Ben ZimmerVerified account

@bgzimmer

language columnist / contributor / co-host of language podcast Spectacular Vernacular / editor / all-around word nut.

Jersey City, NJ
benzimmer.com
Joined June 2008
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  1. Pinned Tweet
    Jul 29

    Sport climbing, which is making its debut at the , features the mentally and physically challenging activity of "bouldering," though you won't see any actual boulders. My latest for explores the rocky origins of the term.

    3 replies 3 retweets 13 likes
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  2. Retweeted
    19 hours ago

    Join us on August 20 for ’s totally free - a special event filled with language, learning, technology, and two of your favorite linguists: and 😍🤓🙌🏼 (And **omg**, and too!! 😉)

    5 replies 15 retweets 76 likes
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  3. Retweeted
    12 hours ago

    "[W]e raise the pitch of our voice to emphasize particular words in a sentence,” says LSA member . “The way that happens for Black and white speakers can differ.” Click here to read about her research on how race and intonation intersect:

    11 retweets 36 likes
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  4. Retweeted
    15 hours ago

    Check out this spotlight of ! Proud to be in a field with talented, brilliant, compassionate, game-changing scholars like her.

    A headshot of August Member Spotlight, Kelly Wright.
    Our August Member Spotlight is Kelly Wright (). Her work highlights the importance of interdisciplinary perspectives in linguistics research. "It is my hope that as a discipline, we can focus more on what unites us than what separates us."
    1 reply 6 retweets 29 likes
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  5. Retweeted
    Jul 31

    In this weekend's Review section: With sport climbing making its debut at the , I take a look at the rocky origins of "bouldering," a challenging exercise with no ropes (and no boulders, for that matter).

    3 retweets 13 likes
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  6. Jul 31

    In this weekend's Review section: With sport climbing making its debut at the , I take a look at the rocky origins of "bouldering," a challenging exercise with no ropes (and no boulders, for that matter).

    3 retweets 13 likes
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  7. Retweeted
    Jul 31

    “Boul­der” it­self is a word that likely de­rives from a Scan­di­navian source, re­lated to the Swedish term “buller­sten.” A “buller­sten” is a large stone found in a stream - ⁦⁩

    1 retweet 2 likes
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  8. Retweeted
    Jul 30

    New for : Bouldering, from Roaring Rock to Olympic Sport.

    1 retweet 3 likes
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  9. Retweeted
    Jul 29

    “Bouldering” was once a way to practice skills before mountaineering on Alpine peaks. Now it’s an Olympic event. on just where we got the word "boulder" in the first place. via

    3 retweets 4 likes
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  10. Retweeted
    Jul 28

    's Anatoly Liberman speculates on the origin of the word "fake": there may be a relationship to the older verb “feague” meaning “beat” or “whip,” with a historical linkage to similar words in German and Dutch.

    3 retweets 4 likes
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  11. Jul 26

    Thanks to for the kind words about 's Spectacular Vernacular (and "shiny new hosts" and me) in the latest issue of Podcast The Newsletter!

    1 reply 6 retweets 26 likes
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  12. Jul 26

    Thanks to for featuring the SPECTACULAR VERNACULAR interview with John Linnell in their latest newsletter!

    1 like
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  13. Retweeted
    Jul 26

    Trivia hive, share this far and wide. The New Yorker's Name Drop, a daily "Who am I?" quiz with six clues of decreasing difficulty, all pointing to one mystery person. We've been working on this for a while. Hope you enjoy it!

    5 replies 18 retweets 68 likes
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  14. Retweeted
    Jul 24

    In this weekend's Review section: "Deepfake" technology was used to synthesize Anthony Bourdain's voice in a new documentary. It's just the latest spin on "fake," a duplicitous word rooted in the argot of thieves.

    1 reply 6 retweets 16 likes
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  15. Jul 24

    "Guardians of Traffic," name for iconic statues on Cleveland's Hope Memorial Bridge, appears in "A Decade of Bridges" (1937) by Wilbur J. Watson, engineer who worked on the bridge... and inadvertently named a baseball team. h/t

    13 likes
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  16. Jul 24

    In this weekend's Review section: "Deepfake" technology was used to synthesize Anthony Bourdain's voice in a new documentary. It's just the latest spin on "fake," a duplicitous word rooted in the argot of thieves.

    1 reply 6 retweets 16 likes
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  17. Jul 24

    Here's the moment in the War of the Words where the Blue Team (, Will Shortz, and me) triumphed over the Red Team (, , and ) in a last-minute tiebreaker. Good times!

    2 retweets 7 likes
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  18. Jul 24

    Last month, I got to take part in the virtual Webster's War of the Words, a fundraiser for emceed by the redoubtable . Now video of the event is available in case you missed it!

    2 replies 2 retweets 5 likes
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  19. Retweeted
    Jul 24

    Deepfake a word that’s in the news after the Anthony Bourdain documentary controversy for

    1 retweet 8 likes
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  20. Jul 23

    The latest Plus weekly digest has a Q&A with and me about our new podcast SPECTACULAR VERNACULAR. (Subscribe to Slate Plus to get all the podcasts ad-free plus bonus content!)

    3 replies 10 retweets 37 likes
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