
Lexis
By lexispodcast
Fun and interesting insights into linguistics by linguistics enthusiasts


Episode 28 - Kendra Calhoun
Show notes for Episode 28 Here are the show notes for Episode 28, in which Dan talks to Dr Kendra Calhoun, University of California President’s Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Anthropology, UCLA about her work on online communication, how racialised identities are performed and constructed online and the power of interdisciplinarity (fine if you can say it).
Kendra Calhoun’s UCLA page: https://anthro.ucla.edu/person/kendra-calhoun/
Kendra’s website: https://kendrancalhoun.com/ research pages (where many of the projects we talk about are covered) https://kendrancalhoun.com/research/ and her teaching pages https://kendrancalhoun.com/teaching/ ‘They edited out her nip nops’: Linguistic Innovation as Textual Censorship Avoidance on TikTok - this is the work on TikTok, censorship avoidance and linguistic creativity that we discussed: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BkagHBlDpZNqkMqXTlxsJcL9swApokqu
Kendra Calhoun’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/_kendracalhoun
Contact us @LexisPodcast.
Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify Contributors
Matthew Butler Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys
50:28
June 25, 2022

Episode 27 - MLE in the Media special
Show notes for Episode 27
Here are the show notes for Episode 27, an MLE in the media special, in which we talk to Dr Matt Hunt Gardner from the Faculty of Linguistics, Philology and Phonetics, University of Oxford about recent stories and articles on Multicultural London English and look at the language, the views, the framing and the timing of those pieces in a bit more detail.
Matt Hunt Gardner’s website: https://www.matthuntgardner.com/
Matt’s pages at University of Oxford: https://www.ling-phil.ox.ac.uk/people/dr-matt-hunt-gardner
Matt on Twitter: https://twitter.com/matthuntgardner
The articles themselves
The Telegraph Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/Telegraph/status/1536696753717665792
The Telegraph piece: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2022/06/13/wagwan-street-slang-britains-main-dialect/
The Guardian piece: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/jun/14/wagwan-why-are-more-and-more-britons-speaking-multicultural-london-english
The Mail Online piece: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-10921527/Wagwan-language-urban-dialect-takes-IRAM-RAMZAN-says-not-change-good.html
Some selected Mail Online comments: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Dx0UfZPxEAXxjX9abBNtyCGz6SRo_BlL/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110439791983693362630&rtpof=true&sd=true
Evening Standard piece: https://www.standard.co.uk/comment/britain-london-slang-accents-regional-diversity-lenny-henry-b1006546.html
The i piece: https://inews.co.uk/opinion/multicultural-london-english-dialect-40-years-old-middle-class-britain-terrified-1690448
Other sources on MLE:
Multicultural London English – part 1
The 'M' in 'MLE' – Youth Slang's Origins | tony thorne
Old MLE complaints from EngLangBlog: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1RNLPjiCIv4X8Pw_VhLzSbj6olcISUn_1/edit?usp=sharing&ouid=110439791983693362630&rtpof=true&sd=true
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys
37:16
June 19, 2022

Episode 26 - Robert McKenzie and Speaking of Prejudice
Show notes for Episode 26
Here are the show notes for Episode 26, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Dr Robert McKenzie of Northumbria University about implicit biases in accent attitudes, the benefits of approaching language study with a multidisciplinary approach and the Speaking of Prejudice project.
Robert McKenzie’s Northumbria University webpage https://researchportal.northumbria.ac.uk/en/persons/robert-mckenzie
The Speaking of Prejudice project website: https://research.northumbria.ac.uk/languageattitudesengland/
Student resources from Speaking of Prejudice project: https://drive.google.com/file/d/10ui8etPOB2z2OvO6k2ebTIe-56t24rHR/view?usp=sharing
Speaking of Prejudice on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SpeechPrejudice
Robert McKenzie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/robertm98205445
Teacher resources from Speaking of Prejudice project:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CjuWwWJHMupN_ZRB1CRjQKFo2ZgraZGk/view?usp=sharing
The British Academy showcase event can be found here: https://www.thebritishacademy.ac.uk/events/british-academy-summer-showcase-2022/programme-exhibits/
The forthcoming book: https://www.routledge.com/Implicit-and-Explicit-Language-Attitudes-Mapping-Linguistic-Prejudice-and/McKenzie-McNeill/p/book/9780367703530
Robert’s book recommendations:
Language Myths by Laurie Bauer
and
English with an Accent: Language, Ideology and Discrimination in the U
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys
39:52
May 22, 2022

Episode 25 - the OED
Here are the show notes for Episode 25, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Fiona McPherson and Freia Reimink-Layfield about their work on the OED: how they view the role of dictionaries, expand their pool of sources and reassess word definitions as time goes by.
OED100: Repainting the dictionary
https://public.oed.com/blog/oed100-repainting-the-dictionary/
Blog | Oxford English Dictionary
Varieties of English Archives | Oxford English Dictionary
Lang in the News
Man arrested for allegedly threatening Merriam-Webster over definition of female - ABC News
Man arrested for threatening to 'bomb' Merriam-Webster over trans-inclusive definitions
A corpus-based approach to discourses of refugees and asylum seekers in UN and newspaper texts. - Research Portal | Lancaster University
Cameron, Deborah. and Shaw, Sylvia. (2016). Gender, Power and Political Speech: Women and Language in the 2015 UK General Election - Research Portal | Lancaster University
'I want a voice that fits me': teenager's quest for communication aid with Walsall accent
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys
44:16
May 11, 2022

Episode 24 - Kamran Khan
Show notes for Episode 24
Here are the show notes for Episode 24, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Dr Kamran Khan of the University of Copenhagen about security studies, discourses around refugees and Muslims and the role of language in national identity, especially around language testing and citizenship.
Kamran Khan on Twitter: https://twitter.com/SecurityLing
Kamran’s ResearchGate page: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Kamran-Khan-45
https://archive.discoversociety.org/2020/01/08/the-counter-extremism-shift-in-esol-policy-and-the-double-securitisation-of-muslims/
The New York Times’ Trojan Horse Affair podcast can be found here: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/podcasts/trojan-horse-affair.html
Lang in the News
We talked about this paper by Ian Cushing and Julia Snell:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/white-ears-of-ofsted-a-raciolinguistic-perspective-on-the-listening-practices-of-the-schools-inspectorate/E6ECBB4A5DDE794CD44270C67CAEDF19
You can read more about it here (check out the comments and Ian’s patient replies too!):
https://theconversation.com/ofsted-has-been-dictating-what-proper-english-is-heres-why-thats-a-problem-176742
And we refer to the TES article that you can find here: https://www.tes.com/magazine/analysis/general/does-ofsted-have-problem-language-policing
LancsBox is here: http://corpora.lancs.ac.uk/lancsbox/download.php
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys
45:27
May 09, 2022

Episode 23 - Gareth Carrol
Show notes for Episode 23
Here are the show notes for Episode 23, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Dr Gareth Carrol of Birmingham University about his new book, Jumping Sharks and Dropping Mics and about modern idioms - where they come from, how they work and how they spread into popular discourse.
Jumping Sharks and Dropping Mics: modern idioms and where they come from website: Jumping sharks and dropping mics from Iff Books
Modern Idioms on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Modern_Idioms
Gareth Carrol on Twitter: https://twitter.com/garethcarrol
Dan was out of practice and forgot to send Gareth our usual quickfire questions so here are his answers:
Favourite book – “Through the Language Glass” by Guy Deutscher. It’s a really accessible take on the Language and Thought (Sapir-Whorf) debate, with some fascinating evidence and examples. Honourable mention goes to “Is That a Fish in Your Ear? The Amazing Adventure of Translation” by David Bellos.
Favourite fact / idea – that being bilingual is the norm, not the exception in the world (over half the world’s population speaks more than one language).
Advice to a budding linguist – be as flexible as you can in how you think about language (and anything else really). There is so much room for fuzziness/variation/ambiguity in how we think about language, and seeing it in these terms (rather than trying to be too rigid and look for clean answers) is a great help in understanding the whole picture.
For anyone who hasn’t heard the expression ‘as bent as a nine bob note’: https://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/as+bent+as+a+nine-bob+note
Lang in the News
Accents
Customer asks for refund from York Theatre Royal because actors performed play in Yorkshire accents
Child refugees in city to learn Hull accent and sayings including 'larkin out'
Big piece about accents in The Times in March
What does your accent say about you? | Times2 | The Times
Several related stories, some featuring criticism of Amanda Cole and her Essex colleagues:
Their blog here:
Ask or aks? How linguistic prejudice perpetuates inequality | Blog | University of Essex
University specialists say there is no such thing as 'correct' language and terminology | Daily Mail Online
https://twitter.com/DrAmandaCole/status/1506182631783866368
LBC Vanessa Feltz interview with Amanda Cole: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0bqyvm6 (from 02:16:30 onwards)
Ann Widdecombe in the Daily Express linked here: https://twitter.com/EngLangBlog/status/1506727875134869514
"ACCORDING to academics at the University of Essex there is no such thing as correct language, pronunciation or terminology. Instead they advocate what amounts to linguistic anarchy with anything acceptable such as pronouncing "ask" as "aks" and dismiss any standardisation of usage as "prejudice".
Unfortunately for the students, employers who are looking for articulate applicants with a good command of the language will be perfectly happy to exhibit such prejudice and to choose someone who does not use "like" a dozen times in almost as
many words."
Anti-Welsh accent prejudice here:
https://twitter.com/ElunedAnderson/status/1506015005027807237
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys
49:00
April 11, 2022

Episode 22 - Katie Edwards
Show notes for Episode 22
Here are the show notes for Episode 22, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Dr Katie Edwards about grammar pedantry, accent shaming and why ‘grammar nazis’ need to get a life (and a new name).
Warning: this episode contains some explicit language!
Katie Edwards’ website: https://www.katiebedwards.com/
Katie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/KatieBEdwards
Katie’s (fairly) recent language articles (some of which we discuss):
Gerraway with accentism – I’m proud to speak Yorkshire | Katie Edwards
No, You’re Shit: Grammar Pedantry and Knowing Your Place
Putting the Accent On Prejudice. Rather than being yet another way to… | by Katie Edwards | Medium
Katie refers to ‘The Apostrophiser’, the grammar vigilante: Meet the 'Grammar Vigilante' of Bristol
Jeremy Paxman’s comments about grammar were “People who care about grammar are regularly characterised as pedants. I say that those who don’t care about it shouldn’t be surprised if we pay no attention to anything they say — if indeed they’re aware of what they’re trying to say.” (from here: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/the-pedant-8kpmpkc8x08)
Katie’s reading recommendation is Speaking Up: Understanding Language and Gender by Allyson Yule: http://allysonjule.com/books/speaking-up/
The letter to The Guardian about ‘talking properly’ that we discuss:
The ‘slang ban’ story that provoked the letter: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/sep/30/oh-my-days-linguists-lament-slang-ban-in-london-school
A thread Dan did on the problems with this letter: https://twitter.com/EngLangBlog/status/1446358649635549206
An article Dan wrote for emagazine about school ‘slang bans’: https://www.dropbox.com/s/81efwb4qfazopns/school%20rules%20article%20final.pdf?dl=0
You can follow Katie’s work by signing up here: https://katieedwards.substack.com/
Katie’s favourite book about language was this: http://allysonjule.com/books/speaking-up/
Language in the News
The older ‘slang ban’ stories can be found here: https://englishlangsfx.blogspot.com/search?q=slang+ban
The Mail’s coverage of the recent south London academy story:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10047177/Oh-days-School-bans-slang-terms-like-bare-raise-literacy-standards.html
Some of the comments that followed the Mail piece: https://twitter.com/mmgiovanelli/status/1444395623315353613
Marcello Giovanelli on Channel 5 News discussing the story and others: https://twitter.com/5_News/status/1444000068118458369
Aston University Sociology style guide story in the Times:
Some of the comments that followed the story on Aston Uni: https://twitter.com/EngLangBlog/status/1446745305777573895
Evan Smith’s No Platform book: https://www.routledge.com/No-Platform-A-History-of-Anti-Fascism-Universities-and-the-Limits-of-Free/Smith/p/book/9781138591684
Evan Smith interviewed on the Radikaal podcast: https://podtail.com/podcast/radikaal/12-evan-smith-on-no-platform-and-so-called-cancel-/
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
End music: Serge Quadrado - Cool Guys
Cool Guys by Serge Quadrado is licensed under a Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. From the Free Music Archive: https://freemusicarchive.org/music/serge-quadrado/urban/cool-guys
46:42
November 09, 2021

Episode 21 - Robbie Love
Show notes for Episode 21
Here are the show notes for Episode 21, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Dr Robbie Love about his work on corpora, spoken English and how he has been looking at changes in swearing patterns in spoken English.
🔺Warning: this episode contains explicit language!🔻
Robbie Love’s website: https://robbielove.org/
Robbie on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lovermob
A link to the paper in Text and Talk:
Love, R. (2021). Swearing in informal spoken English: 1990s – 2010s. Text and Talk, 41, Special Issue: ‘Corpus Linguistics across the Generations: In Memory of Geoffrey Leech’.
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/text-2020-0051/html
Some of the media coverage for Robbie’s recent research is covered in the ‘Media’ page of Robbie’s site: https://robbielove.org/media/
Some great resources here for A level teachers and students!
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
47:21
September 22, 2021

Episode 20 - Sandra Jansen
Show notes for Episode 20
Here are the show notes for Episode 20, a Language in the News special, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Dr Sandra Jansen of Paderborn University about linguistics stories in the media and discuss stories around accent bias, dialect change and suggestions for reading and evaluating stories about language in the media.
Sandra Jansen’s Paderborn University page: https://www.uni-paderborn.de/en/person/66815/
Sandra on Twitter: https://twitter.com/sj2915
Sandra says she can send the English Today article, Predicting the Future of English, that’s mentioned in the article if you want to contact her.
Alex Scott & Digby Jones
Original tweets here: https://twitter.com/Digbylj/status/1421164856527437825
Alex Scott’s response here: https://twitter.com/AlexScott/status/1421257347419213831
Digby Chicken Caesar doubles down here: https://twitter.com/Digbylj/status/1421448009238388737
Excellent thread from a linguist, Bethan Tovey-Walsh here: https://twitter.com/LinguaCelta/status/1421460631304146951
And another thread (from Claire Hardaker) here: https://twitter.com/DrClaireH/status/1421398857255116801
Longer read from Claire Hardaker: https://wp.lancs.ac.uk/drclaireh/2021/08/02/digby-lord-jones-the-man-who-took-on-linguistics-and-lost/
Katie Edwards piece here:: https://katiebedwards.medium.com/putting-the-accent-on-prejudice-a2894d5d0670
Deborah Cameron on the Alex Scott/Digby Jones story and attacks on women’s speech: https://debuk.wordpress.com/2021/08/07/speakin-while-female/
Accentism thread of reader comments:
https://twitter.com/AccentismProj/status/1421899858391228419
Predicting Dialect change
Full paper here: Inferring the drivers of language change using spatial models
Summary here: Northern English verbal mannerisms being lost
News stories here:
Ee bah gone? How northern accents could be dead in 45 years
Northern accents could sound southern by 2066, study finds
Northern accents are dying out and could DISAPPEAR BY 2066
Northern accents could be wiped out in less than 50 years, scientist says
Opinion piece based on the story here
Thread from Tamsin Blaxter (Cambridge linguist behind the language side of the project) here: https://twitter.com/tweetolectology/status/1421126516012986370
‘The Sound of 2066’ project (paper on ResearchGate): https://www.researchgate.net/publication/308793528_Watt_D_Gunn_B_2016_%27The_sound_of_2066_A_report_commissioned_by_HSBC%27_26th_September_2016
Some of the stories around it:
It's the end of the frog and toad for regional slang, says report
'Th' sound vanishing from English language with Cockney and other dialects set to 'die out by 2066'
How will Brits speak in 50 years? The Sound of 2066
Regional accents to end within 50 years according to new report
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
Show notes for Episode 20 of @LexisPodcast are here https://docs.google.com/document/d/1k4x7bnh8jgsz1EuDxrgLPy-6By8IGvLX_HMEgFt5IcY/edit?usp=sharing
It's a Language in the News special with @sj2915 to help kick off your new academic year.
34:42
August 29, 2021

Episode 19 - Elena Semino
Show notes for Episode 19
Here are the show notes for Episode 19 in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk to Professor Elena Semino of Lancaster University about:
The power of metaphor
The universality of metaphor
Metaphors for Covid, health campaigns and vaccinations
Elena Semino’s Lancaster University webpage: Professor Elena Semino
Elena on Twitter: Elena Semino (@elenasemino)
Reframe Covid pages: #ReframeCovid
Questioning Vaccine Discourse project: Quo VaDis: Questioning Vaccine Discourse Project (@vaccine_project)
We’ll be back with a Language in the News special for episode 20 later this summer.
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
41:05
August 18, 2021

Episode 18 - Emma Byrne
*Explicit warning*
Show notes for Episode 18 Here are the show notes for Episode 18 - our first birthday episode! - where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about: ‘So’ and why it annoys language pedants and prescriptivists. Language discourses around two texts discussing ‘so’. And we talk to Dr Emma Byrne, author of ‘Swearing Is Good For You: the amazing science of bad language’ about...swearing. Obvs. Emma Byrne’s Swearing is Good for You page: Swearing is Good for You – Emma Byrne, Science Writer and Broadcaster Emma Byrne in The Guardian: Swear by it: why bad language is good for you | Emma Byrne Emma Byrne in Time Magazine: The Benefits of Swearing Emma Byrne in Elle: There's a Swearing Double Standard—and Women Can Change It - Emma Byrne on Gendered Perception of Swearing Broca’s area in the brain: The Broca Area and Language Production Wernicke’s area in the brain: WikiPedia: Wernicke's area Sophie Scott on Why we Laugh Sophie Scott: Why we laugh | TED Talk Sophie Scott on Why do Humans Laugh Why do humans laugh? So Alec Marsh in The Spectator on ‘so’ The remorseless rise of 'so' Lane Greene has responded on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lanegreene/status/1392805484768468993 He links to this https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/education/grammar/so-and-so-that-coordinating-or-subordinating-conjunctions?page=1 And there’s already been several peeve fests about ‘so’ over the years: So Here's Why Everyone Is Starting Sentences With The Word 'So' How A Popular Two-Letter Word Is Undermining Your Credibility So Shoot Me – Frank McNally on the sentence-opener of the century (so far) Today presenter John Humphrys declare war on the use of the word 'so' So, here's a carefully packaged sentence that shows me in my best light | Oliver James And this is a good piece on it: https://www.npr.org/2015/09/03/432732859/so-whats-the-big-deal-with-starting-a-sentence-with-so?t=1620925294688 In defence of the word 'so' - a much better take on ‘so’ from Elizabeth East. Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify Contributors Matthew Butler Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy Lisa Casey blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates) Dan Clayton blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog) Jacky Glancey Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey Music: Freenotes
50:22
June 09, 2021

Episode 17 - Dr Amanda Cole
Show notes for Episode 17
Here are the show notes for Episode 17 where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
‘Woke’... are we woke? Are we fighting a war on woke? What does it even mean and why is it being used to attack people for just being nice humans?
Meghan Markle’s representation in the tabloid press
And we talk to Dr Amanda Cole from the University of Essex about accents, identity and how accents in the South East of England have been changing.
Barbara Windsor: you're more likely to hear a cockney accent in Essex than east London now
Accentism is alive and well – and it doesn't only affect the north of England
There's still a hierarchy of accents in Britain and why talking with the 'wrong' one might hold you back
Ethnic minorities ‘deemed less intelligent because of their accents’ (paywalled)
Amanda Cole on Twitter: https://twitter.com/AmanditaCole
Amanda Cole University of Essex page: https://www.essex.ac.uk/people/colea17303/amanda-cole
Amanda Cole is speaking at the next emagazine English Language conference for students! More details here: EMC Online: English Language A Level Student Conference (30th June 2021 2-4pm) | Conferences
Woke
The Woke Handbook for Boomers | Magazine (paywalled)
What does 'woke' really mean and why is Tesla CEO Elon Musk mocking it?
'WOKE' NOT WOKE
What does 'woke' mean? The origins of the term, and how its meaning has changed
How the word ‘woke’ was weaponised by the right (Trigger warning: contains images of both Laurence Fox and Toby Young)
Meghan Markle
Here Are 20 Headlines Comparing Meghan Markle To Kate Middleton That Might Show Why She And Prince Harry Are Cutting Off Royal Reporters
Comparing How Meghan Markle is Discussed in the Press vs. Kate Middleton | GreenBook
*Quick note: at 45:10 we mention ‘abstract verbs’. We obviously meant ‘abstract nouns’: please forgive us.*
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
46:43
May 28, 2021

Episode 16 Ffion Brown
Show notes for Episode 16
Welcome to Episode 16 of the Lexis podcast and our first new episode of 2021, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
The language of news reports on violence against women
The power of language to represent and frame events
And we talk to Ffion Brown about her work on the representation of mental health.
Some of Ffion’s reading suggestions:
Methods of Critical Discourse Studies - Ruth Wodak (Editor) Michael Meyer (Editor)
https://uk.bookshop.org/books/methods-of-critical-discourse-studies/9781446282410
The Little Prince
https://uk.bookshop.org/books/the-little-prince-colour-illustrations/9781909621558
Language in the News
https://twitter.com/_chris_hart/status/1370868282216026113?s=20
‘Elite police officer appears in court charged with woman’s murder’ - Times headline
https://twitter.com/JNRaeside/status/1370774580948824065?s=20
Reporting on the Atlanta Spa Shootings
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/03/17/jay-baker-bad-day/
“He was pretty much fed up and kind of at the end of his rope. Yesterday was a really bad day for him and this is what he did,” Cherokee County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Jay Baker said Wednesday. He was describing the 21-year-old man accused of killing eight people, mostly Asian and almost all women, in a rampage across three Atlanta-area spas.
UK headlines about an attack on a teenage girl in Derby
https://twitter.com/BBCNews/status/1370799588160983042?s=20
Jackson Katz: Violence Against Women - it’s a men’s issue
https://www.ted.com/talks/jackson_katz_violence_against_women_it_s_a_men_s_issue/transcript
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
31:07
April 25, 2021

Episode 15 - Dana Gablasova
Show notes for Episode 15
Welcome to Episode 15 of the Lexis podcast, our last for the hellscape that has been 2020, in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
Words of the Year
Words entering the dictionary
Words leaving the dictionary
And we talk to Dr Dana Gablasova from Lancaster University about Corpus Linguistics:
what it involves
what it can offer to students investigating language
the ways it can open up questions to explore in data
some important recent studies
the Corpus in Schools project
Dana Gablasova’s Lancaster University page: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about/people/dana-gablasova
Dana’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/danagablas
The Corpus for Schools homepage: Corpus in classrooms | Corpus for Schools
Future Learn’s Corpus Linguistics MOOC: Corpus Linguistics Analysis - Online Course
The BNC: [bnc] British National Corpus
The BNC 2014: British National Corpus 2014
Baker, Gabrielatos, McEnery, Sketching Muslims: (PDF) Sketching Muslims: A Corpus Driven Analysis of Representations Around the Word 'Muslim' in the British Press 1998-2009
Semino, Demjen, Hardie, Payne: Metaphor, Cancer and the End of Life: (PDF) Metaphor, Cancer and the End of Life: A Corpus-Based Study
Elena Semino on Covid metaphors: 'A fire raging': Why fire metaphors work well for Covid-19 - Making Science Public
Reframe Covid: #ReframeCovid - Contribute
Louise Mullany and Loretta Trickett: A comic strip to fight misogyny hate crime
Paul Baker on corpus methods to explore the representation of gay men in the UK press: Language, Sexuality and Corpus Linguistics: Concerns and Future Directions Paul Baker Abstract In this paper I discuss the poten
Language in the News
Summary of selected WOTY choices
Oxford: too many to decide...
Collins: lockdown
Cambridge: quarantine
Australian Dictionary: iso
Macquarie: rona & doomscrolling
Merriam Webster (USA): pandemic
Oxford report: Oxford Word of the Year 2020 | Oxford Languages
The American Dialect Society has different categories and voted for a range of good ones, even if their main WOTY (covid) was a bit dull: American Dialect Society
Collins Dictionary WOTY: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/woty
Cambridge Dictionary: https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/2020/11/24/cambridge-dictionarys-word-of-the-year-2020/
David Shariatmadari in The Guardian: Pandemic, lockdown and Megxit: the most influential words of 2020
Irish Times: The word of the year is defined as 'watching Normal People in your pyjamas'. What is it?
Merriam Webster on US WOTY: Word of the Year 2020 | Pandemic
Piece on Australian WOTY: https://theconversation.com/rona-iso-quazza-words-of-the-year-speak-to-our-australian-take-on-covid-150949
Macquarie’s Covid words of 2020: The Macquarie Dictionary COVID Word of the Year shortlist
Macquarie’s overall list (Karen, Covidiot and Doomscrolling): https://www.macquariedictionary.com.au/resources/view/word/of/the/year/2020
UK education top ten words of 2020: Word of the year 2020: the teachers' choice
Essex Girl removed from dictionary
https://news.sky.com/story/essex-girl-removed-from-dictionary-after-campaigners-claim-term-is-offensive-12151727
'Essex girl' removed from dictionary following campaign
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1CI3kZ7rZq5C70AyM2D-XVm3vF_DUno3vuSkIWrNNoa4/edit?usp=sharing
Here’s to a better 2021...
38:56
December 31, 2020

Episode 14 - Emma Moore
Show notes for Episode 14
Welcome to Episode 14 of the Lexis podcast in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
How language frames and represents people and events
Oscar Pistorius and Reeva Steenkamp
Advice to women about personal safety
And we talk to Professor Emma Moore from the University of Sheffield in a wide-ranging interview about:
non-standard English and how it’s used for different purposes
the importance of understanding the societal origins of attitudes to language
why we need to understand the differences between spoken and written systems
...and how sociolinguistics saved our lives!
Emma Moore’s Sheffield University page: Professor Emma Moore | English
Emma Moore’s Eden Village Girls study: “I were out with Lucy last week. She were in a right good mood.”
What Did You Say? https://festivalofthemind.sheffield.ac.uk/2020/futurecade/what-did-you-say/
What Did You Say? Podcast episode: https://festivalofthemind.sheffield.ac.uk/2020/spiegeltent/what-did-you-say-podcast/
Jenny Cheshire’s Reading study: Jenny Cheshire – Linguistic Variation and Social Function – All About Linguistics
Penelope Eckert’s High School study: Penelope Eckert – High School Ethnography
Peter Trudgill’s Norwich study: Peter Trudgill, Norwich
Lesley Milroy’s Belfast studies: Milroy's Belfast Study
Language in the News
The representation of (convicted murderer of Reeva Steenkamp) Oscar Pistorius:
Sonia Sodha on Twitter: "My god BBC. “The extraordinary story of paralympic and Olympic sprinter” who “suddenly found himself at the centre of a murder investigation.” Extraordinary? Found himself? INSPIRATIONAL?! No way to talk about a convicted murderer. Talk about minimising the murder of women.… https://t.co/dW8dZoRpiZ"
Anya Palmer on Twitter: "They've changed it to say he killed her. Still not saying he murdered her. He was charged with murder when he MURDERED his girlfriend.… https://t.co/4gAOrU3UML"
https://twitter.com/soniasodha/status/1321367689475067904
Debbie Cameron on Twitter: "So, we can add 'found himself at the centre of a murder investigation' to the already long list of convoluted formulas the media use to gloss over men's violence against women and make the perpetrators into tragic heroes. (See also the play on the word 'trials' in the title)… https://t.co/koQUBG2eYV"
Police advice to women:
https://twitter.com/SkyNews/status/1316307733147246594?s=20
https://twitter.com/MisterLJones/status/1316810550190407680?s=20
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
Transcript:https://docs.google.com/document/d/1iaQEzsVjifbKajiYJPob54-AHGoAGiAwk-mfLjD5M_o/edit?usp=drivesdk
43:49
December 24, 2020

Episode 13 - Accent Special
SHOW NOTES (TRANSCRIPT AT BOTTOM)
Show notes for Episode 13
Welcome to Episode 13 of the Lexis podcast in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about accent in an accent prejudice special, including:
Negative attitudes to regional and social accents
Social attitudes to ‘regional’ accents
Humour, pride and regional/social identity online
Doric covid warnings
As part of this we also talk to Lauren White whose report into accent and social attitudes at Durham University spurred several of these stories.
Lauren’s report is here:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/344434314_A_REPORT_ON_NORTHERN_STUDENT_EXPERIENCE_AT_DURHAM_UNIVERSITY
Language in the News
Students from northern England facing 'toxic attitude' at Durham University (this is the one based on Lauren’s report)
Guardian main story on accent discrimination and class: UK's top universities urged to act on classism and accent prejudice
Guardian on accent discrimination: 'It's had a lasting impact': students on being bullied over their accents
UK students: Have you been ridiculed over your accent or background?
Accentism against Essex: Accentism is alive and well – and it doesn't only affect the north of England
Rob Drummond discussing use of ‘regional’ re accents: https://twitter.com/RobDrummond/status/1319923837824356352
University of York on accent attitudes: https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/2019/research/regional-accents-doesn't-hold-back-top-jobs/
Various articles on attitudes to accents based on a marketing survey from OnBuy:
Yorkshire most trustworthy accent in the UK, says survey | Bradford Telegraph and Argus
Yorkshire Accent Has Been Voted Most Trustworthy Accent In The UK
Brummie accent named least trustworthy in the UK, study reveals
Sexiest accents from (ahem) Illicit Encounters survey (Trigger Warning: features a picture of Barry Chuckle):
Men from Yorkshire have England's sexiest accent, poll finds
Accents/dialects discriminated against on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/EngLangBlog/status/1319014609781739520
Interesting and effective use of representation of accent/dialect:
https://twitter.com/AngelaRayner/status/1319021626311180291?s=20
Doric Covid warnings:
https://www.grampianonline.co.uk/news/doric-coronavirus-advice-tells-ye-fit-ye-need-ta-dee-195854/
Accent Bias in Britain project: https://accentbiasbritain.org/
The Accentism Project: http://accentism.org/
Eccentricity podcast: https://www.accentricity-podcast.com/
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
25:17
December 15, 2020

Episode 12 - Vanja Karanovic
Show notes for Episode 12
Welcome to Episode 12 of the Lexis podcast in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
Children’s language development via Twitter videos of babies with huskies, lullabies and big-scale projects that measure children’s lockdown language.
We also talk to Dr Vanja Karanovic about bilingual children’s language development.
Vanja’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/DrVanjaK
Some of the texts referred to:
Grosjean, F, 2012, Bilingual: Life and Reality, Harvard University Press
Crystal, D, 1989, Listen to Your Child (2nd edition), Penguin (Chapter 7)
De Houwer, A.,2009, BIlingual First Language Acquisition, Multilingual Matter
Language in the News
Baby and Husky: https://imgur.com/gallery/sakCQNd
Constance Bainbridge on lullaby research: https://twitter.com/conBainbridge/status/1318294620778995716
Julien Mayor: https://twitter.com/julien__mayor/status/1321922810634227712
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
41:00
November 18, 2020

Episode 11 - Catherine Laing
Welcome to Episode 11 of the Lexis podcast in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
Interruptions: in the US presidential debate, in online classrooms via TikTok and how gender and power are factors in how we are treated in conversations.
We also talk to Dr Catherine Laing from Cardiff University’s Centre for Language and Communication Research about child language development and infant-directed speech.
Catherine Laing’s University page: https://www.cardiff.ac.uk/people/view/921190-laing-catherine
Catherine’s Twitter account: https://twitter.com/cathelaing24
Schieffelin and Ochs’s paper (1986) on how child-directed speech isn’t used in some societies: http://www.sscnet.ucla.edu/anthro/faculty/ochs/articles/Schieffelin_Ochs_1986_Language_Socialization.pdf
Casillas, Brown and Levinson on verbal interaction with children in a southern Mexico village https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/cdev.13349
Cristia, Dupoux, Gurven & Stieglitz on verbal interaction with children in lowland Bolivia: https://srcd.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/cdev.12974
Babel, The Language Magazine: https://babelzine.co.uk/
The Vocal Fries podcast
https://vocalfriespod.com/
Language in the News
Interruptions in the US presidential debate: https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2020/09/trump-interruptions-first-presidential-debate-biden.html
Interruptions between Trump and Clinton in 2016: https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/9/27/13017666/presidential-debate-trump-clinton-sexism-interruptions
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-hillary-clinton-third-presidential-debate-how-many-times-interruptions-sexism-a7371286.html
Interruptions of a woman in STEM (via TikTok): https://www.dailydot.com/unclick/woman-in-stem-interruptions-tiktok/
Deborah Cameron on interruptions and gender: https://debuk.wordpress.com/2020/08/15/woman-interrupted/
Language in Conflict: https://languageinconflict.org/
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
35:46
October 17, 2020

E10 Language, sexuality and identity special
Show notes for Episode 10
Welcome to Episode 10 of the Lexis podcast in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
Another bad article about language, which takes a swipe at people who ask for people to respect their pronoun choices.
We also talk to Associate Professor in Sociolinguistics at the University of Nottingham, Dr Lucy Jones about language, sexuality, gender and identity.
Lucy Jones’ blog: https://queerlinglang.wordpress.com/
Lucy Jones’ University of Nottingham page: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/english/people/lucy.jones
Lucy’s Twitter account: https://twitter.com/jones_lucy
Robert Podesva’s study on falsetto and identity: https://web.stanford.edu/~eckert/Courses/l1562018/Readings/Podesva2007.pdf
Language in the News
Here’s the article by Joanna Williams in The Times that we analysed:
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/declaring-your-pronouns-is-pure-narcissism-7rffv2mrz
A couple of the bits we talked about are reproduced below:
Declaring your pronouns is pure narcissism
An identity-obsessed minority with too much time on its hands has lost touch with reality
Joanna Williams
I’m Joanna, she/her. You probably guessed that from my name and my photo. But declaring one’s pronouns is all the rage and I’d hate to appear out of touch.
I’m all for denying biology. I pretend I’m not getting older and can still drink too much without suffering the next day. I pretend I can fit into clothes I bought 20 years ago. But I don’t insist other people confirm my delusions. Demanding to be called they/them rather than he/she is to insist that the rest of the world share in your fantasy.
When Jeremy Corbyn spoke at the Pink News awards late last year he began his speech by saying: “My name is Jeremy Corbyn, pronouns he/him.” Surely no one in attendance doubted Corbyn’s manhood, or that men are commonly referred to as “he”.
People devise all kinds of ways to signal their political beliefs, particularly when they decide that doing so makes them out to be especially virtuous.
Pronoun-declaring is, in truth, a game played by an identity-obsessed minority with far too much time on its hands. Forced attempts at normalising pronoun introductions may be done in the name of inclusivity but they reveal only how hopelessly out of touch those who run our universities, local authorities and political parties have become. They no longer have any idea how normal people talk to each other.
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
01:00:24
September 22, 2020

Episode 9 - Tony Thorne
Show notes for Episode 9
Welcome to Episode 9 of the Lexis podcast in which Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
Good and bad articles about language, featuring an absolute peeve-fest from James Innes-Smith in The Spectator and a much better one from Stan Carey on emoji panics on the MacMillan Dictionary blog.
We also talk to author, lexicographer, slang expert and visiting language consultant at King’s College, London, Tony Thorne about new words and lots more!
Tony’s Twitter page: https://twitter.com/tonythorne007
Tony Thorne’s King’s College page: https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/foundations/tony-thorne/who-is-tony-thorne
Language and Innovation: Tony’s blog which chronicles much of his recent work on new words: https://language-and-innovation.com/
Coronaspeak: #CORONASPEAK – the language of Covid-19 goes viral
Kate Burridge and Howard Manns onn pandemic vocabulary: 'Iso', 'boomer remover' and 'quarantini': how coronavirus is changing our language
Language in the News
Here’s the article from The Spectator that we analysed: War of the words: have we stopped making sense?
(Hat Tip to Havant and South Downs College for the link to the Spectator article: https://twitter.com/HSDCEngLang)
We also made reference to this article by Lindsay Johns: Ghetto grammar robs the young of a proper voice
If you want to see some responses to the Lindsay Johns article, many of which are relevant to the Spectator one too, try here: EngLangBlog: Ghetto grammar and here: Thoughts on Lindsay Johns and 'Ghetto Grammar'
We liked this article by Stan Carey, though: Will emojis ruin English?
Find more of Stan’s writing through here: https://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/author/stan-carey and here: https://twitter.com/StanCarey
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
53:23
September 03, 2020

Episode 8 - Northern accent special
Show notes for Episode 8
Here are the show notes for Episode 8 which is a special edition on Northern accents where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew (2 proper Northerners, a Welsh person and a soft, southern shandy drinker) talk about:
Northern accents, dialect levelling and reports of a new ‘educated middle class northern English accent’ emerging.
And we talk to Dr Georgina Brown from Lancaster University about the study itself.
Georgina Brown’s Lancaster University page: https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/linguistics/about/people/georgina-brown
Northern accents are becoming more similar, suggests new research
A link posted by project leader Patrycja Strycharczuk about the Manchester research: Strycharczuk et al.’s Frontiers paper sparks controversy
The paper itself can be found here: General Northern English. Exploring Regional Variation in the North of England With Machine Learning
Patrycja Strycharczuk (@PatStrycharczuk)
Kevin Watson on Scouse: Scousers are proud of their accent
Cambridge University’s app to measure dialect change: Do you say splinter, spool, spile or spell? English Dialects app tries to guess your regional accent
Cambridge app maps decline in regional diversity of English dialects
Media reports on the paper
Guardian: Northern English accents becoming more similar, researchers find
Mail Online: Northern accents 'are becoming more similar'
Daily Telegraph: Northern accents becoming more similar as middle-class 'General Northern English' emerges, study finds
Independent: https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/northern-accents-more-similar-distinct-cities-manchester-leeds-sheffield-a9623071.html
A great Twitter account to follow if you want to see how Twitter can be used for dialect research: https://twitter.com/tweetolectology
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
29:10
August 21, 2020

Philip Seargeant - E7
Show notes for Episode 7
Here are the show notes for Episode 7 where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
‘Irregardless’ and why this word causes prescriptivists such angst.
The Daily Mail going overboard on ‘man overboard’ and why challenging sexist language gets such a bad press.
And we talk to Dr Philip Seargeant of the Open University about emoji and political storytelling.
Philip Seargeant’s university page: http://www.open.ac.uk/people/ps4549
Philip Seargeant’s website: Philip Seargeant
Twitter: https://twitter.com/philipseargeant
Philip Seargeant on emoji: https://www.digitaltrends.com/features/emoji-digital-language-of-emotion-phillip-seargeant/
Philip Seargeant on political storytelling: https://www.ft.com/content/d0d0f4ec-a4d2-11ea-92e2-cbd9b7e28ee6 (paywalled)
The Special Adviser's Tale, or Political Storytelling in the Time of Covid
Irregardless
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/jul/06/is-irregardless-a-real-word-dictionary
Peter Sokolowski of Merriam Webster Dictionaries discusses ‘irregardless’ in a Twitter thread: https://twitter.com/PeterSokolowski/status/1280585356908388352
‘Man overboard’
Sailors told to stop using Navy terms like 'unmanned' and 'man power'
Royal Navy bans terms 'unmanned' and 'manpower' because it's 'sexist'
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
48:44
July 30, 2020

Kelly Wright - E6
Show notes for Episode 6
Here are the show notes for Episode 6 where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about:
language change related to the term ‘Karen’ and how its meaning has drifted and been debated
the changing of the name of Washington’s American Football team
And we talk to Kelly Wright in a wide-ranging interview about her work in experimental sociolinguistics, how race and ethnicity are represented in language, blackness and whiteness in voices and lots more...
Kelly Wright’s website: Covert Racism | Wright Linguistics
Publications and interviews: https://kellywright5.wixsite.com/raciolinguistics/recent-publications
John Rickford on Rachel Jeantel’s testimony at the George Zimmerman trial: Stanford linguist: prejudice toward African American dialect can result in unfair rulings
A link to a presentation on housing discrimination: https://youtu.be/2YiSTziPt5o
Kelly Wright on Twitter: https://twitter.com/raciolinguistic
Groundbreaking report reveals racial bias in English football commentary
The RunRepeat study: Racial Bias in Football Commentary (Study)
Karen
How 'Karen' went from a popular baby name to a stand-in for white entitlement
What is and where did it come from? This from the Indy: What is the Karen meme and is it a misogynistic slur? | indy100
Hadley freeman in the Guardian on Karen being sexist: The 'Karen' meme is everywhere – and it has become mired in sexism
Karen Attiah in the Washington Post about why it's not oppressive: Opinion | The ‘Karen’ memes and jokes aren’t sexist or racist. Let a Karen explain.
A bit of a more nuanced suggestion that it allows white women to uphold white supremacy: I am no longer Outside in a AMG on Twitter
Changing the Washington NFL team name
(We’ve chosen not to use the team name here but you’ll find it referred to in some of these articles.)
An NFL Name Change That Has Been a Long Time Coming
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-53390944
https://www.economist.com/united-states/2020/07/18/renaming-the-washington-redskins
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
45:45
July 18, 2020

Ian Cushing - E5
Show notes for Episode 5
Here are the show notes for Episode 5 where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about language change and some of the arguments around banning and censoring language
- the word game, Scrabble ‘banning’ racial slurs
- slaves and masters, master bedrooms and nitty gritty: words that are being challenged and reviewed
- political correctness, cancel culture and wokeness
And we talk to Dr Ian Cushing about language in schools, the policing of language and the role, politics and importance of Standard English in education.
You can find the links to the stories and research we’ve mentioned in this programme, below.
Ian Cushing’s work on language in schools:
Teachers' slang bans 'likely to cause long-term damage'
Should schools be allowed to ban slang words like 'peng'?
The Policy and Policing of Language in Schools: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/policy-and-policing-of-language-in-schools/6C4BC80399E27747D34819060E186A62#fndtn-information
Comment on Ian’s article: https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/comment-on-the-policy-and-policing-of-language-in-schools-by-ian-cushing/780222C30D0C8C011B8ACEB0FD8EC964
Ian’s response:
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-in-society/article/power-policing-and-language-policy-mechanisms-in-schools-a-response-to-hudson/ACEE15C4A9A3BDC555B1DFCCF0446E5C
Ian Cushing on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ian_cushing
Language in the News
Scrabble ‘bans’ slurs: US Scrabble bans racist and LGBTQ slurs from tournaments
Scrabble community mulls banning racial and homophobic slurs
Slaves and masters: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-53050955
Master bedroom ‘banned’: Estate agents banned from saying 'master bedroom' due to concerns over slavery and sexism links
Nitty gritty - is it a racist term?
'Nitty gritty' on Sky Sports' banned list of words due to supposed links to slavery
Where does the phrase nitty gritty come from - and why has Sky Sports banned it?
It's not just the n-word in the woodpile - from 'no can do' to 'hooligan' we reveal English's hidden racism
Police forbid politically incorrect phrases | UK news
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
51:26
July 11, 2020

Shivonne Gates - E4
Here are the show notes for Episode 4 where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about
- sacking headlines: who’s been sacked and who’s doing the sacking?
- TikTok teens and K-Pop stans trolling Trump
- and talk to Dr Shivonne Gates about Multicultural London English and how language is used by teenagers to express their social identities.
You can find the links to the stories and research we’ve mentioned in this programme, below.
Some of Shivonne Gates’ work mentioned in the interview:
Voices and Practices in Applied Linguistics: Diversifying a Discipline
Why the Long FACE?: Ethnic Stratification and Variation in the London Diphthong System
Shivonne’s book recommendation: https://wordery.com/homegirls-norma-mendoza-denton-9780631234906
Headlines:
The Guardian
Rebecca Long-Bailey sacked from Labour shadow cabinet by Keir Starmer – UK politics live
Daily Mail
Starmer reignites Labour civil war
Story of Trump’s Tulsa Rally being trolled by Tiktok users:
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/style/tiktok-trump-rally-tulsa.html
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
32:36
July 04, 2020

Devyani Sharma - E3
Show notes for Episode 3
Here are the show notes for Episode 3, where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about
- the language of subtitles: turning non-standard into Standard English?
- the changing meanings and interpretations of gestures: taking a knee and what it might mean
- and talk to Professor Devyani Sharma of QMUL about accents, identity and how to deal with accent bias… among other things!
You can find the links to the stories and research we’ve mentioned in this programme, below.
Accent Bias in Britain project (QMUL)
website: https://accentbiasbritain.org/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/accentbias
Teach Real English! (QMUL)
http://www.teachrealenglish.org/
Devyani Sharma’s staff page: Devyani Sharma - School of Languages, Linguistics and Film
A Level English numbers up for first time in 7 years:
Provisional Entries for GCSE, AS and A level: Summer 2020 exam series
Professor Dick Hudson’s site has mapped the trends in A Level English over the years:
https://dickhudson.com/trends-english/
Marcus Rashford interview with the BBC: Marcus Rashford talks food poverty, his childhood and campaigning for free school meals
A Twitter thread on the potential ‘linguicism’ of ‘correcting’ subtitles: https://twitter.com/DrVanjaK/status/1272603255932170245
BBC subtitling guidelines: https://bbc.github.io/subtitle-guidelines/
Dominic Raab on ‘taking a knee’: Dominic Raab's obliviousness to taking a knee feels eerily like a government ploy to enrage black people
Changing meaning of OK gesture
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48293817
Trolling, hoax or attempt to disguise hate symbol?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-48293817
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
35:57
June 27, 2020

Rob Drummond - E2
Here are the show notes for Episode 2, where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about
- the language used to report political protests, demonstrations and movements around the Black Lives Matter campaign
- the language of the placards on the recent BLM London demonstration
- and talk to Dr Rob Drummond from Manchester Metropolitan University about youth language, accents and how linguists can educate the public about language issues.
You can find the links to the stories and research we’ve mentioned in this programme, below.
Rob Drummond
Website: http://www.robdrummond.co.uk/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/RobDrummond
Accentism project: http://accentism.org/
Manchester Voices: https://www.manchestervoices.org/
Lisa’s blog on the BLM placards: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/2020/06/15/the-language-of-protest-signs-blm/
Ben Zimmer on riots, rebellions and uprisings: https://time.com/5849163/why-describing-george-floyd-protests-as-riots-is-loaded/
Language in Conflict blog: http://languageinconflict.org
Newspaper headlines:
The Mail on Sunday: https://www.thepaperboy.com/uk/the-mail-on-sunday/front-pages-today.cfm?frontpage=60256
https://www.thepaperboy.com/uk/the-mail-on-sunday/front-pages-today.cfm?frontpage=60315
The Guardian:
https://time.com/5849163/why-describing-george-floyd-protests-as-riots-is-loaded/
The Observer:
https://www.thepaperboy.com/uk/the-observer/front-pages-today.cfm?frontpage=60316
Some others you might find interesting: https://twitter.com/BoswellsMediaSt/status/1270013908225527809
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
48:24
June 19, 2020

Language in the News - E1
Lexis Podcast
Show notes for episode 1
Here are the show notes for Episode 1, where Jacky, Dan, Lisa and Matthew talk about
- trending hashtags in the Dominic Cummings scandal
- track and trace employees ‘sounding professional’
- the introduction of a Northern accent for the Beeb
- and English with Lucy
You can find the links to the stories and research we’ve mentioned in this programme, below.
Dominic Cummings and Twitter #s. Here’s the blog post Lisa did on it: livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/2020/05/26/twitter-lesson-cummgate/Omnishambles names Word of the Year 2009 by Oxford English Dictionary: Omnishambles named word of the year by Oxford English Dictionary
Some examples of the -gate suffix in this post: Hit Me Up with some culturomics: new words for 2010
Michele Zappavigna on ‘ambient affiliation’: Ambient affiliation: A linguistic perspective on Twitter - Michele Zappavigna, 2011
Computer security blogger, Graham Cluley on the threat of track and trace scammers: Apparently Coronavirus-tracing scammers won't sound professional... (Yeah, right!)
Dr Claire Hardaker on ‘sounding professional’: Dr Claire Hardaker (she/her) on Twitter: "here's the bit from yesterday's #DowningStreetBriefing where deputy CMO Jenny Harries fields a question about how people would know that a call from the Track & Trace service was legitimate and not a scammer her answer essentially boils down to "they'll sound professional" 1/8… https://t.co/Mvp3r9D5KP"
Geoff Pullum (back in 2004) talking about the language of scam emails and 419s: Forensic syntax for spam detection & Inexpert and expert phishing spam
Accent Bias in Britain: an overview of the findings Results: overview
The Twitter threads on ‘English With Lucy’ and British accents: https://twitter.com/RobDrummond/status/1267040918349193217 and https://twitter.com/RobDrummond/status/1267511340291284992
‘Hey Beeb’ and BBC accents: 'Hey Beeb': new BBC digital assistant gets northern male accent
Alex Baratta on accents and trainee teachers: Research exposes prejudice over teachers with northern accents
BBC ‘On This Day’ BBC Archive on Twitter: "#OnThisDay 1943: Should a woman or even a Yorkshireman be allowed to read the BBC news? Of course not. John Snagge explained why.… https://t.co/DvCtL7sbNW"
Contact us @LexisPodcast. Subscribe: Lexis Podcast | Podcast on Spotify
Contributors
Matthew Butler
Twitter: https://twitter.com/Matthewbutlerwy
Lisa Casey
blog: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/ & Twitter: Language Debates (@LanguageDebates)
Dan Clayton
blog: EngLangBlog & Twitter: EngLangBlog (@EngLangBlog)
Jacky Glancey
Twitter: https://twitter.com/JackyGlancey
Music: Freenotes
26:49
June 09, 2020