Grammar and suicide
A few days ago, I saw an interesting claim in my Twitter timeline. A grammatical feature of language influences people’s suicidal behaviour. Here is a link to an account where you can find a link to the original paper. I find such a claim extraordinary and, to declare my hand, very suspicious. This post explains why. Continue reading “Grammar and suicide”
Academic backgrounds
Over the last couple of months or so, I’ve been talking to many students on-line. It’s struck me that such a mode of communication offers me and (possibly) them insights into our lives we tended not to have. Continue reading “Academic backgrounds”
No more wrinkles
My previous post incited some debate. Again and again, I was told that using the phrase ‘the elderly’ is wrong (here is a summary of such arguments), and even the elderly don’t like it (though is research suggesting that they used to) because it removes people from the description. I would like to respond to the critique and, I’m afraid, I stand by the points I made earlier. Continue reading “No more wrinkles”
In defence of vulnerability
A couple of weeks ago or so, I came across a text which puts language squarely in the realm of the pandemic. It’s so bad that the author of the text says right in the title: The right words save lives. The wrong words kill. I’m no medic, but I do doubt that in the struggle with the pandemic, language is something medicine should worry about much. I also reject this common assault on words. Continue reading “In defence of vulnerability”