This summer, I went to ASL camp! I spent a week at Bob Rumball Camp of the Deaf, in Parry Sound, Ontario, at their ASL Adult Immersion Summer Camp, voices off for 6 nights and 7 days! This was my first time doing any sort of language immersion camp in my various experiences learning languages, and I definitely see why people like them, I really felt liked I levelled up significantly in my signing with that much concentrated practice (and I slept very soundly in the dorm beds since my brain felt so full from learning). And I made friends and got to learn from a left-handed ASL teacher for the first time, which was helpful for me as a lefty!
Also, the Spanish-language translation of Because Internet was released. You can get Arroba Lengua — not a literal translation of the title, but Spanish Internet slangification with a similar vibe — from Piodepagina, Casadellibro, and other places Spanish-language books are sold (note that the ebook edition may be more readily available if you’re outside Europe). And for lots of juicy details about the translation process, see our Lingthusiasm bonus episode where Lauren Gawne and I interview Miguel Sánchez Ibáñez, the translator.
More media milestones
Let’s start with the big news: The first Crash Course Linguistics video has hit a million views! If you want some fun 10 min linguistics videos to watch, here’s a great place to start.
In way smaller news, Because Internet is on one of Penguin Random House’s “credibility bookshelf” zoom backgrounds.
And somewhere in between: Because Internet made an appearance in an episode of Words Unraveled. @efrex.bsky.social made a nice callout to my interview on Let’s Learn Everything. And Linguistic Discovery would like to remind you that the internet is encouraging, not ruining, writing.
Lingthusiasm
We launched two new Lingthusiasm merch designs:
- We’ve made a special jazzed-up version of the Lingthusiasm logo to put on stickers, tshirts, and more, featuring fun little drawings from the past 8.5 years of enthusiasm about linguistics by our artist Lucy Maddox. There’s a leaping Gavagai rabbit, bouba and kiki shapes, and more…see how many items you can recognize!
- And with various and sundry gift-giving holidays on the horizon, we’ve also got a Merry/marry/Mary Holidays greeting card and sticker.
Lingthusiam put out six episodes, including three interviews.
- Is a hotdog a sandwich? The problem with definitions (this was a highly popular bonus episode from a few years ago that we’ve now released with expansions for the main free podcast feed, go see what the fuss was about!)
- Why sci-fi gestures live long and prosper: Crossover with Imaginary Worlds (bonus)
- Urban Multilingualism
- Reading linguistic landscapes on street signs (bonus)
- Highs and lows of tone in Babanki: Interview with Pius Akumbu
- ¡Pos ya está! Translating Because Internet into Spanish with Miguel Sánchez Ibáñez (bonus)
Speaking of interviews, we have more than twenty interview episodes now, and you can find them all together on our topics page, where they have their own category. We also have over 100 bonus episodes for patrons, with a few interviews there as well.
Lingcomm
It was a big few months for communicating about lingcomm. Maybe we can call that lingcommcomm? Or maybe not…
I presented at Lingstitute 2025, the LSA summer institute, about 101 ways to communicate linguistics with a broader audience — some of which we brainstormed together in this bluesky thread.
I started a new series of interviews on the lingcomm.org blog about community collaboration linguistics projects that don’t have much of a web presence. First interview: Lingcomm IRL with Girl Scouts, an interview with Nikole Patson.
The lingcomm mailing list now has over 100 members! If you’re a lingcomm practitioner who wants to hear about lingcomm conferences, events, journal special issues, and so on, please feel free to subscribe!
Lingthusiasm cohost creator Lauren Gawne put out her yearly list of linguistics and language podcasts. Know of a good one she missed? Please let her know!
New favorite linguistic data
- “brb making “hich” happen” (analogical creation)
- And speaking of which, when will somewhy happen? Somewhen (analogical creation)
- “I just want to be a cheese wizard, or fromage.” (portmanteau)
- “yaybe — It’s when you’re not sure if the yay is gonna happen” (portmanteau)
- “KPop demon hunters. KSoda demon hunters. KCoke demon hunters” (a famous case of regional variation)
- “My 9 year old and his classmates have started using “that’s AI” to mean “I don’t believe you.” Me: we’re having dinosaur meat for dinner. Kiddo: that’s AI.” (semantic change)
- “OPEN HOLE DO NOT REMOVE” (zero anaphora)
- konbarning (Ok, this one’s a doozy… inclusive language, a multilingual portmanteau, then some clipping, and finally a rebus with emoji)
Miscellaneous posts
- well you see when words are polyamorous they can date BOTH a Greek prefix and a Latin suffix
- Larry Tesler, inventor of the cut, copy, and paste commands, dies at 74
- Talking to the youths in 2025: did you know that “podcast” comes from a pun on “broadcast” plus the Apple iPod, a precursor to the iPhone that only played music
Talking to the youths in 2045: did you know that “tweet” comes from a pun on Twitter, a precursor to various shortform social media - Now I’m thinking about what sorts of linguistics topics might be a good fit for a neighbourhood association meeting, has anyone tried this?
- James Murray, aka the original guy behind the oxford english dictionary, being pretty damn tolerant for 1895
This quarter’s image is a schwa and a kiki and a nondetatched rabbit part and a vowel space and a microphone and…
Gretchen McCulloch 
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