Podcasts about because internet

Gestures: every known language has them, and there's a growing body of research on how they fit into communication. But academic literature can be hard to dig into on your own. So Lauren has spent the past 5 years diving into the gesture literature and boiling it down into a tight 147 page book. In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about Lauren's new book, Gesture: A Slim Guide from Oxford University Press. Is it a general audience book? An academic book? A bit of both. (Please enjoy our highlights version in this episode, a slim guide to the Slim Guide, if you will.) We talk about the wacky hijinks gesture researchers have gotten up to with the aim of preventing people from gesturing without tipping them off that the study is about gesture, including a tricked-out "coloured garden relax chair" that makes people "um" more, as well as crosslinguistic gestural connections between signed and spoken languages, and how Gretchen's gestures in English have been changing after a year of ASL classes. Plus, a few behind-the-scenes moments: Lauren putting a line drawing of her very first gesture study on the cover, and how the emoji connection from Because Internet made its way into Gesture (and also into the emoji on your phone right now). There were also many other gesture stories that we couldn't fit in this episode, so keep an eye out for Lauren doing guest interviews on other podcasts! We'll add them to the crossovers page and the Lingthusiasm hosts elsewhere playlist as they come up. And if there are any other shows you'd like to hear a gesture episode on, feel free to tell them to chat to Lauren! Click here for a link to this episode in your podcast player of choice: https://episodes.fm/1186056137/episode/dGFnOnNvdW5kY2xvdWQsMjAxMDp0cmFja3MvMjA4MDgzMjc2MA Read the transcript here: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/781132632536793088/transcript-episode-103-a-slim-guide-to-a-slim Announcements: We've made a special jazzed-up version of the Lingthusiasm logo to put on stickers, featuring fun little drawings from the past 8.5 years of enthusiasm about linguistics by our artist Lucy Maddox. There's a leaping Gavagai rabbit, bouba and kiki shapes, and more...see how many items you can recognize! This sticker (or possibly a subtle variation...stay tuned for an all-patron vote!) will go out to everyone who's a patron at the Lingthusiast level or higher as of July 1st, 2025. We're also hoping that this sticker special offer encourages people to join and stick around as we need to do an inflation-related price increase at the Lingthusiast level. As we mentioned on the last bonus episode, our coffee hasn't cost us five bucks in a while now, and we need to keep paying the team who enables us to keep making the show amid our other linguistics prof-ing and writing jobs. In this month's bonus episode we get enthusiastic about linguist celebrities! We talk about start with the historically famous Brothers Grimm and quickly move onto modern people of varying levels of fame, including a curiously large number of linguistics figure skaters. We also talk about a few people who are famous within linguistics, including a recent memoir by Noam Chomsky's assistant Bev Stohl about what it was like keeping him fueled with coffee. And finally, we reflect on running into authors of papers we've read at conferences, when people started recognizing us sometimes, and our tips and scripts for navigating celebrity encounters from both sides. Join us on Patreon now to get access to this and 90+ other bonus episodes. You'll also get access to the Lingthusiasm Discord server where you can chat with other language nerds: https://patreon.com/posts/125728510 For links to things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/781132385944322048/103-a-hand-y-guide-to-gesture

Brynn Quick speaks with Dr. Lauren Gawne, about cross-cultural variation in gesture use. In this episode, Brynn and Lauren discuss a paper that Lauren wrote in 2024 with co-author Dr. Kensey Cooperrider entitled “Emblems: Meaning at the interface of language and gesture”. Brynn and Lauren talk all about how emblems are different to gestures, cultural uses of emblems, emoji, and how emblems might be changing in the digital age. Discussions in this episode include references to Lauren's book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Oxford UP, 2025), the video episode on gesture that Lingthusiasm made and Gretchen McCulloch's book Because Internet. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Brynn Quick speaks with Dr. Lauren Gawne, about cross-cultural variation in gesture use. In this episode, Brynn and Lauren discuss a paper that Lauren wrote in 2024 with co-author Dr. Kensey Cooperrider entitled “Emblems: Meaning at the interface of language and gesture”. Brynn and Lauren talk all about how emblems are different to gestures, cultural uses of emblems, emoji, and how emblems might be changing in the digital age. Discussions in this episode include references to Lauren's book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Oxford UP, 2025), the video episode on gesture that Lingthusiasm made and Gretchen McCulloch's book Because Internet. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Brynn Quick speaks with Dr. Lauren Gawne, about cross-cultural variation in gesture use. In this episode, Brynn and Lauren discuss a paper that Lauren wrote in 2024 with co-author Dr. Kensey Cooperrider entitled “Emblems: Meaning at the interface of language and gesture”. Brynn and Lauren talk all about how emblems are different to gestures, cultural uses of emblems, emoji, and how emblems might be changing in the digital age. Discussions in this episode include references to Lauren's book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Oxford UP, 2025), the video episode on gesture that Lingthusiasm made and Gretchen McCulloch's book Because Internet. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/language

Brynn Quick speaks with Dr. Lauren Gawne, about cross-cultural variation in gesture use. In this episode, Brynn and Lauren discuss a paper that Lauren wrote in 2024 with co-author Dr. Kensey Cooperrider entitled “Emblems: Meaning at the interface of language and gesture”. Brynn and Lauren talk all about how emblems are different to gestures, cultural uses of emblems, emoji, and how emblems might be changing in the digital age. Discussions in this episode include references to Lauren's book Gesture: A Slim Guide (Oxford UP, 2025), the video episode on gesture that Lingthusiasm made and Gretchen McCulloch's book Because Internet. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here.

We're back! The first episode of an all-new series of the language-loving podcast is here at last.Since one of the co-stars of the hit podcast Lingthusiasm concluded the second series, it seemed only right that the other co-star should kick off the third. Gretchen McCulloch – linguist, podcaster and author of Because Internet – joins me to navigate the linguistic complexities of Canada, specifically in the city of Montreal.This episode is part sociolinguistic survey, part survival guide for how to speak in Quebec, and Gretchen expertly and warmly takes us through Canadian bilingualism and her own experiences and perspectives of it.Join the ALILI Patreon here: patreon.com/ALanguageILoveIs Gretchen's personal website: https://gretchenmcculloch.com/Lingthusiasm's website: https://lingthusiasm.com/Host: Dr. Danny BateGuest: Gretchen McCullochAudio Mixing and Mastering: Jeremiah McPaddenMusic: Acoustic Guitar by William KingArtwork: William Marler Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2024 ist zu Ende. Und hier bekommt ihr fünf Bücher von mir empfohlen, die ich dieses Jahr gelesen habe und die ihr vielleicht nächstes Jahr lesen wollt. Elfriede Jelinek: Die Klavierspielerin https://amzn.to/3VVyXsE * Zadie Smith: Von der Schönheit https://amzn.to/40ch9fk * Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Americanah https://amzn.to/41OE9SO * Rafik Schami: Damaskus im Herzen und Deutschland im Blick https://amzn.to/3ZX7NTp * Gretchen McCulloch: Because Internet https://amzn.to/400hbFT * Ich zitiere in dieser Folge: Der Kurier zu Die Klavierspielerin (kein*e Autor*in angegeben): https://kurier.at/kultur/die-klavierspielerin-von-elfriede-jelinek/714.943 Tobias Heyl für die Süddeutsche zu Von der Schönheit: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/kultur/zadie-smith-von-der-schoenheit-das-gelb-der-menschen-1.808166 Der Guardian zu Americanah (kein*e Autor*in angegeben): https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/apr/15/americanah-chimamanda-ngozi-adichie-review Userin Scheherazade auf Lovelybooks zu Damaskus im Herzen und Deutschland im Blick: https://www.lovelybooks.de/autor/Rafik-Schami/Damaskus-im-Herzen-144433590-w/ Takenschmaken schreibt im Subreddit r/Books über Because Internet: https://www.reddit.com/r/books/comments/jew0jc/a_review_of_because_internet_by_gretchen/ Wollt ihr uns unterstützen? Dann gebt uns doch einen Kaffee aus! :) https://www.buymeacoffee.com/privatsprache Oder über PayPal: https://www.paypal.me/DanielBrockmeier ==== abonniert meinen Podcast ===== Philosophie-Videos: Aristoteles – Metaphysik der Substanzen https://youtu.be/4YJUkOwHPhM?si=_uibCZthCAgOuEsg Max Black – Vier Arten von Regeln https://youtu.be/mDkgxI_SaUI?si=6LczSKN-TImS-dJJ Die Drei Paradigmen der Philosophie https://youtu.be/pOaFF1dQapM?si=ZK4xOJO0E78-2fC7 Die Philosophie von Steve Bannon https://youtu.be/BhPf1E0sM1A?si=nLnHiYWFdHzrreZl Alle Philosophie-Videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhvEH9NjuPs&list=PL1L_CFjFbZ9aRfcEW6avxSgvxr9Q2jBrH Wie das mit der Philosophie angefangen hat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MhvEH9NjuPs&t *Das ist ein Affiliate-Link: Wenn ihr das Buch kauft, bekomme ich eine winzige Provision und freue mich. Oder in Amazons Formulierung: Als Amazon-Partner verdiene ich an qualifizierten Verkäufen.

Through emojis, memes, acronyms and inside jokes, the internet has forever changed how we communicate. But what is the result of that and what does it mean for how we'll speak in the future? We spoke to linguist and author of the book Because Internet, Gretchen McCulloch, to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Brynn Quick speaks with best-selling author and linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her 2019 New York Times bestselling book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language (Riverhead Books, 2020). Gretchen has written a Resident Linguist column at The Toast and Wired. She is also the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a wildly popular podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

Brynn Quick speaks with best-selling author and linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her 2019 New York Times bestselling book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language (Riverhead Books, 2020). Gretchen has written a Resident Linguist column at The Toast and Wired. She is also the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a wildly popular podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/language

Brynn Quick speaks with best-selling author and linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her 2019 New York Times bestselling book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language (Riverhead Books, 2020). Gretchen has written a Resident Linguist column at The Toast and Wired. She is also the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a wildly popular podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/communications

Brynn Quick speaks with best-selling author and linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her 2019 New York Times bestselling book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language (Riverhead Books, 2020). Gretchen has written a Resident Linguist column at The Toast and Wired. She is also the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a wildly popular podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/science-technology-and-society

Brynn Quick speaks with best-selling author and linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her 2019 New York Times bestselling book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language (Riverhead Books, 2020). Gretchen has written a Resident Linguist column at The Toast and Wired. She is also the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a wildly popular podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/technology

Brynn Quick speaks with best-selling author and linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her 2019 New York Times bestselling book Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language (Riverhead Books, 2020). Gretchen has written a Resident Linguist column at The Toast and Wired. She is also the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a wildly popular podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. Because Internet is for anyone who's ever puzzled over how to punctuate a text message or wondered where memes come from. It's the perfect book for understanding how the internet is changing the English language, why that's a good thing, and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. For additional resources, show notes, and transcripts, go here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/book-of-the-day

Jump on into the Wayback Machine, we're talking to Steve about Asynchronous Communication. Not to be confused with simultaneous communication, or face to face conversation. So what is it like to date asynchronously? Many of us know! How frustrating is it to send a chat to someone in an app and they leave you on read? But sometimes, just sometimes, you hit up someone who has the same communication style as you and everything falls into place. Do you want to hear more from Steve? Follow him on Twitter @SKleinedler And listen to his 2019 podcast Fiat Lex: A Dictionary Podcast.Listen to us on Spotify, Stitcher, Apple Podcast, or wherever you listen to your tunes!Interested in being on the show? Contact us at Q4QPodcast@gmail.com or find us on Twitter @Queerpersonals and Instagram @Queerpersonalspodcast.Music strummed by Omar Nassar. Cover art by Bekah Rich. Sources:Gretchen McCulloch, Because Internet, 2019. Desperately Seeking Susan, 1985On Our Backs (California)Camp Ink (Australia), Australia Gay and Lesbian ArchivesSan Antonio Community News (Texas), April 30, 1999.G Street (Eau Claire, Wisconsin),  March 2001Support the show

I'm texting Katie and it occurs to me to say, “I'm dead.” I don't, though. I use a skull emoji. “It was like watching a baby take her first steps,” Katie told me in this edition of Doing What Works. I'm as late to the texting and emoji parties as it's possible to be, and I'm finding -- as the folks at Disney might say -- a whole new world. Care to join us for a look around?Here are your show notes…Dr. Nick Morgan [https://publicwords.com/] says most communication is nonverbal, and using emojis can help. They're even making their way into books.“In case I forget to tell you later, I had a really good time tonight.” That's from Pretty Woman [https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100405/quotes/qt0466922].Because Internet [https://www.amazon.com/Because-Internet-Understanding-Rules-Language/dp/0735210934] is an analysis of how communication unfolds online.

Topic: How the Wealthy World Has Failed Poor Countries During the Pandemic   Like much of the developing world, Pakistan was alarmingly short of doctors and medical facilities long before anyone had heard of COVID-19. Then the pandemic overwhelmed hospitals, forcing some to turn away patients. As fear upended daily life, families lost livelihoods and struggled to feed themselves. 跟許多開發中國家一樣，早在人們聽聞新冠病毒一詞以前，巴基斯坦就極其缺乏醫生和醫療設施。然後，這場大流行疾情讓各醫院無力招架，迫使部分醫院拒絕收治病人。隨著恐懼顛覆了日常生活，一個個家庭失去了生計，為養活自己而掙扎。 On the other side of the world in Washington, two deep-pocketed organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, vowed to spare poor countries from desperation. Their economists warned that immense relief was required to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and profound damage to global prosperity. Emerging markets make up 60% of the world economy, by one IMF measure. A blow to their fortunes inflicts pain around the planet. 在世界另一頭的華盛頓，世界銀行和國際貨幣基金這兩個財力雄厚的組織誓言不讓貧窮國家陷入絕境。他們的經濟學家警告說，必須大力進行救濟，以防止人道災難和對全球繁榮的嚴重破壞。根據國際貨幣基金的一項衡量指標，新興市場占全球經濟60%。他們的財富遭受打擊，將給全球帶來痛苦。 Wages sent home to poor countries by migrant workers — a vital artery of finance — have diminished. The shutdown of tourism has punished many developing countries. So has plunging demand for oil. Billions of people have lost the wherewithal to buy food, increasing malnutrition. By next year, the pandemic could push 150 million people into extreme poverty, the World Bank has warned, in the first increase in more than two decades. 移工寄回窮國的薪水是這些國家經濟的命脈，如今已經減少。旅遊業的關閉使許多開發中國家受到重創。對石油的需求大幅下降，同樣極具殺傷力。數十億人失去購買食物的必要資金，營養不良加劇。世界銀行警告說，這場大流行疾情到明年恐將讓1.5億人陷入赤貧，是20多年來首度增加。 But the World Bank and IMF have failed to translate their concern into meaningful support, economists say. That has left less-affluent countries struggling with limited resources and untenable debts, prompting their governments to reduce spending just as it is needed to bolster health care systems and aid people suffering lost income. 而經濟學家們說，世界銀行和國際貨幣基金並未將自身的關切轉化為有意義的支持。這讓一些較不富裕國家在有限的資源與難以支應的債務中苦苦掙扎，迫使這些國家反而在必須加強醫療體系、救助收入減少的民眾之際，縮減支出。 “A lost decade of growth in large parts of the world remains a plausible prospect absent urgent, concerted and sustained policy response,” concluded a recent report from the Group of 30, a gathering of international finance experts, including Lawrence Summers, a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, and Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. 由曾任歐巴馬總統經濟顧問、柯林頓政府財政部長的桑默斯等國際金融專家組成的30人小組，最近在一份報告中總結道：「若無緊急、協調一致與持續的政策回應，世界大部分地區出現經濟空轉無成長的十年，仍是看來很可能的前景。」 The wealthiest nations have been cushioned by extraordinary surges of credit unleashed by central banks and government spending collectively estimated at more than $8 trillion. Developing countries have yet to receive help on such a scale. 那些最富裕的國家因有央行釋放巨額信貸，佐以政府的支出而獲得緩衝，總額合計逾8兆美元，開發中國家則未獲如此大規模的援助。 The IMF and World Bank have marshaled a relatively anemic response, in part because of the predilections of their largest shareholder, the United States. 國際貨幣基金與世界銀行做出的反應相對無力，部分原因是順應最大股東美國的意思。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5015842   Next Article   Topic: How the Wealthy World Has Failed Poor Countries During the Pandemic   Like much of the developing world, Pakistan was alarmingly short of doctors and medical facilities long before anyone had heard of COVID-19. Then the pandemic overwhelmed hospitals, forcing some to turn away patients. As fear upended daily life, families lost livelihoods and struggled to feed themselves. 跟許多開發中國家一樣，早在人們聽聞新冠病毒一詞以前，巴基斯坦就極其缺乏醫生和醫療設施。然後，這場大流行疾情讓各醫院無力招架，迫使部分醫院拒絕收治病人。隨著恐懼顛覆了日常生活，一個個家庭失去了生計，為養活自己而掙扎。 On the other side of the world in Washington, two deep-pocketed organizations, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, vowed to spare poor countries from desperation. Their economists warned that immense relief was required to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe and profound damage to global prosperity. Emerging markets make up 60% of the world economy, by one IMF measure. A blow to their fortunes inflicts pain around the planet. 在世界另一頭的華盛頓，世界銀行和國際貨幣基金這兩個財力雄厚的組織誓言不讓貧窮國家陷入絕境。他們的經濟學家警告說，必須大力進行救濟，以防止人道災難和對全球繁榮的嚴重破壞。根據國際貨幣基金的一項衡量指標，新興市場占全球經濟60%。他們的財富遭受打擊，將給全球帶來痛苦。 Wages sent home to poor countries by migrant workers — a vital artery of finance — have diminished. The shutdown of tourism has punished many developing countries. So has plunging demand for oil. Billions of people have lost the wherewithal to buy food, increasing malnutrition. By next year, the pandemic could push 150 million people into extreme poverty, the World Bank has warned, in the first increase in more than two decades. 移工寄回窮國的薪水是這些國家經濟的命脈，如今已經減少。旅遊業的關閉使許多開發中國家受到重創。對石油的需求大幅下降，同樣極具殺傷力。數十億人失去購買食物的必要資金，營養不良加劇。世界銀行警告說，這場大流行疾情到明年恐將讓1.5億人陷入赤貧，是20多年來首度增加。 But the World Bank and IMF have failed to translate their concern into meaningful support, economists say. That has left less-affluent countries struggling with limited resources and untenable debts, prompting their governments to reduce spending just as it is needed to bolster health care systems and aid people suffering lost income. 而經濟學家們說，世界銀行和國際貨幣基金並未將自身的關切轉化為有意義的支持。這讓一些較不富裕國家在有限的資源與難以支應的債務中苦苦掙扎，迫使這些國家反而在必須加強醫療體系、救助收入減少的民眾之際，縮減支出。 “A lost decade of growth in large parts of the world remains a plausible prospect absent urgent, concerted and sustained policy response,” concluded a recent report from the Group of 30, a gathering of international finance experts, including Lawrence Summers, a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama, and Treasury secretary in the Clinton administration. 由曾任歐巴馬總統經濟顧問、柯林頓政府財政部長的桑默斯等國際金融專家組成的30人小組，最近在一份報告中總結道：「若無緊急、協調一致與持續的政策回應，世界大部分地區出現經濟空轉無成長的十年，仍是看來很可能的前景。」 The wealthiest nations have been cushioned by extraordinary surges of credit unleashed by central banks and government spending collectively estimated at more than $8 trillion. Developing countries have yet to receive help on such a scale. 那些最富裕的國家因有央行釋放巨額信貸，佐以政府的支出而獲得緩衝，總額合計逾8兆美元，開發中國家則未獲如此大規模的援助。 The IMF and World Bank have marshaled a relatively anemic response, in part because of the predilections of their largest shareholder, the United States. 國際貨幣基金與世界銀行做出的反應相對無力，部分原因是順應最大股東美國的意思。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/5015842   Next Article   Topic: Our Ever-Expanding Virus Vernacular   The coronavirus pandemic has upended all kinds of human behavior, including speech. Conversations are mediated by masks and screens, their sentences strung together with new vocabulary: medical terms, political mandates and slang devised to take the clinical edge off. 新冠肺炎大流行顛覆了包括言語在內的各種人類行為。對話中都看到口罩和螢幕，他們的句子與新的詞彙串在一起：醫學術語，政治命令和俚語，旨在讓大眾更容易吸收。 This new vernacular has many people playing virologist in the group chat, with talk of contact tracing and antibody tests; planning “socially distant” activities like Zoom birthday parties and drive-by greetings; and tweeting about life under “quar,” a pet name for “quarantine”. 這些新的俚語讓很多人在社群中聊天時可以扮演病毒學家，談論接觸者追蹤和抗體測試，以及計劃「社交距離」活動，如在Zoom生日派對和駕車遠距問候;並在推特上發佈關於“quar”下的生活，“quar”是“隔離”的暱稱。 “‘Self-isolation,'‘social distancing,'‘abundance of caution'— pairs of words I'd never seen together in a sentence back in January have become ubiquitous,” she writes. These phrases are moving “even faster than the virus, eye to mind, ear to mouth, disseminated by our iPhone screens and televisions.” “'自我隔離'，'社交距離'，'大量的謹慎'——這些詞我在一月份時從未在一句話中看到過，現在開口兩句話些詞已經變得無處不在，”她寫道。這些片語正在以「比病毒更快，眼睛到思想，耳朵到嘴巴，通過我們的iPhone螢幕和電視傳播中。」 The proliferation of neologisms and jargon was significant enough to merit updates to the Oxford English Dictionary in April, beyond the dictionary's standard quarterly updates. 新詞和俚語的成長足以使牛津英語詞典在四月份進行更新，超出了原來該詞典的標準的季度更新。 “Social change brings about linguistic change,” said Fiona McPherson, a senior editor at the OED. “These are permanent additions to our vocabulary.” “社會變遷帶來了語言上的改變，”OED的高級編輯菲奧娜·麥克弗森（Fiona McPherson）說。“這些都是永久的加入我們詞彙中“。 She noted, though, that many of the words aren't new; rather, their use has become more frequent, their meanings shifted in the new context of the pandemic. “Social distancing,” “self-isolation” and “coronavirus” date back decades, even centuries. 不過，她指出，許多詞並不新鮮。相反，它們的使用變得更加頻繁，它們的含義在大流行的新背景下發生了變化。“社交距離”，“自我隔離”和“新冠病毒”可以追溯到幾十年前，甚至幾個世紀。 McPherson said a lexicographer's job is to be “descriptive, not prescriptive. We're telling the story of what the words mean, but they only mean that because that's how people are using them. And the stories are never completely finished.” 麥克弗森說，詞典編輯者的工作是“描述性的，而不是規範性的。我們講述的是這些詞的含義，但它們只是因為這就是人們使用它們的方式。故事永遠不會完全結束。 Gretchen McCulloch, a linguist and the author of “Because Internet,” raised the example of “face mask,” which a few months ago may have called to mind an at-home skin care treatment. Now, the phrase immediately evokes the protective mouth and nose covering people have been encouraged to wear to prevent viral transmission. 語言學家、《為何網際網路》（Why Internet）一書的作者格雷琴·麥卡洛克（Gretchen McCulloch）舉了一個“口罩”的例子，幾個月前，這種面膜可能讓人想起了一種家庭臉部護理。現在，這句話立即喚起了人們被鼓勵戴上保護性口鼻罩以防止病毒傳播的防護服。 This evolution in the language can be seen as well in the rhetoric of care providers and politicians, which varies by region. The states are“on pause”or working to“flatten the curve,”their residents told to“stay at home,”“shelter in place”or remain“healthy at home.” 這種語言的演變也可以從護理人員和政治家的言論中看到，這些言論因地區而異。各州正在「暫停」或努力「拉平曲線」，他們的居民被告知「留在家裡」，“就地避難”或保持“健康在家中”。 The World Health Organization has recommended that“physical distancing”replace“social distancing” because it more accurately describes the goal of keeping a physical distance while still encouraging safe, remote social connection, which is imperative for mental health. 世界衛生組織建議“保持身體距離”取代“社交距離”，因為它更準確地描述了保持身體距離的目標，同時仍然鼓勵安全，遠端的社交活動，這對心理健康至關重要。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/4602077   Next Article   Topic: Airlines targeting post-pandemic ‘revenge travel'   The blow caused to the airline industry by the COVID-19 pandemic has been especially felt by budget airlines, which mostly operate narrow-bodied passenger jets and have therefore been unable to develop a sideline in air freight during the pandemic. According to one academic's analysis, when the outbreak stabilizes, businesses are targeting a trend in so-called “revenge travel.” However, she also hopes that, rather than the pre-pandemic price wars between budget airlines, the consolidation that has taken place during the pandemic will restore healthy competition in the industry. 疫情衝擊航空界，其中廉航受限於機隊多為窄體客機，無法發展貨運，受疫情衝擊更大。學者分析，業者瞄準疫情穩定後的「報復性出遊」，但也希望疫情前廉航削價競爭的情況，能因疫情重整，回歸良性競爭。 According to associate professor Melody Dai of National Cheng Kung University's Department of Transportation and Communication Management Science, costs per flight have not changed during the pandemic, but if carriers are required to implement social-distancing seating plans, leaving empty seats between passengers, this would eat into airlines' profit margins, causing a fresh headache for the industry. Dai says she hopes that budget airlines will manage to survive, since they help stimulate Taiwan's domestic tourism sector as well as the wider economy. 成大交通管理學系副教授戴佐敏說，每航班成本不變、但座位未來若須採間隔座導致收入減少，確實是疫後的難題，希望廉航仍有生存空間，對促進觀光與經濟有正面幫助。 Dai says that choosing to operate flights during the pandemic is a test of airlines' ability to sustain losses, but the crisis may also prove to be a turnaround for the industry. Dai says there are many variables to the pandemic. She says that once the outbreak stabilizes, if the demand for “revenge travel” exceeds supply, this could resolve the pre-pandemic situation of supply exceeding demand, which led to price wars among budget airlines. The consolidation that the pandemic has triggered within the airline industry could bring about a return to healthy competition, says Dai. 戴佐敏認為，選擇在疫情期間開航，考驗航空公司「虧本」的能力，不過危機也有可能是轉機，疫情仍有變數，疫情穩定後的「報復性出遊」若需求大於供給，疫情前廉航供過於求、削價競爭的情況，這次可能因疫情重整，回歸良性競爭。 One industry insider stated that, despite the lockdowns and reduced number of travelers and flights during the pandemic, the industry is bullish about post-pandemic prospects for both freight and passenger travel in the flourishing Asian region. The insider added that a trend in “revenge travel” could cause short-haul routes to become particularly busy. 業者指出，雖然國境仍然封鎖，疫情期間每週班次不多，旅客也非常少，但看好疫情後亞洲旺盛的物流、人流，預估疫情趨緩後將出現「報復性出遊」，亞洲短程航線將會更繁忙。Source article: https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/lang/archives/2021/09/12/2003764205

每日英語跟讀 Ep.K346: Our Ever-Expanding Virus Vernacular The coronavirus pandemic has upended all kinds of human behavior, including speech. Conversations are mediated by masks and screens, their sentences strung together with new vocabulary: medical terms, political mandates and slang devised to take the clinical edge off. 新冠肺炎大流行顛覆了包括言語在內的各種人類行為。對話中都看到口罩和螢幕，他們的句子與新的詞彙串在一起：醫學術語，政治命令和俚語，旨在讓大眾更容易吸收。 This new vernacular has many people playing virologist in the group chat, with talk of contact tracing and antibody tests; planning “socially distant” activities like Zoom birthday parties and drive-by greetings; and tweeting about life under “quar,” a pet name for “quarantine”. 這些新的俚語讓很多人在社群中聊天時可以扮演病毒學家，談論接觸者追蹤和抗體測試，以及計劃「社交距離」活動，如在Zoom生日派對和駕車遠距問候;並在推特上發佈關於“quar”下的生活，“quar”是“隔離”的暱稱。 “‘Self-isolation,'‘social distancing,'‘abundance of caution'— pairs of words I'd never seen together in a sentence back in January have become ubiquitous,” she writes. These phrases are moving “even faster than the virus, eye to mind, ear to mouth, disseminated by our iPhone screens and televisions.” “'自我隔離'，'社交距離'，'大量的謹慎'——這些詞我在一月份時從未在一句話中看到過，現在開口兩句話些詞已經變得無處不在，”她寫道。這些片語正在以「比病毒更快，眼睛到思想，耳朵到嘴巴，通過我們的iPhone螢幕和電視傳播中。」 The proliferation of neologisms and jargon was significant enough to merit updates to the Oxford English Dictionary in April, beyond the dictionary's standard quarterly updates. 新詞和俚語的成長足以使牛津英語詞典在四月份進行更新，超出了原來該詞典的標準的季度更新。 “Social change brings about linguistic change,” said Fiona McPherson, a senior editor at the OED. “These are permanent additions to our vocabulary.” “社會變遷帶來了語言上的改變，”OED的高級編輯菲奧娜·麥克弗森（Fiona McPherson）說。“這些都是永久的加入我們詞彙中“。 She noted, though, that many of the words aren't new; rather, their use has become more frequent, their meanings shifted in the new context of the pandemic. “Social distancing,” “self-isolation” and “coronavirus” date back decades, even centuries. 不過，她指出，許多詞並不新鮮。相反，它們的使用變得更加頻繁，它們的含義在大流行的新背景下發生了變化。“社交距離”，“自我隔離”和“新冠病毒”可以追溯到幾十年前，甚至幾個世紀。 McPherson said a lexicographer's job is to be “descriptive, not prescriptive. We're telling the story of what the words mean, but they only mean that because that's how people are using them. And the stories are never completely finished.” 麥克弗森說，詞典編輯者的工作是“描述性的，而不是規範性的。我們講述的是這些詞的含義，但它們只是因為這就是人們使用它們的方式。故事永遠不會完全結束。 Gretchen McCulloch, a linguist and the author of “Because Internet,” raised the example of “face mask,” which a few months ago may have called to mind an at-home skin care treatment. Now, the phrase immediately evokes the protective mouth and nose covering people have been encouraged to wear to prevent viral transmission. 語言學家、《為何網際網路》（Why Internet）一書的作者格雷琴·麥卡洛克（Gretchen McCulloch）舉了一個“口罩”的例子，幾個月前，這種面膜可能讓人想起了一種家庭臉部護理。現在，這句話立即喚起了人們被鼓勵戴上保護性口鼻罩以防止病毒傳播的防護服。 This evolution in the language can be seen as well in the rhetoric of care providers and politicians, which varies by region. The states are“on pause”or working to“flatten the curve,”their residents told to“stay at home,”“shelter in place”or remain“healthy at home.” 這種語言的演變也可以從護理人員和政治家的言論中看到，這些言論因地區而異。各州正在「暫停」或努力「拉平曲線」，他們的居民被告知「留在家裡」，“就地避難”或保持“健康在家中”。 The World Health Organization has recommended that“physical distancing”replace“social distancing” because it more accurately describes the goal of keeping a physical distance while still encouraging safe, remote social connection, which is imperative for mental health. 世界衛生組織建議“保持身體距離”取代“社交距離”，因為它更準確地描述了保持身體距離的目標，同時仍然鼓勵安全，遠端的社交活動，這對心理健康至關重要。Source article: https://udn.com/news/story/6904/4602077

Gretchen McCulloch, Internet Linguist, author of Because Internet and the host of the Lingthusiasm podcast, talks to Michael Rosen about what it is to "ship" and how fandoms and other subcommunities online are changing the English language. Clip from 'Mans Not Nice' Michael Rosen remix credited to MisterLucca Produced by Ellie Richold for BBC Audio in Bristol

  Virtual Community Roundtable (2:17:50)↑From online fandom past to current living conditions, Consulting Fans Chase, Emma, Finnagain, and Fox Estacado discuss the strategies and technologies that shape the formation of virtual community. Because Internet by Gretchen McCullough   This segment was first released on December 1, 2020 in Episode 111: There Must Be A Connection Music Credit Unless otherwise indicated, music is available for purchase through online retailers such as amazon.com and iTunes. Virtual Community Roundtable – Jamiroquai, High Times Singles 1992-2006: Virtual Insanity (Remastered), Travelling Without Moving (Remastered): Virtual Insanity (Live at the Verona Amphitheatre, Italy, 2002) Production CreditsSegment Producer/Editor: finnagain Banner Art: Fox EstacadoDistribution funded by fans! Contact Email: bored@three-patch.comWebsite: https://www.three-patch.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/threepatchpodcastSkype: threepatch.podcastTwitter: https://twitter.com/threepatchTumblr: http://threepatchpodcast.tumblr.com/ How to CiteAPABy Three Patch Productions. (2020, December 1). Virtual Community Roundtable Three Patch Podcast Episode 111 There Must Be A Connection. Podcast segment retrieved from https://www.three-patch.com/casefiles//111-virtual

My guest today is Phillip Hunter. Phillip is a strategy and innovation consultant focused on conversational systems. He has a long trajectory working on such systems; among other roles, he was head of user experience for Amazon Alexa Skills. In this conversation, we focus on conversation itself, and how to design systems that converse. Listen to the show Download episode 49   Show notes Phillip Hunter on LinkedIn Phillip Hunter on Twitter Conversational Collaborative AI Services (Phillip's consultancy) Brenda Laurel Don Norman Google Assistant Amazon Alexa HomePod Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language by Gretchen McCullough Wizard-of-Oz testing Adobe XD Voiceflow Botmock Google Dialogflow CX Alexa Skills Kit How We Talk: The Inner Workings of Conversation by N.J. Enfield Some show notes may include Amazon affiliate links. I get a small commissions for purchases made through these links. Read the transcript Jorge: Phillip, welcome to the show. Phillip: Oh, thank you. So great to be here. So great to be with you. Jorge: I'm excited to have you. For folks who might not know you, can you please tell us about yourself? About Phillip Phillip: Sure. So, I've been doing many sorts of design activities and jobs and things over the course of about 25 years. I actually started my career as a developer, but quickly learned the difference between building computer programs as a hobby versus work. I enjoy one of them! So, I ended up getting into design interestingly, just because I complained so much about the applications that we were building at the company I was with, and how they just didn't make sense to me. And all of a sudden, someone hands me a book from Brenda Laurel and says, you need to read this. And that literally changed my life. I got to meet her one day and tell her that. But that was about the same time the company I was with, which was building interactive voice response started as those touchtone systems that everybody hates for your bank or airlines insurance companies. We started adopting speech recognition as part of the platform. And to me, that opened up so many new possibilities. I learned some really interesting things from the get-go about how designing for that was so different from the things I had been used to before. Now, this was around when Don Norman coined the term “user experience design,” and so it wasn't well-known. But while everyone was also getting used to designing for the web and designing then later for mobile, I was in that, but I was also getting used to designing for conversation: what does it mean to exchange things by voice that's different from how we think about information being presented on screens. So, to speed things up a little bit, I've done that sort of work in startups and then in big companies like Microsoft and Amazon. I was around for the early days of Cortana, before it was public. And I've worked on Alexa as part of their developer third-party focused team. But along the way, I've always also been fascinated by large systems. So I worked at Amazon Web Services for a while where, at the time I started, there were about 35 different offerings that they had, and now it's somewhere around 150. It's just amazing growth over the past 10 years for them. And this idea of how these — all of these — services would come together in different permutations based on who was using it and what they were using it for just really fascinated me as, you know, beyond the Lego-block metaphor into each of these things are by themselves an advanced technology, and then, how do you use all these things to run a business or create a product or serve customers or all the things that we normally do in business, nut now we're doing them with these really amazing technologies. And so, conversation itself is also a system. And so, it was interesting to me to get into the systems thinking from a pure technology standpoint. I've read other things about human systems and economies and healthcare and physiology and things like that. But I'm in tech and I soon began seeing in a different way some of the systemic elements of conversation. And so, for me, the past four, five years has really been amazing in terms of my own personal growth around what it means to interact with machines, including by voice and text, as well as just starting to see the power of systems in our lives. And you know, with technologies like Google Assistant and Alexa, now infrastructure — technology infrastructure — along with our mobile phones, along with our laptops and ways we interact with the worldwide web, all of these things are now very much in our homes every day for many of us. So, they've started to cross some interesting boundaries, that make everything that I've talked about way more interesting and way more pervasive. So, today I'm consulting in that, I've got some product ideas that I'm working on as well to explore where things go now that machine learning is really a big component, and artificial intelligence, whatever phrase you want to put on it, is now a real factor in the mix. 10 years ago, it was still sort of, you know, science fiction more than a daily practice. But now we have… well, for a number of reasons, we have these things, and we have to say, “okay, what's the impact here? What does this mean for our lives too?” So, That's the kind of thing I'm working on and, it's really exciting. Conversation as a system Jorge: You said, “conversation is a system.” What do you mean by that? Phillip: So, most of us who speak, no matter what age, we started learning how to speak and interpret speech very early on. Certainly, before we started reading, some of us start reading, two to three years later after we learned how to interact by voice. And by then, interestingly, we are ready experts at conversation, which raises the question of what are we experts at? Well, so it turns out through the study of things like conversational analysis or through practices like that and linguistics and psycholinguistics… it turns out that language is not just a bunch of sounds that we make spontaneously. In our minds and between each other, we are actually doing some really intricate dancing and processing of emotions, information, contextual settings, history, all of these things that you know are part of our daily lives, and to process those effectively with each other and, some would say for ourselves even, we have developed this system of how conversation works. And the way I think about it in my current work — and this is not a re-statement of anything that I've read necessarily — but there are essentially three levels of where a system is operative. One is types of conversations we have. So, you and I are having a sort of conversation, call it an interview, or a structured discussion, things like that. There are casual, “how are you doing?” You mentioned teaching earlier, lecture as a type of conversation, usually followed by questions and answers. And so, there are types of conversations and at the opposite end of that, there are the linguistic structures that help us understand: this is a noun, this is a verb, this is a modifier. Most of us probably hated studying those sorts of things in school, but we learned them, and we understand the basics there. And we know how to use them. We're experts in them, even if we don't necessarily like to study how it works. In the middle, there's something we don't typically think about, which is how conversations have a structure on an individual level. And so… I'll just use, what you and I did. We joined this Zoom call and we started exchanging words that we both probably could have predicted we were going to exchange: ‘how are you, how is life? What are you doing these days?' All of these things are, some would call it chit chat, some would call it small talk, some people would call it, social niceties but it's also giving us time to understand where each other is currently in our lives. Like I can… you know, especially if you're meeting a friend, let's say you can see, is this person in the usual mood? You know, are they presenting to me how they usually come across? Is something different? Why is it different? How is it different? So maybe think about a loved one. You come home from – back in the day when we came home from work – you come home from work and you see a concerned look on your partner's face and right away you start to pick up something is going on. But maybe you start with a greeting, “hey, how are you?” But at some point, you're going to probably say something like, “what's going on? Is there something…” So, there's these elements of conversation where we connect, we survey, we assess, then we get into things like, a section called negotiation. What are we going to talk about? How do we know what each other means? Do we need to clarify something? So, for us, for you and I today, you know, at some point you said, “hey, here's how this is going to work.” Which is a statement again that I expected but it doesn't mean I know the answer. So, you gave me an outline of how we would use our time today, and now we're doing it, right? Now you're asking me questions, I'm giving you thoughts and answers, and at some point, we'll move — and you said it yourself — we'll move to close out the interview. And almost all conversations have a closure. One of the things I like to point out to people is how often do you…. again, when we would run into someone in the hall at work and we'd say, “hey! Oh, I've been meaning to talk to you about this.” And now you raised a topic, maybe you talk about a few specific items and you say, “okay, great. You know what? Let's catch up on that next week.” “Sure. I'll put some time on your calendar.” “Oh! Hey, by the way, how did that thing go?” And so, you have this other… you have this transition. You're talking about another subject. Then you both start to feel like, okay, we spend enough time doing this. And what do you do? You returned to the first topic and you say, “it'll be great to talk to you next week when we meet about such and such.” And you're like, “sure, looking forward to it.” And that's your signal that it's over. So, all of these are well-documented, and for people who study this, fairly well-understood components of conversations. They're not the types of conversations because they occur across many different types of conversations. They're not the linguistic elements of what sounds and what are the individual meanings of those sounds and how they work together. It's somewhere in the middle around how does a conversation work and these systems are actually incredibly important, for reasons that I can go into in a minute, but that's what I mean about conversation: conversation is a system or more accurately, as is the case with many systems, a collection of systems that's at work. And part of our skill at being able to converse well is a tacit understanding that there are those systems and that we can and should use them to be effective in our day-to-day lives with other people. Protocols Jorge: The word that came to my mind when you were describing this middle between those two extremes is the word “protocol.” It's like, well, we're establishing a protocol, right? Phillip: Yes! Jorge: And the image that came to my mind, I think that you and I are both of the vintage where we remember these modems where you would connect to the phone line and you would hear this awful screeching noise as the modems were trying to figure out if they were compatible. Phillip: Right, right, right. Yes! It's a connection in negotiation which is for nearly every conversation we have, a crucial step, even when it's someone who we talk to on a frequent basis. Now, it will adapt based on who you are talking to. And certainly, for meeting someone new for the first time, it's a very different feel to it; it has a very different feel to it than if it's somebody you talk to multiple times a day. But yeah, it's really important. And I'm really glad you said the word protocol too, because we can breach it. And it causes something else to happen. It may not be a problem. But it almost always is a signal that you have to adapt. The direction you thought it was going to go is not how it's going to go, and you need to figure out what is happening. And that's again, where negotiation becomes a key part of the conversational ability that we have. Jorge: When you breach the subject of conversation in the context of user experience design, I think of two things. One, I think of the “assistant in a cylinder” that you've touched on earlier, right? We have a HomePod here at home, so, we have the Apple variant of that. And I also think of chatbots, which are not oral, but they're text based. Phillip: Yes! Jorge: And I'm getting the sense from hearing you that the type of protocol that you're talking about is mostly the verbal one, the one when we speak to each other. Phillip: Right. Channels Jorge: Do we have different protocols for chatting via text versus talking? Phillip: We do, we do. And I'll mention several books as we go along. And the first one I mention is Because Internet, the author is Gretchen McCulloch and she has studied the evolution of language on the internet, going back to the sixties and seventies, when some of the first chat systems, text-chat systems, were being created and all the way up through modern texting and messaging platforms. So, the difference between how we converse verbally and how we converse via text is a long-standing thing…. And so, like even if you go back to like, when we wrote letters and things like that, conversational protocols were different then, but written was still very clearly different from verbal. So, there are some different protocols and some of them are different because the establishment of context is clearer from the get-go. Meaning that, if I go to someone's website and then I look for this chatbot thing, and I open it. Well, I've already sort of taken a step into a context, right? I've visited a website. I know it's a company. I don't want to do any of the other stuff. I'm making this implicit statement of, “I don't want that stuff,” by choosing this other thing explicitly. But with many chatbots, you still see a greeting, “hi, this is Jojo-bot. I'm here to help you with your questions about X, Y, Z company.” So, the idea is there's still some semblance of this because it's about acknowledgement, a statement of presence; here I am. You can even say things to me. And then the added protocol differences. We have no emotional context, right? And now emojis are a valid expression of emotion and conversational meaning, but we can't appreciate them with the nuance and the subtlety that we can by viewing another human's face and hearing their tone of voice. So, as we all know, when you go to text, like… first of all, when we go from visibility to invisibility. So, if you and I weren't looking at each other during this podcast, we would be having a channel, a signal, that is no longer available to us, right? And then in texts, it's the same thing. But now we also don't have some of the audio signals that we can get from somebody's voice. So, we replace some of these by emojis in some cases, but we also tend to read a lot into certain ways of phrasing. One of the fascinating things that's going on right now in the world of text messaging is periods or full stops, indicate to teenagers — or maybe even into the 20- and maybe 30-year-olds — they indicate a different emotional tone than the lack of periods or full stops. And, you know this becomes just… for me, somebody like me, extremely fascinating to think about that the incredible subtlety that that brings. Part of the problem is like… I mean, one of my kids said this to me. I typed a period in a text message and the question was, “are you upset?” I was like, “No! I just typed a period!” He was like, “oh, well, periods usually mean that somebody is upset.” Like, oh! Okay. Not upset! Also, ignorant! So please, excuse me! So, it's not so much that we… well, yeah, I think you said it: we had different protocols. And we do adjust our protocols based on the channel and what signals are available to us, because at some point, there may be some information we need that might've come in through… as a signal through a different channel of visual tone of voice, and now we're just a text, so we might need to be more explicit. This becomes a problem because — and we all know this, those of us who've been working in tech for a long time — we've known how we can misread emails, right? You see an email and you think, “Oh man, there is something wrong here.” And you go talk to the person and they're like, “no, everything's great.” “Well, your email just made it sound like…” and we use those phrases “made it sound like.” There was no sound involved in this. So, we have some understanding intuitively that the different channels mean different things for us, and if we are missing some, then we have to adapt. But we aren't necessarily good at that. We don't necessarily think — and this is one of the downfalls of conversational technology right now — we think that it's the words alone that matter the most. And I won't quote the stats about like how much of meaning comes across in other channels but suffice it to say that when we have sort of full bandwidth conversations, we are actively using all of the channels available to us. But it doesn't mean that we understand that we're using them or that we are necessarily capable of adapting well to the channel loss or the signal loss. So long-winded answer, sorry about that! But yeah, it's quite different. Jorge: One of the things that I'm hearing there is that there are at least two dimensions that you can use to think about a channel. One dimension has to do with the bandwidth that is available to communicate these nuances that we're talking about. And what I'm getting from what you're saying there is that text — something like a chatbot — is a fairly low bandwidth channel, right? Phillip: Yes. Jorge: Like, we lose a lot of nuance. And another dimension has to do with context, with the amount of context that you have when engaging in that channel. And I'm saying this because, the way I envisioned it when you were talking about it, was that the mere fact that the chatbot is popping up in this website already sets boundaries for what you're expected to deal with, right? Like you don't come to it expecting that it will play your favorite song. Phillip: Right. That's right. Jorge: It's going to be a conversation related to that thing, right? Phillip: Right. And nor do we — for those of us who've used or worked in customer service over the telephone — sometimes where we have these little conversations about, “Oh, where are you? How's the weather, how are you?” So, we incorporate some of these things. You don't see that as much in text-only chatbots. And the other thing, that's a challenge there is the fact that we communicate at very different rates of speed verbally than we do typing and reading. We're much faster verbally. And the other thing is we are much more tolerant verbally of rambling and sort of things that would show up as incoherence if it were typed out. We repeat words, we pause in funny places, we gather our thoughts in the middle of a sentence and take a turn on a dime. And we keep up with that, verbally. Like we're really, really, really good at it! We don't understand how good we are, but we are really good at it. And translating that into text sometimes is just a trainwreck, even if we're doing almost the exact same behaviors. Jorge: Yeah, I can relate to that, having to go through the transcripts for this show and make them legible. It's like, “Wow! There's a lot of repetition happening here.” Phillip: Yeah! And I can almost guarantee you that I'm going to be a tough one for you, even though I do this for a living. Sorry about that! Jorge: No, it's fascinating. And it's inherent in the… I suspect that it's inherent in the channel, right? Like you're, it's almost like you're down sampling to a different channel. Phillip: Yeah! That's an excellent way to think about it. Exactly. And to get techie for a second, when I first dealt with speech recognition, over the telephone… the telephone because of economics is a tremendously downsampled version of audio. You can ask anybody who works in music or who's an audiophile. It's just the telephone bandwidth is terrible when it comes to the higher and lower frequencies. So, it's just a squished down to this middle. And yeah, it's very similar to that. And so, in speech recognition technology, we just lost all of the signal that was available for processing. If you recorded something into a microphone, we had that nice 44K bandwidth, it's so much richer than something that comes out of the telephone. And so, yeah. It's very similar, just that signal compression, the signal loss. And our brains are, again, just really, really expert at doing things with it that we don't understand that it's doing. And so, because we don't understand it, we don't necessarily notice the loss of it, but part of our brain does. And it's like, “but I don't know what to do now because I'm so used to that being there.” Designing for conversation Jorge: We've been talking about protocols and we've been talking about the signal and there's all these different aspects to this, and it also sounds like the channels are quite different. I'm wondering how one goes about designing for conversation. How do you prototype this stuff? How do you model it? Phillip: Yeah! Right, right. Well, this is great. To start this, I'll touch on something, that I think you asked, and I'm not sure I addressed earlier. But when we think about these systems, conversational systems, whether it's the cylindrical devices that we have, or whatever shape they are, how those are different from what we have available to us in human-to-human conversation. Well, a lot of it is that we focused on sort of the nugget of action. So, that's why a lot of these systems, what are they used mostly for? For playing music, getting weather, news, maybe opening an audiobook or listening to a podcast, or turning on lights. You know, all these sorts of things. To do that, the command sequence is all fairly straightforward, right? It's, “whatever-the-name-is, turn on this light” or “play this station or artists” or “start reading my book”. And then whatever audiobook it was last reading will open up. And so, what we're not designing currently, and what is not designed into any of these systems is really anything about that middle structure of conversation. We have different types of conversation. You can play a game. You can do this command kind of interaction. You know, there are ways to simulate interviews and things like that. And certainly, there's this undergirding of linguistic information, right? You have to know what the words are and what roles they usually play in a conversation. This is an interesting experiment: If you take the words in a sentence that makes sense in the normal order, standard order, and then you mix them around, it's interesting to see what these assistants understand and don't. I'll tell you that most of them don't pay a lot of attention to the order of words, but the order does also matter somewhat. But what they don't have is this like clear establishment of contexts and negotiation ability, where you can clarify or correct. The interactions really just sort of jump right to what we consider the meat of a conversation. And then we don't really… closure isn't really part of this either. You can see a little bit more of it in customer service type applications where someone dials a phone number and there's a greeting like, “hi, you've reached such as such, what can I do for you?' There's a… like you said, a minute ago, chatbots have a limited range of things that are expected or understood. Mental model mismatch is a thing, but for the sake of this, we'll just keep it narrow. So, there's just a little bit of this sort of… we're giving some lip service to the greeting — pun intended. We're giving some negotiation, you know, of what's available and what's desired. And then it moves very quickly into action. And then at the end of the action, it might… the closure might be, “is there anything else I could do for you? If not, you know, have a great day.” But with our virtual assistants, that shows up very rarely. It is there in some cases, but it's very rare. So, I say all that to say, one of the first big steps in designing is — like with all other design — is really understanding what's the context, what's the goal, who's participating, what knowledge might they have? What knowledge do we expect them not to have? What do they want? Why do they want it? All of these sorts of questions that are fundamental to any sort of true design activity that we're doing, are still important. The thing now though, is instead of saying, “Okay, well that means we're going to have certain kinds of boxes or certain content on our screen,” we're saying, “How do we translate all of that into words that we can exchange fairly easily?” And right now, I've got to say, we're mostly doing a really terrible job of it. But your question was about prototyping. So, first of all, fundamentally we can prototype very simply. I'm a big, big fan of doing basically the equivalent of conversational sketching, which looks like a screenplay. And it doesn't matter if you write this out by hand — and there's some benefits to that — or for speed, you can write it out. You could type it up. But it basically looks like a back and forth of a screenplay and then you go try it with someone — ideally several someones. Someone who might know the technology and help give you some pointers from that angle, but also people who don't care or don't know about the technology. What you're looking for is how quickly can you come to that establishment of sort of clarity of context and purpose and meaning, so that you can proceed into the conversation. That's what those upfront sections are about. The early prototyping is just simulating this conversation with another human. You can expand that into running that in a way, we call “Wizard of Oz” testing, which is where I'm pretending to be the system, and people are going to interact with me, but they don't know it's me and they can't see me. So, whether it's picking up a telephone that's connected to a different phone in the next room and, you know, pretending to talk to the phone or whether it's, you know, pretending to talk to the cylinder and I can pipe something back into the room… the idea is now you're simulating more of the end context, which is a person and a machine or a device. And there's a couple of different ways we can do that. We used to do that in some ways involving Keynote and PowerPoint and recordings and things like that. But today, there are also some tools that we can use that are prototyping tools for voice. Adobe XD has some of that built-in or tools like Voiceflow and Botmock, that are available to do some of this as well. And they… they're a little bit more system centric in the idea of that they're representing capabilities of the end of the system where you might deploy this. So, they have some built-in constraints. And then like all tools, they have, philosophies and other things built into the tool that when you're an experienced designer, you have to learn how to see, or how to work around, those things. So, around those limitations, the tool designer doesn't necessarily understand all the situations you're going to use the tool for. But those tools are available and some of them can be ported directly to one of these devices, in a private setting, so you can test them yourself. You can interact with them. They use text-to-speech technology to give the audio although you can do human recordings with some of them as well. And really that's sort of the… that's where prototyping ends. There are other tools out there. Google has Dialogue Flow and there's the Alexa skills kit tools, which I helped create. All of those are much more system-centric because you're starting to access the assets of those technologies and platforms. But they also have some level of simulation. They have beta modes where you can release it to a certain number of people to interact with it and get feedback on it, so you can make some changes before it goes live. And then they also have some amount of automated testing available too, where you can start to see holes in the application because you didn't specify some sort of action or maybe you didn't take care of a certain condition that might arise, but, you know, that's getting further into the end stage of development, away from prototyping. Closing Jorge: Well, this is all so fascinating. It feels like there's material here for us to go on, but unfortunately, we need to wrap things up. Phillip: Right, right! Sure! Jorge: Where can folks follow up with you, Phillip? Phillip: Well, my consultancy is called Conversational Collaborative AI Services. Clearly, I am focused on some of the underlying artificial intelligence machine learning things, and that's at ccaiservices.com and I am Phillip with two L's, at ccaiservices.com. And I'm also on Twitter as designoutloud, no hyphens or anything, just all one word, and I'm always happy to connect and discuss things on LinkedIn. So pretty easy to find there. I think I was lucky enough to get Phillip Hunter as my LinkedIn URL so you can find me there, and I love to talk about this stuff! Also, my, site has… I've got a fair amount of content out there about these topics, where I go much deeper on… okay, once you understand these principles, how do you really start to apply them and how do you, have an iterative and thoughtful design approach to writing for voice and text interaction. So yeah, so any of those ways be great. Jorge: Well, this is fantastic. Thank you so much for this conversation about conversation! Phillip: Well, it's my pleasure. And obviously I have a lot to say! And yes, we could go on for quite a while. In fact, I might even forget you're there and just keep talking while you're, while you're sleeping or, you know, petting your cat or whatever I saw…. Jorge: Maybe we need to do a part two. Phillip: Well, maybe so! Let's see what kind of response we get, but I'd be happy to, and you know, it is a fascinating thing to think about and analyze. And if anyone wants to dive in, I have some great resources. There's a book called How We Talk by N.J. Enfield, that is also just really, really fascinating. And I'm currently reading another book, that so far, it's very promising, but I'd want to finish it before I recommend it. But I guess the other thing is, I want to say here to people is, don't just study the tools and the technology. You need to study people and conversation to really be good at this, if you want to get into it. It's way more sophisticated than anything we have done for standard web and mobile design. As important, and as difficult as that work is, conversation has some really special and deep challenges. So, don't limit yourself to just understanding the technology and how to apply it. Jorge: That seems like a great admonition and a good place to end it. Thank you so much! Phillip: Oh, you're very welcome.

Learn how the internet has changed the way we communicate and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Have you ever wondered how a simple punctuation mark in a text message can mean anger or passive aggression? Or how a simple “lol” can make even the rudest messages nice? Well, thanks to Gretchen McCulloch, we can now get an in-depth explanation of how the internet has changed the way we communicate online. In the past, published writing was forced to go through a series of proofreads and edits; however, nowadays our social media updates, blog posts, and even articles can be written by anyone who wishes to share information with the world. The internet has led to an increase in informal writing which is constantly changing and evolving as quickly as language itself. So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering how to punctuate a text or where a meme came from, McCulloch answers these questions and more throughout her book, Because Internet. *** Do you want more free audiobook summaries like this? Download our app for free at QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries.

Before even starting to translate a work, a translator needs to make several important macro-level decisions, such as whether to more closely follow the literal structure of the text or to adapt more freely, especially if the original text does things that are unfamiliar to readers in the destination language but would be familiar to readers in the original language. In this episode of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne get enthusiastic about the relationship of the translator and the text. We talk about the new, updated translation of Beowulf by Maria Dahvana Headley (affectionately known as the "bro" translation), reading the Tale of Genji in multiple translations, translating conlangs in fiction, and mistranslation on the Scots Wikipedia. Announcements We’re coming up on Lingthusiasm’s fourth anniversary! In celebration, we’re asking you to help people who would totally enjoy listening to fun conversations about linguistics, they just don’t realize it exists yet! Most people still find podcasts through word of mouth, and we’ve seen a significant bump in listens each November when we ask you to help share the show, so we know this works. If you tag us @lingthusiasm on social media in your recommendation post, we will like/retweet/reshare/thank you as appropriate, or if you send a recommendation to a specific person, we won’t know about it but you can still feel a warm glow of satisfaction at helping out (and feel free to still tell us about it on social media if you’d like to be thanked!). Trying to think of what to say? One option is to pick a particular episode that you liked and share a link to that. This month’s bonus episode was about honorifics, words like titles and forms of “you” that express when you’re trying to be extra polite to someone (and which can also be subverted to be rude or intimate). Get access to this and 43 other bonus episodes at https://www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm This is also a good time to start thinking about linguistics merch and other potential gift ideas (paperback copies of Because Internet, anyone?), in time for them to arrive via the internet, if you’re ordering for the holiday season. Check out the Lingthusiasm merch store at https://lingthusiasm.com/merch For links mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/632086691477323776/lingthusiasm-episode-49-how-translators-approach

Michelle and Rob discuss books and movies they're currently reading and discuss whether they enjoyed them or not. Materials discussed in this episode are "The Girl from Widow Hills" by Megan Miranda, "Because Internet" by Gretchen McCullough, the 1988 Movie "They Live", and "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" by Phillip K Dick.  Check out our episode notes, with links to our book recommendations here. Music - Story has Begun (Kielokaz 156)by KieLoKazis licensed under a     Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

A good design is centered on clear communication and words are one of the key vehicles to achieve it. Acting as the bridge between minds, words can excite, motivate, and guide people when used right. However - words can frustrate, confuse, or worry users about not doing things the right way if they are not used properly. In this episode of the Klaviyo Design Podcast, we have special guest Karen Muller - Klaviyo’s Senior Copywriter - to talk about the importance of copywriting in design, myths around the job of a copywriter and tips for anyone interested in becoming a better writer. We also touch upon brand identity and how language in social media is changing the way we communicate IRL. === Links === Twitter's... Twitter account • https://twitter.com/twitter Wendy's Twitter account • https://twitter.com/Wendys Duolingo's April Fool joke • https://push.duolingo.com/ The Reformation • https://www.thereformation.com/ Spreadsheet that tracks terms across languages • https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1EBNCqbiK-X-DljBD1WhfmsLXaO4iJYGe0Mi5yTuiUb0/edit Simple English Wikipedia • https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page === Recommendations === Hanabi • https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanabi_(card_game) The Last of Us Part II • https://www.thelastofus.playstation.com/ Grammarly • https://app.grammarly.com/ Roam Research • https://roamresearch.com/ Because Internet • https://www.amazon.com/Because-Internet-Understanding-Rules-Language/dp/0735210934 Blue Land cleaning products • https://www.blueland.com/ Fonts for Instagram • https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=kz.nur4i.ifonts&hl=en_US

How are you? Thanks, no problem. Stock, ritualistic social phrases like these, which are used more to indicate a particular social context rather than for the literal meaning of the words inside have a name in linguistics -- they’re called phatics! In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about the social dance of phatic expressions. We talk about common genres of phatics, including greetings, farewells, and thanking; how ordinary phrases come to take on a social meaning versus how existing phatic expressions can become literal again; and how phatics differ across languages and mediums, including speech, letters, email, and social media. This month’s bonus episode is about music and linguistics! Both speech and music can involve making sounds using the human body, but they also have differences. Different cultures highlight the similarities and differences between music and language in various ways, which we’ve received lots of questions about! In this episode, we talk about how languages with tone deal differently with matching up those tones to musical pitches, mapping drums and whistles onto language sounds in order to communicate across long distances, using linguistics to analyze genres of music like opera and beatboxing, and that time Gretchen went on holiday and actually ended up getting a demonstration of the whistled language Silbo Gomero. Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to get access to this and 40 other bonus episodes, and to chat with fellow lingthusiasts in the Lingthusiasm patron Discord. Announcements: Gretchen’s book about internet language, Because Internet, is available in paperback! It includes a section on phatic expressions in email and social media as well as lots of other things about how we talk to each other online, including emoji, memes, what internet generation you belong to, a small cameo from Lauren and Lingthusiasm, and more! You can also still get the audiobook version, read by Gretchen herself (no Lauren though, sorry). It also makes a great gift for anyone you communicate with online. For links to things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/623851629729464320/lingthusiasm-episode-46-hey-no-problem-bye-the

Your Nice Hosts are still recording remotely while we physically distance ourselves! We talk about our new normal and give each other advice on Working From Home and Games to Play while we stay inside. Stay safe out there, Nice Listeners! We are all in this together.How did Animal Crossing's Isabelle and the Doomguy become best friends? - Julia Lee, Polygon Working From Home 0:09:00 Stephen McGregorIRLBecause Internet, a book by Gretchen McCullochCollaborate with Live Share (Visual Studio Code) Games to Play While Social Distancing 0:34:14 Martha MegarryGamingIRLCharles made a HyperDot painting in Animal Crossing - @DarkaysTG, TwitterYour Complete Guide To The SimCity Disaster - Jason Schreier, Kotaku We talked about Martha's love of 'safe zones' in this previous episode (#104): "Safety gone!"

Your Nice Hosts are still recording remotely while we physically distance ourselves! We talk about our new normal and give each other advice on Working From Home and Games to Play while we stay inside. Stay safe out there Nice Listeners! We are all in this together. Cover Photo credit: Nintendo How did Animal Crossing’s Isabelle and the Doomguy become best friends? - Julia Lee , Polygon Working From Home 0:09:00 Stephen McGregor Category IRL Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch Visual Studio Code live coding option Games to Play While Social Distancing 0:34:14 Martha Megarry Category Gaming IRL Charles made a HyperDot painting in Animal Crossing (Tweet) Your Complete Guide To The SimCity Disaster - Jason Schreier , Kotaku We talked about Martha's love of 'safe zones' in this previous episode: “Safety gone!”

Remember that summer when the internet was one Distracted Boyfriend after another—that flannel-shirted dude rubbernecking at a passing woman, while his girlfriend glares at him? Everyone had their own take—the Boyfriend was you, staring directly at a solar eclipse, ignoring science. The Boyfriend was youth, seduced by socialism, spurning capitalism. The Boyfriend could be anyone you wanted him to be.    We think of memes as a uniquely internet phenomenon. But the word meme originally had nothing to do with the internet. It came from an evolutionary biologist who noticed that genes weren’t the only thing that spread, mutated, and evolved. Want to stay up to speed with all thing Science Diction? Sign up for our newsletter. Guest:  Gretchen McCulloch is an internet linguist. For some fun, check out her book, Because Internet, and her podcast Lingthusiasm. She’s also appeared on Science Friday. Footnotes And Further Reading:  For an academic take on memes, read Memes in Digital Culture by Limor Shifman. Read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins. Check out the first time the word meme appeared in an internet context, in Mike Godwin’s 1994 Wired article called “Meme, Counter-meme.” Credits:  Science Diction is written and produced by Johanna Mayer, with production and editing help from Elah Feder. Our senior editor is Christopher Intagliata, and we had story editing help from Nathan Tobey. Our theme song and music are by Daniel Peterschmidt. We had fact-checking help from Michelle Harris. Special thanks to the entire Science Friday staff.

Remember that summer when the internet was one Distracted Boyfriend after another—that flannel-shirted dude rubbernecking at a passing woman, while his girlfriend glares at him? Everyone had their own take—the Boyfriend was you, staring directly at a solar eclipse, ignoring science. The Boyfriend was youth, seduced by socialism, spurning capitalism. The Boyfriend could be anyone you wanted him to be.    We think of memes as a uniquely internet phenomenon. But the word meme originally had nothing to do with the internet. It came from an evolutionary biologist who noticed that genes weren’t the only thing that spread, mutated, and evolved. Sign up for our newsletter, and stay up to speed with Science Diction.  Guest:  Gretchen McCulloch is an internet linguist. For some fun, check out her book, Because Internet, and her podcast Lingthusiasm. She’s also appeared on Science Friday. Footnotes And Further Reading: For an academic take on memes, read Memes in Digital Culture by Limor Shifman. Read The Selfish Gene by Richard Dawkins.    Check out the first time the word meme appeared in an internet context, in Mike Godwin’s 1994 Wired article called “Meme, Counter-meme.” Credits:  Science Diction is written and produced by Johanna Mayer, with production and editing help from Elah Feder. Our senior editor is Christopher Intagliata, and we had story editing help from Nathan Tobey. Our theme song and music are by Daniel Peterschmidt. We had fact-checking help from Michelle Harris. Special thanks to the entire Science Friday staff.

On the Record Night Podcast, we listen to vinyl records and discuss them. In this episode, we review Because The Internet by Childish Gambino along with special guest, Max. Record lablel: Glassnote Records Release date: 12/10/2013 Buy this record: https://www.amazon.com/Because-Internet-…ino/dp/B00IZDWVPG The Record Night podcast is hosted by Collin, Jake, Joe and Kyle.

Want more free audiobooks like this? Download our app for free at QuickRead.com/App and get access to hundreds of free book and audiobook summaries. Learn how the internet has changed the way we communicate and what our online interactions reveal about who we are. Have you ever wondered how a simple punctuation mark in a text message can mean anger or passive aggression? Or how a simple “lol” can make even the rudest messages nice? Well, thanks to Gretchen McCulloch, we can now get an in-depth explanation of how the internet has changed the way we communicate online. In the past, published writing was forced to go through a series of proofreads and edits; however, nowadays our social media updates, blog posts, and even articles can be written by anyone who wishes to share information with the world. The internet has led to an increase in informal writing which is constantly changing and evolving as quickly as language itself. So if you’ve ever found yourself wondering how to punctuate a text or where a meme came from, McCulloch answers these questions and more throughout her book, Because Internet.

I'm fascinated by this analogy that came up in a recent episode about being dropped in a new place without language. So I want this episode to be a travel guide. Let's drop into different places and talk about what makes the languages of code relevant in that space.Meg Ray is a computer science education consultant. Meg teaches education courses at NYU and Hunter College. She was the founding Teacher in Residence at Cornell Tech were she was responsible for the design and implementation of a coaching program for K-8 CS teachers in New York City schools. Meg is an experienced high school computer science teacher and curriculum developer. She served as a writer for the CSTA K-12 CS Standards and the CSTA/ISTE CS Educator Standards and as a special advisor to the K12 CS Framework. She conducts research related to teaching CS to students with disabilities and CS teacher preparation. Recently, the Python Software Foundation awarded her a grant to develop a user-friendly site that can serve as a hub for Python education. Meg is the author of the book Code This Game!Notes from this episode:Book, "Because Internet: https://gretchenmcculloch.com/book/AIforall.org: http://ai-4-all.org/Computer History Museum: https://computerhistory.org/Living Computer Museum in Seattle: https://livingcomputers.org/Grace Hopper: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grace_HopperChibi Clip by Chibitronics: https://chibitronics.com/shop/chibi-clip/MakeCode: https://makecode.com/aboutJi Qui: http://technolojie.com/NexMap.org: http://www.nexmap.org/Keith Zoo, artist: https://keithzoo.com/Odd Dot.com: https://www.odddot.com/ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Scroll through Facebook or Twitter and you’ll notice that many people type in a particular style: full of lols and emoji, and rarely using punctuation or capital letters.Does this mean that we’re losing the ability to use our language correctly? Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet (£12.99, Penguin Books), says absolutely not: in fact, internet users have collaboratively developed a style of language that makes communication much richer.Here’s Gretchen talking to BBC Science Focus online assistant Sara Rigby about how sarcasm and humour drive our use of language, the value of emoji, and the history of lol.Subscribe to the Science Focus Podcast on these services: Acast, iTunes, Stitcher, RSS, OvercastLet us know what you think of the episode with a review or a comment wherever you listen to your podcasts.Listen to more episodes of the Science Focus Podcast:To become Prime Minister, change your voice – Trevor CoxDr Tilly Blyth: How has art influenced science?Why ASMR gives you tingles – Emma WhispersRedRobert Elliott Smith: Are algorithms inherently biased?Monica Grady: What is the future of space science?How do you launch a successful space mission? – Mark McCaughrean See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Welcome to episode #689 of Six Pixels of Separation. Here it is: Six Pixels of Separation - Episode #688 - Host: Mitch Joel. I purchased the book, Because Internet - Understanding the New Rules of Language, because... well... it didn't take much to get me excited beyond the title. It had me at "hello," as they say. Then Karen Wickre (who was on the show to promote her book, Taking The Work Out of Networking, a ways back) made the intro to Gretchen McCulloch (the author of Because Internet). It turns out that Gretchen and I both live in Montreal (small world!). Gretchen McCulloch is an internet linguist: she explores the language of the internet for the people of the internet. Gretchen writes the Resident Linguist column at Wired and has also written for Slate, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Mental Floss, and The Toast. She has a master’s in linguistics from McGill University and is interested in bridging the gap between linguistics and the general public. McCulloch is the creator of the daily linguistics blog, All Things Linguistic, and the co-creator of Lingthusiasm, a podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics. So, don't have FOMO, I hope you LOL and love this show. Enjoy the conversation... Running time: 1:01:11. Hello from beautiful Montreal. Subscribe over at iTunes. Please visit and leave comments on the blog - Six Pixels of Separation. Feel free to connect to me directly on Facebook here: Mitch Joel on Facebook. or you can connect on LinkedIn. ...or on Twitter. Here is my conversation with Gretchen McCulloch. Because Internet - Understanding the New Rules of Language. All Things Linguistic. Lingthusiasm. Follow Gretchen on Twitter. This week's music: David Usher 'St. Lawrence River'.

Learn about how some plants may have a sense of sight. Then, learn about how emoji reflect cultural differences around the world, in the final edition of our “Hashtag Tuesdays” mini-series with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how some plants may have a sense of sight: https://curiosity.im/2KMMgHw  Additional resources from Gretchen McCullough: “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language” — https://amzn.to/31vlUiY Follow @GretchenAMcC on Twitter — https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC Official website — https://gretchenmcculloch.com/ Lingthusiasm, Gretchen’s podcast — https://lingthusiasm.com/ Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing. 

Learn about how you can go on a simulated mission to Mars (in Spain); and, what the weather forecast really means when it says there’s a chance of rain. You’ll also learn about how people around the world talk differently online, with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following stories from Curiosity.com to help you get smarter and learn something new in just a few minutes: You Can Go on a Simulated Mission to Mars in Spain — https://curiosity.im/323VOnb  Here's What a Chance of Rain Really Means — https://curiosity.im/2KLZMuS  Additional resources from Gretchen McCullough: “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language” — https://amzn.to/31vlUiY Follow @GretchenAMcC on Twitter — https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC Official website — https://gretchenmcculloch.com/ Lingthusiasm, Gretchen’s podcast — https://lingthusiasm.com/ Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing. 

Christopher Ketcham talks about “This Land,” and Gretchen McCulloch discusses “Because Internet.”

Richard Crouse fills in for Barb DiGiulio on The Night Side and talks to Gretchen McCulloch – New York Times bestselling author of BECAUSE INTERNET, a book about internet language, resident Linguist at WIRED, and co-host of the Lingthusiasm podcast about this.

Learn why the phrase “money can’t buy happiness” isn’t always true. Then, learn how different generations write differently online, with some help from internet linguist and author Gretchen McCulloch. Please support this episode’s sponsor! Get your first month of KiwiCo FREE by visiting https://www.kiwico.com/curiosity In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about why the saying “money can’t buy happiness” isn’t always true: https://curiosity.im/2KoFAiP  Additional resources from Gretchen McCullough: “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language” — https://amzn.to/31vlUiY Follow @GretchenAMcC on Twitter — https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC Official website — https://gretchenmcculloch.com/ Lingthusiasm, Gretchen’s podcast — https://lingthusiasm.com/ Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing. 

Learn about what you can do to remember more of your dreams. You’ll also learn about the difference between internet language and regular language, in the first edition of our “Hashtag Tuesdays” mini-series with internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch. In this podcast, Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer discuss the following story from Curiosity.com about how you can remember more of your dreams: https://curiosity.im/31y2Y37  Additional resources from Gretchen McCullough: “Because Internet: Understanding the New Rules of Language” — https://amzn.to/31vlUiY Follow @GretchenAMcC on Twitter — https://twitter.com/GretchenAMcC Official website — https://gretchenmcculloch.com/ Lingthusiasm, Gretchen’s podcast — https://lingthusiasm.com/ Download the FREE 5-star Curiosity app for Android and iOS at https://curiosity.im/podcast-app. And Amazon smart speaker users: you can listen to our podcast as part of your Amazon Alexa Flash Briefing — just click “enable” here: https://curiosity.im/podcast-flash-briefing. 

Sometimes a syllable is jam-packed with sounds, like the single-syllable word “strengths”. Other times, a syllable is as simple as a single vowel or consonant+vowel, like the two syllables in “a-ha!” It’s kind of like a burger: you might pack your burger with tons of toppings, or go as simple as a patty by itself on a plate, but certain combinations are more likely than others. For example, an open-face burger, with only the bottom half of the bun, is less weird than a burger with only the top half. In this episode of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about syllables. Why aren’t there any English words that begin with “ng”, even though Vietnamese is perfectly happy to have them? Why do Spanish speakers pronounce the English word “Sprite” more like “Esprite”? Why did English speakers re-analyze Greek helico-pter into heli-copter? Plus more about how different languages prefer different things in their syllable-burgers and what happens when these preferences collide. This month’s bonus episode is about metaphors! Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to gain access to the metaphors episode and 29 previous bonus episodes. https://www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm Today is the final day for two things related to Because Internet, Gretchen’s book about internet linguistics (which is out now and you can get it!). 1. Send us your questions about Because Internet, internet language, or the process of writing a book for a special bonus behind the scenes Q&A episode about the book! 2. Join our new “ling-phabet” tier on Patreon by August 15th in any timezone (you may get a few hours into August 16th if you’re lucky!) and get a signed Because Internet bookplate sticker with your name on it in the mail! https://www.patreon.com/lingthusiasm For links and things mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/187039068846/lingthusiasm-episode-35-putting-sounds-into

S4 E44: In this episode meet Gretchen McCulloch, author of BECAUSE INTERNET; Jia Tolentino, author of TRICK MIRROR; and Carrie Goldberg, author of NOBODY’S VICTIM. These women explore different facets of today’s culture and society—everything from the internet’s effect on language to reality TV and wedding culture to society’s treatment of victims of assault. Then find out which author finally took a stand in the gif (jiff) versus gif debate! Because Internet by Gretchen McCulloch: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/540664/because-internet/ Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/567511/trick-mirror/ Nobody's Victim by Carrie Goldberg and Jeannine Amber: https://www.penguinrandomhouseaudio.com/book/563897/nobodys-victim/

Did you notice when it suddenly became okay not to say goodbye at the end of a text message conversation? Have you responded to work emails solely using 😃? Is ~ this ~ your favorite punctuation mark for conveying exactly just how much you just don’t care about something? Welcome, Internet Person—you’re using a different kind of English from the previous generation. But these conversational norms weren’t set on high, and how they evolved over the past decades of Internet usage tells us a lot about how language has always been created: collaboratively. Or, as Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch puts it, “Language is humanity’s most spectacular open source project.” She joins us to analyze the language we use online and off—how it got this way, where it’s going, and why it’s a good thing that our words are changing so quickly.Go beyond the episode:Gretchen McCulloch’s Because InternetRead her Resident Linguist column at Wired, formerly at The Toast (you may remember reading about the grammar of doge, perhaps? Much wow) or catch up on the Lingthusiasm PodcastPhone calls have been supplanted by text messages—will voice texting be next? Or are the people using voice texting pointing out a fundamental lack, in language or keyboard support?Inevitably, Godwin’s Law states, “as an online discussion continues, the probability of a reference or comparison to Hitler or Nazis approaches 1.” Read creator Mike Godwin’s explanation for why he created his counter-meme, and why, in the case of actual fascists, calling someone a Nazi is well within the norms of discoursePeruse the LOLCat Bible or the Creepypasta Wiki, deemed worthy of archive by the Library of Congress (file under folklore)If all these memes confuse you, you can always find your footing at Know Your MemeTune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.Subscribe: iTunes • Feedburner • Stitcher • Google Play • AcastHave suggestions for projects you’d like us to catch up on, or writers...  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Chris Sullivan's Chokepoint -- environmental rehab for the Highway 529 project // Hanna Scott on sentencing for murderer William Talbott // Dose of Kindness -- Steve Hartman's feature on a Gold Star kid // Sports Insider Maura Dooley with a Seahawks injury update // Gretchen McCulloch, author of Because Internet // Rachel Belle, trying to be less attractive to mosquitoes

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. A conversation with linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her new book, Because Internet. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Email: lexiconvalley@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Slate Plus members get bonus segments and ad-free podcast feeds. Sign up now. A conversation with linguist Gretchen McCulloch about her new book, Because Internet. Join Slate Plus! Members get bonus segments, exclusive member-only podcasts, and more. Sign up for a free trial today at www.slate.com/podcastsplus. Twitter: @lexiconvalley Facebook: facebook.com/LexiconValley Email: lexiconvalley@slate.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The rules are changing. Here's the manual. Gretchen McCulloch's book Because Internet is a look at how people use language on the net to communicate and to show identity. How do people laugh online? How is emoji like gesture? It's a deep dive into internet language on this episode of Talk the Talk.

Gretchen McCulloch studies how people use language on the internet, and today we talked about her new book, "Because Internet." I bet you'll recognize yourself or your friends in her insights. I did! LINKS AND SPONSORS | Embark: http://embarkvet.com promo code: GRAMMAR | Babbel: http://babbel.com | Grammar Girl Email Newsletter | https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/newsletters | Grammar Girl's AP style webinar: http://bit.ly/APStyle2019  | GRAMMAR POP iOS GAME | Optimized for iPad: http://bit.ly/iPadGrammarPop | For iPad and iPhone: http://bit.ly/GrammarPopMobile | GRAMMAR GIRL BOOKS | http://bit.ly/GrammarPopBooks | GRAMMAR GIRL IS PART OF THE QUICK AND DIRTY TIPS PODCAST NETWORK | VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)

Emoji make a lot of headlines, but what happens when you actually drill down into the data for how people integrate emoji into our everyday messages? It turns out that how we use emoji has a surprising number of similarities with how we use gesture. In this episode of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about emoji, and how gesture studies can bring us to a better understanding of these new digital pictures. We also talk about how we first came to notice the similarities between emoji and gesture, including a behind-the-scenes look into chapter five of Gretchen’s book about internet linguistics, Because Internet (the chapter in which Lauren makes a cameo appearance!) Speaking of which, that’s right, Because Internet, Gretchen’s long-anticipated book about internet linguistics, is coming out this Tuesday! (That’s July 23, 2019, if you’re reading this from the future.) If you like the fun linguistics we do on Lingthusiasm, you’ll definitely like this book! Preorders and the first week or two of sales are super important to the lifespan of a book, because they’re its best chance of hitting any sort of bestseller list, so we’d really appreciate it if you got it now! Go to gretchenmcculloch.com/book for ordering links! We’re planning a special bonus Patreon Q&A episode with behind the scenes info on Because Internet and the book writing process once it’s out, so send us your questions at contact@lingthusiasm.com or on social media by August 15th to be part of this bonus episode! We also have a new tier on Patreon! For $15 or more, join the Ling-phabet tier and get your name and favourite IPA symbol or other special character on our Lingthusiasm Supporters Wall of Fame! Plus, join the new $15 tier by August 15th, and get a free Because Internet bookplate signed by Gretchen with your name on it and sent to you in the mail, so you can stick it inside of your copy of Because Internet (or anywhere else you like to put stickers). patreon.com/lingthusiasm As usual, we also have a bonus episode for the $5 Patreon tier, and this month’s bonus episode is about family words! Aka familects, these are the unique words that you create and use within your family. Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to gain access to the familects episode and 28 previous bonus episodes. patreon.com/lingthusiasm For the links mentioned in this episode, visit the shownotes page at: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/186386270916/lingthusiasm-episode-34-emoji-are-gesture-because

I don’t know exactly when or where, but at some point in the past few years, I stopped putting punctuation at the end of sentences. Why? The internet made me do it! Internet linguist Gretchen McCulloch, cohost of Lingthusiasm podcast and the author of the new book Because Internet, explains how the internet changes the rules of language. Find out more at theallusionist.org/new-rules. The Allusionist's online home is theallusionist.org. Stay in touch at twitter.com/allusionistshow, facebook.com/allusionistshow and instagram.com/allusionistshow. The Allusionist is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a collective of the finest podcasts on the interwaves. And it’s our annual survey season! Could you do me a big ole favour and spend a few minutes filling in the Survlusionist at surveynerds.com/allusionist? I will, of course, be using your opinions and information for nothing but the most nefarious purposes (like, er, trying to make the show better for you). In July 2019, the Allusionist is sponsored by: • Squarespace, your one-stop shop for creating and running a good-looking and well-working website. Go to squarespace.com/allusion for a free trial, and use the code ALLUSION to get 10% off your first purchase of a website or domain. • Bombas, socks that won’t let you - or themselves - down. Buy your expertly engineered socks at bombas.com/allusionist and get 20% off your first purchase. • Progressive. Get your car insurance quote online at progressive.com and see how much you could be saving. Discounts not available in all states and situations. • Remember Reading, a new family podcast from HarperCollins about classic children’s books. Find it on your podcast apps and at RememberReading.com.

Why does “gh” make different sounds in “though” “through” “laugh” “light” and “ghost”? Why is there a silent “k” at the beginning of words like “know” and “knight”? And which other languages also have interesting historical artefacts in their spelling systems? Spelling systems are kind of like homes – the longer you’ve lived in them, the more random boxes with leftover stuff you start accumulating. In this episode of Lingthusiasm, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about spelling, and celebrate the reasons that it’s sometimes so tricky. We then dive into quirks from some of our favourite spelling systems, including English, French, Spanish, Tibetan, and Arabic. This month’s bonus episode is about direction words! When you’re giving directions, do you tell someone to go north, left, or towards the sea? In this bonus episode, e talk with Alice Gaby about how different languages use different direction words. Support Lingthusiasm on Patreon to gain access to the directions episode and 27 previous bonus episodes. Because Internet, Gretchen’s book about internet linguistics, is coming out next month, and if you like the fun linguistics we do for Lingthusiasm, you’ll definitely like this book! You can preorder it here in hardcover, ebook, or audiobook (read by Gretchen herself) – preorders are really important because they signal to the publisher that people are excited about linguistics, so they should print lots of copies! We really appreciate your preorders (and you can look forward to a special Q&A episode with behind the scenes info on Because Internet once it’s out!) For links mentioned in this episode: https://lingthusiasm.com/post/185735719586/lingthusiasm-episode-33-why-spelling-is-hard

  We’re getting meta in this episode featuring Internet Linguist Gretchen McCulloch. Learn why names are important not only in mythology and folklore, but in our own lives (including online lives!) as well. Also featuring the Amanda Sins Podcast, a podcast within a podcast, so many throwbacks to the 90s, and what kind of kids did the Bloody Mary thing at sleepovers. This week, Julia recommended CARAVAN and Windfall.   Guest - Gretchen McCulloch is an internet linguist: She analyzes the language of the internet, for the people of the internet. You can visit her website, listen to her podcast, Lingthusiasm, follow her @GretchenAMcC on Twitter, and you can preorder her book, Because Internet, here!   Sponsors - Skillshare is an online learning community where you can learn—and teach—just about anything. Visit skillshare.com/spirits2 to get two months of Skillshare Premium for free! Amanda’s course is called “Podcast Marketing: How to Grow Your Audience with a Marketing Plan, Social Media & Metadata Tips.” - Stitch Fix is an online personal styling service that finds and delivers clothes, shoes, and accessories to fit your body, budget, and lifestyle. Get started at stitchfix.com/spirits for 25% off when you keep your whole box!   Find Us Online If you like Spirits, help us grow by spreading the word! Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, & Goodreads. You can support us on Patreon to unlock bonus Your Urban Legends episodes, director’s commentaries, custom recipe cards, and so much more. Transcripts are available at spiritspodcast.com/episodes. To buy merch, hear us on other podcasts, contact us, find our mailing address, or download our press kit, head on over to SpiritsPodcast.com.   About Us Spirits was created by Julia Schifini, Amanda McLoughlin and Eric Schneider. We are founding members of Multitude, a production collective of indie audio professionals. Our music is "Danger Storm" by Kevin MacLeod (http://incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0.

Some sentences have a lot of words all relating to each other, while other sentences only have a few. The verb is the thing that makes the biggest difference: it’s what makes “I gave you the book” sound fine but “I rained you the book” sound weird. Or on the flip side, “it’s raining” is a perfectly reasonable description of a general raining event, but “it’s giving” doesn’t work so well as some sort of general giving event. How can we look for patterns in the ways that verbs influence the rest of the sentence? In this episode, your hosts Lauren Gawne and Gretchen McCulloch get enthusiastic about a new metaphor for how verbs relate to the other words in a sentence -- a verb is like a coat rack and the nouns that it supports are like the coats that hang on it. Admittedly, it creates some slightly odd-looking coat racks that you might not actually want in your home, but as a metaphor it works quite well. (We’ll stick to linguistics rather than becoming furniture designers.) We also take you through a brief tour of other metaphors for verbs and sentences, including going across (aka transitivity) and molecular bonds (aka valency). This month’s bonus episode is a recording from our liveshow in Melbourne, Australia, where we talk about how the internet is making English better with real audience laughter occasionally in the background! Feel like you’re in a cosy room of friendly linguistics enthusiasts by supporting Lingthusiasm on Patreon to gain access to this and 23 previous bonus episodes. lingthusiasm.com/patreon Internet language is also the topic of Gretchen’s book, Because Internet, which is now officially available for preorder! You can show the publisher that people are interested in fun linguistics books and have a delightful treat waiting for you on July 23, 2019 by preordering it here! gretchenmcculloch.com/book For links to more topics mentioned in this episode, check out the shownotes page at https://lingthusiasm.com/post/182969748701/lingthusiasm-episode-29-the-verb-is-the-coat-rack