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lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Lingthusiasm
@lingthusiasm.bsky.social
7.9K followers 1.6K following 4K posts
A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics! By @gretchenmcc.bsky.social and @superlinguo.bsky.social

"Fascinating" -NYT
"Joyously nerdy" -Buzzfeed

lingthusiasm.com

Not sure where to start? Try our silly personality quiz: bit.ly/lingthusiasmquiz
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lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Day 6 of #ThatsMyJam!

Apricot & Lavender, with Translating the untranslatable

You can listen to us get enthusiastic about how we translate different kinds of meaning here: soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...
Green background with white text that says 'That's My Jam! A Lingthusiasm episode pairing for every day of the Bonne Maman Jam Advent Calendar'. A photo of a tiny jam of jar with a red gingham lid and cursive French script on a colourful background, set in a polaroid frame, with navy blue text that says ‘Apricot & Lavender’. The photo is surrounded by line drawings of lavender sprigs and stars. Below that is white text that says ‘Translating the untranslatable’.
December 7, 2025 at 7:07 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Listen to the bonus episode a patron just called "one of the most delightfully weird topics Lingthusiasm has ever covered"
Carolynn T - 19hr ago I think this is one of the most delightfully weird topics Lingthusiasm has ever covered. I can understand why people are so fascinated by this manuscript. Even if it is gibberish, it had to have been FOR something, right? But what??
December 6, 2025 at 6:35 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Day 5 of #ThatsMyJam!

Apple, Caramel & Cinnamon, with Word Magic

You can listen to us get enthusiastic about how the word magic systems are set up differently in three recent fantasy books we like here: soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...
Green background with white text that says 'That's My Jam! A Lingthusiasm episode pairing for every day of the Bonne Maman Jam Advent Calendar'. A photo of a tiny jam of jar with a red gingham lid and cursive French script on a colourful background, set in a polaroid frame, with navy blue text that says ‘Apple, Caramel & Cinnamon’. The photo is surrounded by line drawings of pie slices and stars. Below that is white text that says ‘Word Magic’
December 6, 2025 at 8:47 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Day 4 of #ThatsMyJam!

Cherry & Violet, with Colour words around the world and inside your brain

You can listen to us get enthusiastic about what linguistic typology and psycholinguistics can tell us about colour words here: soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...
Green background with white text that says 'That's My Jam! A Lingthusiasm episode pairing for every day of the Bonne Maman Jam Advent Calendar'. A photo of a tiny jam of jar with a red gingham lid and cursive French script on a colourful background, set in a polaroid frame, with navy blue text that says ‘Cherry & Violet’. The photo is surrounded by line drawings of flowers and stars. Below that is white text that says ‘Colour words around the world and inside your brain’
December 5, 2025 at 10:37 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Day 3 of #ThatsMyJam!

Plum, Peach, & Anise, with Tea and skyscrapers - When words get borrowed across languages

You can listen to us get enthusiastic about borrowing and loanwords here: soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...
Green background with white text that says 'That's My Jam! A Lingthusiasm episode pairing for every day of the Bonne Maman Jam Advent Calendar'. A photo of a tiny jam of jar with a red gingham lid and cursive French script on a colourful background, set in a polaroid frame, with navy blue text that says ‘Plum, Peach, & Anise’. The photo is surrounded by line drawings of leafs and stars. Below that is white text that says 'Tea and skyscrapers - When words get borrowed across languages’
December 4, 2025 at 5:58 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Day 2 of #ThatsMyJam!

Fig & Cardamom, with Why do we gesture when we talk?

You can watch us get enthusiastic about gesture here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8dH...

And listen here: soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...
Green background with white text that says 'That's My Jam! A Lingthusiasm episode pairing for every day of the Bonne Maman Jam Advent Calendar'. A photo of a tiny jam of jar with a red gingham lid and cursive French script on a colourful background, set in a polaroid frame, with navy blue text that says ‘Fig & Cardamom’. The photo is surrounded by line drawings of leafs and stars. Below that is white text that says 'Why do we gesture when we talk?'
December 3, 2025 at 2:18 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Day 1 of #ThatsMyJam!

Blueberry & Maple Syrup, with Speaking Canadian and Australian English in a British-American binary

You can listen to us get enthusiastic about the relationship between the different varieties of English here: soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...
Green background with white text that says 'That's My Jam! A Lingthusiasm episode pairing for every day of the Bonne Maman Jam Advent Calendar'. A photo of a tiny jam of jar with a red gingham lid and cursive French script on a colourful background, set in a polaroid frame, with navy blue text that says 'Blueberry & Maple Syrup'. The photo is surrounded by line drawings of leafs and stars. Below that is white text that says 'with Speaking Canadian and Australian English in a British-American binary'
December 2, 2025 at 5:38 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Happy World Linguistics Day! Celebratory days take off when groups of people decide to make them happen so... let's see how many different locations we can get world linguistics day wishes from this year!
Green background with three white globes showing different aspects of earth (top to bottom Asia/Oceania, North and South America, and Africa and Europe). Around each globe are the words 'Happy World Linguistics Day! November 26th'.
November 26, 2025 at 7:33 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Throwback to launching our very first merch this time in 2017 (!!)

Silky scarves with characters from the International Phonetic Alphabet on them!

Originally only in red, navy, and olive these scarves became so popular we later expanded to other colours and subfields

lingthusiasm.redbubble.com
A red silky scarf with white IPA characters randomly arranged in lines on it, semi-rumpled next to a latte on a wooden table. Three scarves with IPA characters on them, white symbols on red, navy, and olive grounds.
November 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Just found out we've made this list of "real, credentialed experts thinking outside the ivory tower and making occasionally opaque topics like history, philosophy & science accessible and engaging for the general public" from @ceaubin.com on @pocketcasts.com!

blog.pocketcasts.com/2025/09/03/d...
Lingthusiasm (hosted by Dr. Lauren Gawne & Gretchen McCulloch) If you’re like me, you find words fascinating. If you’re not like me, this podcast will convince you that they’re fascinating. Every week, Lauren and Gretchen do deep-dives into the origins and thought processes behind language that always leave me feeling like I really learned something new. Highly recommend the episodes on swearing and whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich.
November 21, 2025 at 1:54 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
💚 LAST CALL 💚

If you want to get this sticker in the mail to show off your enthusiasm for linguistics, you have ONE MORE DAY to sign up to be a patron at the Ling-thusiast tier or higher!
patreon.com/lingthusiasm
Lingthusiasm: a podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics in white on a green background, with assorted small objects drawn in a question mark/glottal stop shape. Drawings include a coffee cup, a rabbit, an alien, a peace sign handshape, a planet, a rainbow, a potted plant, a maple leaf and bottlebrush flower, a lightbulb, and assorted squiggles and sparkles, plus two silhouettes one with shorter wavy hair and another with longer curly hair
June 30, 2025 at 7:11 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Words change their meanings over time, and when we remind ourselves that etymology isn't destiny, we can also remember we're free to grow and change too

You can now contemplate this fun and liberating idea regularly in our stylish merch!

redbubble.com/i/sweatshirt...
Photo of two models wearing black sweatshirts with rainbow cursive script that says 'Etymology isn't Destiny'. Green border with white details.
June 20, 2025 at 5:35 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
We've made a tongue-in-cheek quiz that transforms your answers to questions like "You're about to start a massive Lingthusiasm listening marathon. You need to stay fortified and hydrated. Pick a beverage to sustain you" into a Highly Accurate Window Into Your Personality

bit.ly/lingthusiasm...
White text with a dark blue drop shadow on a bright green background reads 'Which Lingthusiam Episode Are You?'. Surrounded by dark blue stars. Smaller white text below that reads 'A Highly Scientific™ quiz that tells you which episode of the podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistic matches your personality best!'. White Lingthusiasm logo in bottom right corner.
June 15, 2025 at 5:40 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
A rabbit scurries by, and someone points at it and says "Gavagai!" Do they mean "rabbit", "scurrying creature", or even "lo, undetached rabbit parts!"? Pay tribute to this classic linguistic thought experiment from WVO Quine in our Gavagai merch

redbubble.com/i/pouch/Gava...
Photo of a black zippered pouch with a cream illustration of a leaping rabbit. Text surrounding the rabbit says 'GAVAGAI' and 'lo, an un-detached rabbit-part!'. Green bordered with white hearts and a Lingthusiasm logo.
June 11, 2025 at 5:37 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Wait, what? This wearable/portable version of the classic comparative illusion sentence "More people have been to Russia than I have" is sure to make people give you a double-take

www.redbubble.com/i/mug/More-p...
photo of a black mug with white text that says 'More people have read the text on this mug than I have'. Green decorative border with white and blue squiggles.
May 30, 2025 at 5:15 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
How many times do you kiss on the cheek when greeting a friend in France? Check out this map from Buzzarena's guide (and get ready for up to 5 smooches in Corsica!)

For more on the linguistics of kissing, check out our latest bonus ep: www.patreon.com/posts/127782...

buzzarena.com/comment-bien...
A map of France broken up into regions and showing major cities, titled 'When you greet a friend, how many time do you kiss?'. There is a colour key showing orange = once, yellow = twice, green = three times, blue = four time, and pink = five times (18% of Corsica). The map is mostly blue in the north, with two predominately orange regions to the north west. The central, east, and south west sections are mostly yellow, and the there is a green section in the southern central region. The island of Corsica at the bottom right of the image is a mix of colours.
May 19, 2025 at 5:05 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
We're sending out ONE of these two images as a sticker to all patrons at the Lingthusiast tier and higher as of July 1st...which one should it be? 👀

Let us know your thoughts below or if you're a patron (free or paid), ✅ VOTE in the official poll here:
www.patreon.com/posts/vote-f...
The name "lingthusiasm" in white on a bright green background. A white squiggle is set off to the right that is ambiguously an ear, question mark or stylised glottal stop. The squiggle is made up of many small hand-drawn images referencing topics from the show, including a Gavagai rabbit, some handshapes and International Phonetic Alphabet symbols, tea, cake, and others. Along the bottom is a tagline in white sans serif font that says “a podcast that is enthusiastic about linguistics”. Left, nestled between the name and the logo, is a line drawing of the silhouettes of two women, one with curlier hair, one that is slightly taller. The name "lingthusiasm" in white on a bright green background. A white squiggle is set off to the right that is ambiguously an ear, question mark or stylised glottal stop. The squiggle is made up of many small hand-drawn images referencing topics from the show, including a Gavagai rabbit, some handshapes and International Phonetic Alphabet symbols, tea, cake, and others. Along the bottom is a tagline in white sans serif font that says “a podcast that is enthusiastic about linguistics”. This version doesn't have the line drawing of the silhouettes of two women nestled between the name and the logo; instead, that drawing is as tiny as the other drawings and is located inside the large squiggle, towards the stem of the question mark.
May 2, 2025 at 1:48 AM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
From our latest episode 'A hand-y guide to gesture'

lingthusiasm.com/post/7811323...
White text on a green background reads "“This kind of gesture research has happened predominantly with English speakers and a few other European languages, but it is worth remembering that we haven’t come across a culture yet where there are no gestures that accompany speech. It is something that appears to be an unavoidable part of the package of the way humans communicate and that we are trying to be helpful to the people we’re speaking to – if they can see us – by giving them more gestural information.”. Blue rectangle at bottom of image has white text that reads "Episode 103: A hand-y guide to gesture"
April 28, 2025 at 5:05 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Lingthusiasm is brought to you in part by Pippin and subapical retroflex click [!˞] lingthusiasm.com/supporters

Become a patron to take our ~*super scientific*~ ‘Which Character of the IPA are you?’ quiz and sponsor your favourite character! patreon.com/lingthusiasm
Dark blue text on bright green background reads 'Lingthusiasm is brought to you in part by...'. Below is the white Lingthusiasm logo. White square with navy text reads '[!˞] subapical retroflex click Pippin’
April 21, 2025 at 5:48 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
A rabbit scurries by, and someone points at it and says "Gavagai!" Do they mean "rabbit", "scurrying creature", or even "lo, undetached rabbit parts!"? Pay tribute to this classic linguistic thought experiment from WVO Quine in our Gavagai merch

www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/1627...
A cream line drawing on a black background of a rabbit in motion surrounded by the text 'GAVAGAI lo, an un-detached rabbit-part!'. Featured on (clockwise from top left) a mousepad, a sticker shown on a water bottle, a cushion, and a t-shirt shown on two models. Photo array is on a green background with white hearts and Lingthusiasm logo in bottom right corner.
April 16, 2025 at 5:40 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Wear your linguistics fandom on your sleeve, or rather around your neck, with our range of fun IPA and esoteric symbol ties

www.zazzle.com/store/lingth...
A photo of two ties, tolled up and sitting on a wooden surface. On the left is a blue tie with white IPA symbols, and on the right is a black tie with neon green esoteric symbols. Photo is framed by a green checkered boarder.
March 31, 2025 at 5:40 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
From our latest episode 'The science and fiction of Sapir-Whorf'

Find us in your favourite podcast app, or check out our shownotes page for more: lingthusiasm.com/post/7785882...
Green background with white text that reads 'Gretchen: We do have a word for “north.” Lauren: It’s called “north.” Simply having the word doesn’t unpack the skill of knowing where north is. That’s the language and the language prioritising spatial reference. The language is selected by the community and maintained by the community has this agreed upon habit that trains everyone to habitually be aware of where north, south, east, and west are.' Blue box with white text below reads 'Episode 102: The science and fiction of Sapir-Whorf'
March 28, 2025 at 5:35 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Words change their meanings over time, and when we remind ourselves that etymology isn't destiny, we can also remember we're free to grow and change over the course of our lives too

'Etymology isn't Destiny' kids tshirts available in 1-12yo sizes

www.redbubble.com/i/kids-t-shi...
White background with a navy blue tshirt with rainbow cursive script that reads 'Etymology isn't Destiny'. Green boarder with blue stars and white Lingthusiasm logo.
March 26, 2025 at 5:04 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
Push back against language peevery, promote the idea that language can be analyzed scientifically, and amuse the heck out of your fellow linguists with this sturdy, snarky notebook

www.redbubble.com/i/notebook/N...
photo of a navy blue notebook with white text that says 'not judging your grammar, just analysing it'. Green background with white squiggles and Lingthusiasm logo.
March 21, 2025 at 5:50 PM
lingthusiasm.bsky.social
In our latest episode, we referenced this adorable illustration of The Smallrus by ursulav (aka @tkingfisher.com). Listen to us get enthusiastic about linguistics from the micro to macro perspective here:
soundcloud.com/lingthusiasm...

Original artwork:
www.deviantart.com/ursulav/art/...
a green background with an illustration of a tiny a walrus, a smallrus if you will, in a garden beneath two brown mushrooms. To the right of the smalls is white text that reads ‘The Smallrus by ursulav. The smallrus is the tiniest of the seal family, not much larger (and rather similar in shape) to the garden slug. They prefer damp areas with large amounts of water, like well-watered gardens with fish ponds, and can often be seen sporting in puddles and bird baths, making their typical call (a sort of squeaky bellow.) Any gardener is generally delighted to see the smallrus appear, as the occasional nibble of a leaf is more than made up for by their ability to keep down the number of mosquito larvae and other small aquatic nuisances.’ White stars around the image and text, white Lingthusiasm logo is in the bottom right corner.
March 10, 2025 at 5:50 PM