Because Language - a podcast about linguistics, the science of language.

An open letter to the LSA has ignited a furious debate among linguists and the wider public about who represents public linguistics — and who gets to set the terms of acceptable public debate. The establishmentarians say it’s about free expression. We think it’s about power. If you’re wondering what’s going on, this bonus episode is for you.

We’ve heard a lot about the cognitive benefits of bilingualism. But then we’ve also seen a lot of the supposed benefits get walked back.

What are the facts? Does being bilingual provide any cognitive advantage? What factors does this depend on? What is bilingualism anyway?

We’re talking to researcher Iryna Khodos on this episode of Because Language.

Show notes: http://becauselanguage.com/3-lets-talk/
Subscribe: http://becauselanguage.com/listen/

How does conversation work? Why are videoconference calls so awkward and terrible? Why can we say goodbye multiple times in a conversation, but good morning only once? And how do we get good at being a conversationalist?

David Crystal tells us about his book Let’s Talk on this episode of Because Language.

Time to get to this Mailbag!

• Why are flip-flops called 'thongs'?
• When people write the date as '7 April' or 'April 7', do they also say it that way?
• Why do we add 'up' to verbs like 'cut up' or 'eat up'?
• Why do some words have opposite meanings?

For our first episode, we asked some of our linguist and lingo-pod friends what their favourite thing is about language.

We are joined by:

• Ben Zimmer
• Carrie Gillon (The Vocal Fries)
• Ellen Jovin (Grammar Table)
• Grant Barrett (A Way with Words)
• Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne (Lingthusiasm)
• Jane Solomon (The Dictionary of Difficult Words)
• John McWhorter (Lexicon Valley)
• Nicole Holliday (University of Pennsylvania)
• Ryan Paulsen (Lexitecture)

Much gratitude to all our friends for their kind support.

Which words, phrases, and pronunciations are unique to your family?

We often talk about languages, dialects, and even our own personal ideolects, but for most of us, home is where language starts. So what it's doing at your place?

Our friends have shared their favourite stories on this episode of Talk the Talk.

They feel so right, but sound so wrong.

They're false friends — pairs of words in different languages that seem like they'd mean the same thing, but don't. Which ones have you run across in your language experience?

Our friends have sent their favourites for this episode of Talk the Talk.

Again we tackle the questions that others dast not.
Why do all children know the 'nyah nyah' song?
What is the Trans-Atlantic accent?
Do Chinese characters stay readable longer than English words?
Who says they feel "less than"?
When a computer menu says "Save", is that an imperative or an infinitive?
Why does the word for "night" look like an "n" plus the word for "eight" in so many languages?
And more.

Daniel chats with lexicographer Jesse Sheidlower about profanity, power, and his book, "The F-Word".
News: Meet Q, the genderless voice assistant.
Words of the Week: charity muggers, omnishambles, snowplow parenting.

What exactly is a sandwich?

The question is tearing the internet apart. Is a hot dog a sandwich? What about a burrito? How do we even know what a sandwich is? Or anything else?

We have an answer, but it's going to take us through some weird semantic territory on this episode of Talk the Talk.