Linguist, lexicographer, language commentator, all-around word nut.
https://linktr.ee/benzimmer
Ben Zimmer
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New crossword for @slate.com! Hope you find it better than meh.
slate.com/life/2026/05...
It's Bee Week! Getting ready for the big event in our sparkly new venue. @scrippsbee.bsky.social
New crossword for @slate.com, with a timely movie tie-in!
slate.com/life/2026/05...
I have today's crossword on @slate.com, and it's educational!
slate.com/life/2026/05...
My wordy pursuits collide in today's @slate.com crossword!
slate.com/life/2026/06...
The @scrippsbee.bsky.social finals are tonight on @iontelevision.bsky.social at 8pm ET! You might catch me at the judges table, or in a prerecorded bit where I talk about how spelling a difficult word can be like solving an etymological puzzle. #spellingbee
Photo: www.flickr.com/photos/scrip...
It's another guest appearance from the Barnacle (aka me) on the crossword podcast @fillmeinpodcast.bsky.social. bemoresmarter.libsyn.com/fill-me-in-5...
FTA: @benzimmer.bsky.social on one of the nerdiest two-remove euphemisms you'll ever see stronglang.wordpress.com/2016/03/21/w...
"Eighty-six" or "86" in a 1920 article from Topeka, KS. I see this is also OED's earliest. This knocks out NYC's Chumley's & Empire State Building theories. A new thread. cc @davidwondrich.bsky.social 1/
www.newspapers.com/article/the-...
Remember when they 86'd S. H. Sanders? (Article by @benzimmer.bsky.social)
www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
Ben Zimmer
Barry Popik
Strong Language
Theodore Kloba
On Facebook, Jay Dillon posted an intriguing verse that appeared in Prize Translations, Poems, and Parodies, Reprinted from The Journal of Education (1881). Jay muses that the line “What the …
Ryan is off losing money in Las Vegas, so we all chanted "Barnacle! Barnacle! Barnacle!" -- and lo and behold, appeared in the studio to regale everyone with tales of the ! That, plus jealousy of the...
