bgzimmer

bgzimmer, 9 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: The word "legacy" has been passed down as a kind of etymological bequest from past generations, but it's now wrapped up in debates over preferential treatment for admitting the children of college alumni. https://on.wsj.com/3KgQyFB

bgzimmer, 10 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Hip-hop was born 50 years ago at a South Bronx back-to-school party, but the musical movement wouldn't get its name until MCs like Keith Cowboy and Lovebug Starski started rapping those playful syllables. https://on.wsj.com/3pZNdDR

bgzimmer, 10 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: I investigate some tennis lore, the claim that the score of "love" comes from French "l'oeuf." Though it's an appealing notion, etymologically it's a big goose egg. https://on.wsj.com/3pWNyaa

bgzimmer, 10 months ago to random

Hard to believe, but today marks the 10th anniversary of my weekly "Word on the Street" column for the WSJ Review section! My word of the week is, naturally enough, "anniversary." https://on.wsj.com/3CUOEpO

bgzimmer, 11 months ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: If you say Trump (or anybody) is "toast," you're using the word in a way that was pioneered by Bill Murray when he ad-libbed a line in "Ghostbusters" about blasting a shape-shifting supervillain. https://on.wsj.com/3Nn5ClI

bgzimmer, 11 months ago to random

"Your earlobes are thick and chewy. Yeah, like barnacle meat." For the WSJ, my look back on the deliciously poisonous invective of HBO's "Succession." Many thanks to Jesse Armstrong for the enlightening chat and Barry Blitt for the fantastic illustration. https://on.wsj.com/45z0KSH

bgzimmer, 1 year ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Members of the Writers Guild are out on the picket lines. But where did "picket" come from? The word had a militaristic history before getting used for labor protests. https://on.wsj.com/41ofCjy

bgzimmer, 1 year ago to random

With Writers Guild members out on picket lines with picket signs, my latest for WSJ looks at how the word "picket" moved from pointy stakes to union protests. https://on.wsj.com/41ofCjy

bgzimmer, 1 year ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: "Velo" is a buzzword in the current stats-driven era of baseball, for the "velocity" of balls pitched and batted. But cycling got to the word first, as a short form of "velocipede." https://on.wsj.com/3AWKLzQ

bgzimmer, 1 year ago to random

New from me on the Strong Language blog: Remembering Billy "The Kid" Emerson, who brought "squatitives" to the masses with his 1955 song "Red Hot" ("My gal is red hot / Your gal ain't doodly-squat"). https://stronglang.wordpress.com/2023/04/29/your-gal-aint-doodly-squat/

bgzimmer, 1 year ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: New chatbots have been plagued by "hallucinations," generating text that seems plausible but is unmoored from reality. But should the word "hallucination" be avoided since it ascribes human perceptions to AI models? https://on.wsj.com/3H1Kuin

bgzimmer, 1 year ago to random

When chatbots produce responses untethered from reality, AI researchers call those responses "hallucinations." But the term has been critiqued for suggesting language models have human perceptions. My latest for WSJ (featuring @emilymbender) https://on.wsj.com/3H1Kuin

bgzimmer, 1 year ago to random

In this weekend's WSJ Review section: Fifty years ago, when Atari introduced Pong to the world, there wasn't even a set name for the electronic diversion. But one quickly emerged: "videogame." https://on.wsj.com/3Y8ZstV