About Me. Writer for Lexicon Valley; Linguistics Professor; occasional blogger of comics, dogs, and gay stuff. Still angsty after all these years.

My Sociolinguistic Self. Sociolinguistically, I’m a gay, white, man from St. Louis, Missouri by way of Austin, Texas. I’m a NERD and a ROCKER (so, maybe just NERDCORE?) and a RADICAL ANARCHO-FEMINIST. I use language very theatrically, with a lot of pregnant………. pauses and a lot of variation in pitch, volume, and speed (think Captain Kirk imitating the Gilmore Girls). I also pronounce words like “pen” and “pin” / “Kim” and “chem” / “gym” and “gem” exactly the same– my KIT and DRESS vowels sound the same before nasal sounds.

Favorite Music. Lately, I’ve been listening mostly to Yalls, Conveyor, and Seamonster.

Favorite Word. I think that “saudade” is the most perfect word in English (and it’s borrowed from Portuguese). It describes the particular kind of sadness or melancholy you feel from remembering the past. Also, I like the mouthfeel of the word. It starts out all oceanic– sssss — aaawwww…. and then crashes in with a big explosive DA and then mellows out again at the end… de.

Describe your ideal linguistic adventure. I’m looking for a fellow polyglot– a real DuoLingo junkie. We’d meet at a bar. You’d speak fluent German and Portuguese while I’d speak fluent French and Spanish. As we sip craft beer into the late afternoon, we’d use no English– just my stammering Germano-Portuguese and your amusing “Esfrangol.” Then we’d take a walk around the park and name everything we can with what little Klingon we both remember. “”sor” means TREE,” you’d say, and I’d laugh and correct you– “actually, it’s Sor.” Then we’d play scrabble or scategories in Russian.

“How is linguistics like a pine cone?” … you tell me!