Reclaiming the Slur: The Linguistics of Reappropriation
How does a word forged in hate become a banner of pride? The process, known as reappropriation, is a powerful act of linguistic jujitsu where marginalized communities seize the language…
Tag: language and power
When English Met French
The Norman Conquest of 1066 wasn't just a military victory; it was a linguistic collision that created a centuries-long class divide in England. This pivotal event forced the Germanic tongue…
The Grammar of Propaganda: How Language Builds Tyranny
Long before "fake news," propagandists mastered linguistic manipulation, weaponizing the very structure of language to build consensus and justify atrocity. From the passive voice that erases responsibility to the loaded…
The Press That Froze Language
The invention of the printing press was a revolution not just for knowledge, but for language itself. Before Gutenberg, language was a fluid, evolving entity, but the press acted as…
The Last Words of Old Prussian: How a Language Was Erased by the Sword
The death of a language is usually a slow fade, but Old Prussian was not so lucky. It was systematically eradicated by the sword of the Teutonic Knights in a…
Glib, Glim, and Grunt: A Secret History of Thieves’ Cant, the Anti-Language of the Underworld
In the shadowy corners of Renaissance England, a secret language was born out of desperation and defiance. Known as Thieves' Cant, this "anti-language" was more than just criminal slang; it…
Who Owns Slang? The Complexities of Linguistic Gentrification in the Digital Age
From "on fleek" to "slay," words born in specific communities—particularly AAVE—often travel into the mainstream, where they're adopted by brands and influencers. This phenomenon, known as "linguistic gentrification," raises complex…
A Word to Name the Unspeakable: Raphael Lemkin and the Creation of “Genocide”
Discover the powerful story of Raphael Lemkin, the Polish-Jewish lawyer who witnessed the horrors of the Holocaust and created a new word to name the unspeakable. By combining the Greek…
Famous Mistranslations: The “Let Them Eat Cake” of the East
Just as the West has its infamous mistranslation of Marie Antoinette’s “Let them eat cake”, the East too has seen its fair share of blunders....
Famous Mistranslations: “Let Them Eat Cake!”
The phrase “Let them eat cake” is one of the most notorious remarks attributed to a historical figure. This sentence is believed to have been...
The Legend of Malintzin: From Language Mediator to Historical Icon
In the annals of language history, few figures emerge as enigmatic, transformative, and divisive as La Malinche, also known as Malintzin, Doña Marina, or simply,...