Gretchen McCulloch

@gretchenmcculloch

Internet linguist. Wrote Because Internet, NYT bestseller about internet language. Co-hosts @lingthusiasm.com, a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics. she/her 🌈 Montreal en/fr 🇨🇦 gretchenmcculloch.com

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Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Jul 2

a few minutes earlier...

A text chat:
Other person, at noon: a stylized schwa
Me, half an hour later: Hahaha schwa
OP: This podcast I listen to said it was going to be schwa day today
I apparently put a reminder in my calendar when I listened to that episode lol
Me: Wait what
Is this my podcast
OP: Lol yes
Me: I completely forgot
OP: You said it was the most mid day
Me: Hahahaha
That's incredible
What an excellent joke that apparently my past self made

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Jun 25

Thank you to everyone who came to my zine workshop at #labphon @labphon.bsky.social #labphon20! Look at these great zines that people made!! Workshop slides: bit.ly/lingcommzines

Eight minizines on a table, with the following titles:
1. How do *you* say it? plus a drawing of an armadillo
2. [a string of coloured shapes followed by a question mark]
3. untangle- -ing with a ball of yarn
4. What is linguistic discrimination? with some stick figures of various shapes and colours
5. A quel point do you speak Canadian? plus a maple leaf
6. Why does my voice sound so WEIRD in recordings?
7. The Wonderful World of the Ontario French Immersion system plus a drawing of an official-looking building
8. Language Documentation and the value of Archiving with LDTC

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Jun 14

I really wanted this to mean "it is solved by going for a little walk to think about it" because that's so often true for me Solvitur ambulando - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solvitu...

Solvitur ambulando on Wikipedia
Solvitur ambulando (Latin: [ˈsolwitur ambuˈlandoː]) is a Latin phrase which means "it is solved by walking", referring to an anecdotal, practical solution to a seemingly complex philosophical problem. It is often attributed to Saint Augustine in a refutation of Zeno's paradoxes of motion.[1]

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Jun 7

can't believe there's been a restaurant in Montreal called passé composé this whole time and I'm only finding out about it now

A round orange sign saying "passé composé" on the outside of honestly a pretty unremarkable grey brick building, viewed from the sidewalk. You're mostly getting sky reflected off the plate glass windows in front but inside is a restaurant. And it's named after a grammatical construction!

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 26

get you a transcript that can be this beautiful lingthusiasm.com/post/8173012...

Gretchen: We recently got a great book recommendation from a listener – shoutout to Trish B. – who asked us on Bluesky whether we’d read Hellspark by Janet Kagan and said it was a science fiction murder mystery and one of your top four books ever.

Lauren: Also, shoutout to the four other people who immediately replied and said they also loved this book – a book we’d never heard of.

Gretchen: With endorsements like that, I had to read it. I can tell you it was great. We are gonna structure a whole episode around it.

Lauren: If those initial endorsements weren’t enough, you told me there was a bunch of gesture stuff in it, and so I had to read it.

Gretchen: Let’s start with the basic premise of Hellspark. We’re not assuming anyone else has read it.

Lauren: Yeah, I guess it’s a murder mystery.

Gretchen: [Laughs] I honestly forgot about the murder mystery part. To me, this book was really about cross-cultural communication. We’re on a planet. There’s a survey crew of humans trying to figure out whether this alien species – which I pictured as sort of looking like an emu – is capable of intelligent communication.

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 26

This isn't just a Pocket Casts problem, Spotify's AI garbage transcript can't even spell the name of the show (which is, y'know, in the metadata) or my cohost's name correctly.

Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics
116: Cross-cultural communication (in space!)
This is an auto-generated transcript. Its accuracy may vary.
Music playing
00:18- From Website Updates to Dreaming of Space Linguists
Welcome to Enthusiasm, a
podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics.
I'm Gretchen McCulloch.
00:23- Speaker 2
And I'm Lauren Gaughan, and
today we're getting enthusiastic about understanding aliens, fantastical
creatures, and perhaps the
trickiest group of all other human cultures.

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 26

No! This transcript button takes you to a paywall which implies that you should pay the podcast app for a shitty AI version of a transcript Which if it's any good at all, is because it's scraping OUR WEBSITE which contains the FREE TRANSCRIPTS that we PAY A HUMAN to make for everyone to read

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 26

I'm so fucking furious. So, here's my podcast in a podcast app, which now has this nice "show transcript" button Perhaps it's taking you to our free, high quality transcripts that we PAY A HUMAN to make? Absolutely not. 🧵

Lingthusiasm podcast in a podcast app
Episode 116: Cross-cultural communication (in space!)
Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics
Play, mark played, playlist buttons
A prominently displayed "view transcript" banner with the "AI sparkles"
Description:
Sometimes, you're talking with someone and you just seem to click. Other times, you just can't seem to get comfortable: they're standing too close or too far away for comfort, making too much or too little eye contact, touching or not touching you in a way that just doesn't quite feel right. But where do our senses of what feels comfortable in a conversation come from, and how can they be so different from each other?

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 22

(nice)

4,969 people have taken this quiz
View their answers >

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 16

google translate, u ok?

english: leather jacket
french: veste en cuir [normal translation]
Definitions of leather jacket:
(Noun) any of a number of tough-skinned marine fishes [wtf???]

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 5

New favourite example of chiasmus (source: www.tumblr.com/scribblinawa... )

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· May 1

Me, opening up the draft @lingthusiasm.com post document: Ah yes, time to see what helpful notes Producer Claire has left for me reminding us what we said in this episode so I can turn it into a nice pithy episode description... Producer Claire:

- YEAH GRETCHEN YOU CAN’T TAKE A DRINK OF WATER MID SENTENCE

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Mar 26

In celebration I have gotten myself this quadrilingual pastry! I've walked by this bakery several times and it's always smelled AMAZING and I haven't gone in, but fundraising calls for a treat! (Anyone seeing this who wants to help us get ahead and grow for next month is still very welcome!)

My hand holding a delicious-looking round cylindrical pastry (soft on the hollow inside, crusty with cinnamon sugar on the outside) in a brown paper bag outside a shop window reading:
Gâteau Cheminée
Kürtoskalács
Cozonac Secuiesc
Chimney Cake

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Mar 26

Lingthusiasm's Patreon started getting some supporters! Enough that we could upgrade my recorder to match the one @superlinguo.bsky.social had from her grad school days (with the idea that we could still resell it to a ling grad student if the podcast folded within the year)

My hand holding a zoom h4n recorder against some nice foliage, as an instagram screenshot with the caption: New recorder in its natural environment thanks to our supporters on Patreon! 🎧💚🎙️
Datestamp: July 7, 2017

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Mar 22

I don't normally subscribe to the "German has a word for it" thing because all languages can invent and borrow new words! That said, I can't stop thinking about "hobbyless" as an insult since I saw it a few days ago, so here you go It promotes a growth mindset!! www.tumblr.com/abbiistabbii...

user abbiistabbii:
The Germans really cooked making "Hobbyless behaviour" an insult. It is both devastating, applicable to a wide range of people and behaviours, and doesn't resort to swearing.

Man ranting on the internet about the Superbowl halftime show or complaining that something is "woke"? Hobbyless Behaviour. Girls mocking another girl for not looking right? Hobbyless Behaviour. Mindless vandalism? Hobbyless Behaviour.

It is more powerful than "get a life" or the English "You're Sad" because it gets to the central point of the matter, and that is wonderful. Danke, Deutsch.

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Mar 14

Pi(e) day pi(e) facts: The guy introduced the Greek letter for pi was the father of the guy who discovered proto-Indo-European (PIE)

William Jones was born in London; his father William Jones (1675–1749) was a mathematician from Anglesey in Wales, noted for introducing the use of the symbol π. The young William Jones was a linguistic prodigy, who in addition to his native languages English and Welsh,[3] learned Greek, Latin, Persian, Arabic, Hebrew and the basics of Chinese writing at an early age.[4] By the end of his life, he knew eight languages with critical thoroughness.[5]

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Feb 27

Just read @novicsara.bsky.social's upcoming MOTHER TONGUE and can already tell I'll be recommending it widely! The personal story parts are smoothly paced with the history, science, and broader social context. It's hard to make storytelling look this easy www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/670270...

Book cover: Mother Tongue by Sara Nović as black letters with the corresponding ASL letters overlaid in white, on a yellow background.

My hand (with thick silver rings on it) is holding it up against some greenery (an indoor plant was the best I could find this time of year)

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Feb 27

You know, I always hoped that one day I'd be considered outstanding in my field ......I just didn't necessarily expect it to be quite this literally ask.metafilter.com/389037/Name-...

Oh and maybe the hosts of Lingthusiasm? I forget their names.
posted by nat at 8:08 AM on February 26 [2 favorites]

Since you mentioned library science, might I suggest Ettarh, after the recently deceased library scholar? She coined the term “vocational awe” which was a pivotal moment in the field.

Also maybe Wilson for her recent groundbreaking translations of Homer.
posted by Isingthebodyelectric at 8:11 AM on February 26 [3 favorites]

Gretchen "Because Internet" McCulloch & Lauren Gawne of Lingthusiasm
Schwa is a pretty name for a girl
Kiki, Bouba and . . . Gavagai.
L for Lancelot "Interglossa" Hogben
M for Morris "215 language universals" Swadesh: bird - come - drink - earth - foot - give - hand etc.
Local boy David "Holyhead" Crystal (The Story of English in 100 Words )
posted by BobTheScientist at 8:13 AM on February 26 [1 favorite]

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Feb 16

I'm sure I'll have more coherent thoughts later but this is just to say that I'm a third of the way through an advance copy of @novicsara.bsky.social's new book and I already need to tell you to read it

Book cover reading: Sara Nović, Mother Tongue, the letters in both Roman capitals and ASL manual alphabet handshapes overlaid

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Feb 14

Roses are red I bet you'll agree Which one is bouba And which is kiki

A spiky shape in green on a black background

A blobby shape in green on a black background

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Feb 9

Just over here hanging out in linguistics near the Canadians and sociologists, I'm pleased with that!

A lot of green dots in clusters with gretchenmcculloch.com circled in the "Linguistics academics and professionals" cluster, adjacent are "Canadian progressive media and politics" and "academic sociologists and demographers" clusters

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Jan 18

New favourite example of scalar implicature

"More than 3 years ago, the famous Roman emperor Julius Caesar passed away" written over a marble bust of Caesar.

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Jan 2

Longer description, just in case:

Have you ever misheard a song lyric like "got a long list of ex-lovers" as "Starbucks lovers"? Or maybe you've swapped some sounds around like "well-boiled icicle" for "well-oiled bicycle" or seen Alzheimer's Disease referred to by the more sensical, similar-sounding name "Old-timer's Disease". Mixups like these are not only fun to share examples of, but they also tell us things about how language works in our brains.
In this bonus episode of (ahem) Thing-Lusiasm, Lauren and Gretchen get enthusiastic about three of our favourite kinds of linguistic mixups: spoonerisms, mondegreens, and eggcorns. We talk about William Spooner, the Oxford prof from the 1800s that many spoonerisms are (falsely) attributed to, Lauren's very Australian 90s picture book of spoonerisms, the Scottish song "The Bonny Earl of Moray" which gave rise to the term mondegreen, why there are so many more mondegreens in older pop songs and folk songs than there are now, and how eggcorn is a double eggcorn (a mis-parsing of acorn, which itself is an eggcorn of oak-corn for akern).

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Dec 31

Made one of those 2026 bingo cards:

2026 bingo card
B column:
read 3 books I already own
make book craft
reorg books
fix bookshelf
write things

I column:
go around park
go skating
lift heavy things
go to contra dancing
bike up the Berri hill

N column:
volunteer
make a new friend
FREE SPACE
have people over to my place
sing in a group

G column:
try new ice cream flavour
cabane à sucre
themed food party
SWIRL with friends
make fridge pickles

O column:
new street fest
tour la nuit
see live music
hang out in the park
see a play

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Dec 24

Lo, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer – That beast didn’t have unshiny nostrils! Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer in Anglo Saxon meter: allthingslinguistic.com/post/1359368...

Incipit gestis Rudolphi rangifer tarandus

Hwæt, Hrodulf readnosa hrandeor –
Næfde þæt nieten unsciende næsðyrlas!
Glitenode and gladode godlice nosgrisele.
Ða hofberendas mid huscwordum hine gehefigodon;
Nolden þa geneatas Hrodulf næftig
To gomene hraniscum geador ætsomne.
Þa in Cristesmæsseæfne stormigum clommum,
Halga Claus þæt gemunde to him maðelode:
“Neahfreond nihteage nosubeorhtende!
Min hroden hrædwæn gelæd ðu, Hrodulf!”
Ða gelufodon hira laddeor þa lyftflogan –
Wæs glædnes and gliwdream; hornede sum gegieddode
“Hwæt, Hrodulf readnosa hrandeor,
Brad springð þin blæd: breme eart þu!”

Rendered literally into modern English:

Here begins the deeds of Rudolph, Tundra-Wanderer

Lo, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer –
That beast didn’t have unshiny nostrils!
The goodly nose-cartilage glittered and glowed.
The hoof-bearers taunted him with proud words;
The comrades wouldn’t allow wretched Hrodulf
To join the reindeer games.
Then, on Christmas Eve bound in storms
Santa Claus remembered that, spoke formally to him:
“Dear night-sighted friend, nose-bright one!
You, Hrodulf, shall lead my adorned rapid-wagon!”
Then the sky-flyers praised their lead-deer –
There was gladness and music; one of the horned ones sang
“Lo, Hrodulf the red-nosed reindeer,
Your fame spreads broadly, you are renowned!”

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Dec 24

Salted caramel paired with Carry On by @rainbowrowell.bsky.social I remember when the salted caramel trend was suddenly everywhere, which reminds me of this magical system relying on living usage The final day of #BooksAreMyJam! What other book would you add and what jam would it go with?

Carry On by Rainbow Rowell next to a tiny pot of salted caramel spread from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Dec 23

Strawberry rhubarb paired with The Raven Tower by @annleckie.com: rhubarb is another word for nonsense, and the narrator of this linguistically intriguing book is barred from nonsense out of danger it'll become true Day 23 of #BooksAreMyJam

The Raven Tower by Ann Leckie next to a tiny pot of Strawberry Rhubarb jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Dec 22

Raspberry lychee jam paired with The Art of Language Invention by David J Peterson: the multiple pronunciations of lychee/litchi reminded me of the retconning necessary to make some of the original Game of Thrones names fit in with the subsequently fleshed-out Dothraki language Day 22 #ThisIsMyJam

The Art of Language Invention by David J Peterson next to a tiny pot of raspberry lychee jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Dec 21

Strawberry passion fruit paired with The Language of Food by Dan Jurafsky, since I've eaten both fruits under many names: fraise, erdbeere, maracuyá, lilikoi... Day 21 of #BooksAreMyJam, in which I pair a linguistics-y book from my shelves with today's jam from the Bonne Maman #jamvent calendar

The Language of Food: A linguist reads the menu by Dan Jurafsky next to a tiny pot of Strawberry passionfruit jam from the Bonne Maman jamvent calendar

Gretchen McCulloch@gretchenmcculloch· Dec 20

Blackcurrant peach with Sichuan peppercorns paired with True Biz by @novicsara.bsky.social (my much-battered copy from taking it with me to ASL camp last summer), for the feeling of being simultaneously numb and on fire Day 20 of #BooksAreMyJam