudsy name? Companies like Procter & Gamble advertised soap brands to housewives going back to the '30s on radio. https://on.wsj.com/3vNfShX

bgzimmer, 3 months ago to random

"Stochastic parrot," coined by @emilymbender for "large language models that...do not truly understand the meaning of the language they are processing," was recognized as AI-Related Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society. My latest for WSJ. 🦜 https://on.wsj.com/47DKfVf

bgzimmer, 4 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: As the original Mickey Mouse enters the public domain, I take a look at how the name "Mickey Mouse" has taken on negative associations, inspired by the character's frivolous nature and diminutive size. https://on.wsj.com/3vmd3Eu

bgzimmer, 4 months ago to random

It's my solemn duty every year to oversee the @stronglang Tucker Awards for excellence in swearing. Please enjoy some choice profanity from 2023. https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2023/12/31/the-9th-annual-tucker-awards-for-excellence-in-swearing/

bgzimmer, 4 months ago to random

One week left to get your nominations in for American Dialect Society Word of the Year! https://americandialect.org/nominate-the-2023-words-of-the-year

bgzimmer, 5 months ago to random

The American Dialect Society is now accepting Word of the Year nominations for 2023! More information here: https://americandialect.org/nominate-the-2023-words-of-the-year
Nominations can be submitted via Google Forms at this link: https://bit.ly/23WOTYNOMS Please share far and wide!

bgzimmer, 5 months ago to random

Fifty years ago today, Richard Nixon infamously said "I am not a crook" at a conference of newspaper editors at Disney World. For WSJ, I delve into the sinuous history of the word "crook," from Old Norse to Chicago swindlers. https://on.wsj.com/40FImWl

bgzimmer, 6 months ago to random

"Grok," now the name of xAI's chatbot, goes back to Robert Heinlein's sci-fi classic "Stranger in a Strange Land." As a verb for profound understanding, "grok" found favor in the '60s counterculture and among computer hackers. My latest for WSJ. https://on.wsj.com/3FQGkc6

bgzimmer, 6 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: The NFL is all abuzz about the "tush push," a controversial play often run by the Eagles offense. I look at how an old Yiddishism is being pushed into the football lexicon. https://on.wsj.com/3Qxe6Zd

bgzimmer, 6 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Taylor Swift may be in her "Eras" era, but she's not the only one using a term for historical periods to mark the chapters in her life story. https://on.wsj.com/3S6zDKD

bgzimmer, 6 months ago to random

What does "out of pocket" mean to you? Cash-strapped, unavailable, or acting wild? Your answer may depend on which generation you're in. My latest for WSJ looks at how a viral video sparked a semantic debate. https://on.wsj.com/3QhqrBO

bgzimmer, 7 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Gelett Burgess coined the word "blurb" in 1907 as a way to poke fun at the promotional excesses of the publishing world, and yet publishers adopted the word as their own. https://on.wsj.com/3rfVrbv

bgzimmer, 8 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: The languid term "listless" goes back to an obsolete meaning of "list" relating to desire. Now Ron DeSantis has recrafted it as a political insult. https://on.wsj.com/3ssnaWO

bgzimmer, 8 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: We can thank the 1997 mobster movie "Donnie Brasco" for introducing "fugazy" as a colorful word for "fake." But what if "fugazy" was itself fugazy all along? https://on.wsj.com/3KAusxK

bgzimmer, 9 months ago to random

My recent WSJ column on how "hip-hop" got its name has been adapted into a Google Web Story. https://www.wsj.com/story/hip-hop-is-turning-50-heres-how-it-got-its-name-b9b6a137