iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 23/09/2026

It is only in the past 5-10 years that I've regularly had nails long enough that they sometimes break, but it happens often enough that I totally understand previously-mysterious "shit, I just broke a nail" comments from feminine-coded characters in media.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Friends, what syntactic category do we think "enough" is? It seems to modify adjectives ("tall enough to go on this ride") but also it can occur as a predicate on its own?

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Football might be the most republican sport as measured by vibes, but alas hockey is the most republican sport as measured by actual player voting patterns.

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Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

wow. with this announcement, all of ed sheeran's openers for this tour have pulled out:

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Claire Willett @clairewillett.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

every new fact about this Kraft guy is worse than the last somehow

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

I don't know who exactly, but I feel confident that some of you want to know about this skirt with a design showing development of the Proto-Sinaitic script into many descendant scripts, including modern Latin, Cyrillic, Greek, Arabic, and Hebrew scripts. princess-awesome.com/products/adu...

princess-awesome.com

Adult "Prototype" Writing Systems Origins Skirt With Pockets

Description Specifications In this design featuring the development of writing systems from Proto-Sinaitic to the present, the evolution of letter forms spirals out from the mother script (Proto-Sinai...

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Save me from linguistics papers that have a section about crosslinguistic implications, where "crosslinguistic" just means that the analysis of English is extended to French.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

One day I would love the opportunity to ask someone who I overhear saying "comfortability" whether it means something different from "comfort", without coming across as a prescriptivist asshole.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 09/08/2026

TIL that there is a game similar to hockey (but not on ice) played in the Scottish highlands "and other areas in the world where Scottish Highlanders migrated" called "shinty", which is surely where the name "shinny" (=pick up hockey, on ice or pavement) comes from. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shinty

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

Encountered a commemorative bust of Tommy Douglas, father of Canadian Medicare, in a miscellaneous tourist cafeteria in Scotland of all places—apparently he was born in Falkirk!

A bronze bust of Tommy Douglas in a modern style, on a white plinth in front of a grey wallpaper . He is wearing horn rimmed glasses, grinning with teeth visible, and wearing a coat with very wide lapels, with a maple leaf pin. In the background is an informational sign (text transcribed in another photo).

Sign reading: The Greatest Canadian: Thomas Clement Douglas (1904-1986) "courage my friends: 'it's not too late to build a better world." Camelon, Falkirk born 'Tommy' Douglas will be remembered in history for being the man who introduced free healthcare (Medicare) for all Canadians. (In 2016, Camelon Local History Society, with support from Falkirk Founcil and Falkirk Community Trust, realised a long held ambition to commission an artwork to celebrate the achievements of this influential local. The artwork has been created by artist Walker Awlson and cast in bronze by Powderhall Bronze Foundry.

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Endangered Languages Project @e-l-p.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

If you’ve seen this article, you may be sitting with anger, pain, or just exhaustion at dealing with another helping of colonial nonsense. We feel a responsibility to speak back when these colonizing narratives show up, yet again, in such a prominent venue. endangeredlanguages.com/story/respon...

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 26/07/2026

Without a doubt, the greatest (not greatest) part of taking a red-eye flight now that I am no longer a Youth is how all the systems of my body stage a revolt upon arrival.

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Adam Tranter @adamtranter.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Cities dismantled their tram networks to become “motor cities of the future”. The result? You could travel further within 30 mins via public transport in 1957 than you can in 2026. Cities are seeking billions to rebuild networks. Incredible piece of work this.

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Lev Mirov @thelionmachine.bsky.social · 22/07/2026

The thing in this story that strikes me is how his neighbor and the consul chose to save his life. They decided to do the right thing when you know the government is trying to murder somebody. I think about these unnamed people in survivor stories all the time -- they're everywhere. They can be us.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Friends! I have a Covid-prevention question. I seem to remember that there is some evidence for a prophylactic antihistamine regimen. Is this correct? If so, does anyone have information about which antihistamines and what dose? TIA!

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K a s s i e D e e @kassiedee.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

“I had time to run home and pack a bag and get to the beach where the boats were waiting,” said a member of Namaygoosisagagun First Nation (Collins). “We literally had minutes to get on the boats and flee before it took our town.”

apple.news

Namaygoosisagagun First Nation in northern Ontario surrounded by wildfire as members flee in boats — APTN News

'We literally had minutes to get on the boats,’ says member of the community.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

Update: I now have a speckled red flush on basically all the skin revealed by a Victorian off-the-shoulder gown. Cause remains unknown, but tentatively narrowed to either (a) a 48-hour delayed reaction to a peach+pear sparkling beverage, or (b) a hairstylist vigorously dusting hair off my neck.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Whoo, nothing like getting ready to leave for a week in the woods and suddenly getting a Mysterious Rash (tm).

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Sometimes I think about putting together a blog post or video series giving junior academics advice on public speaking.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Friends, I have tripped over a linguistics-themed umbrella! It could more felicitously be labelled a "writing systems" umbrella, but you know, I'll take what I can get. cognitive-surplus.com/collections/...

cognitive-surplus.com

Linguistics Umbrella

There are around 7,139 known languages around the world, and while they all have a word for "wet," that doesn't mean you have to be! These eco-umbrellas have canopies made from 100% recycled soda bott...

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Greg Pak @gregpak.net · 29/06/2026

Microsoft Teams sucks.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 29/06/2026

So, um, it turns out that the single biggest contributor to me sleeping better is wearing earplugs, and I am now feeling extremely silly about how much I resisted wearing them until now.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 26/06/2026

...wait, is "syntagmatic" (a word I always have to look up) just an old version of "syntactic", with the x/g alternation you see in pairs like "rex"/"regnum"?

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

Both my phone and my wallet have returned to me! I cannot describe the relief

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

I am currently missing BOTH my phone (accidentally left behind before I got on a plane a week ago, currently in the mail back to me) AND my wallet (location unknown), and let me tell you this makes modernity a real challenge.

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Janet Hill @saskajanet.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

The @cdnhistoryehx.bsky.social thread about Canadian currency reminded me about the fantastic Birds of Canada series. The $5 was BEKI! #birds

Reverse side of the 1980’s Canadian $5 bill featuring a Belted Kingfisher.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

Nothing like visiting Vancouver close to the solstice to remember how much further north it is than other places I've lived.

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arr @arr.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

english isn't for cowards. if you're not saying 'torpify,' that's a skill issue. there's no Académie Française telling you what to do. if you try to type 'pallific' and freak out when you see a little red underline, maybe you're not ready to roll with the big dogs.

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Alex Hanna @alexhanna.bsky.social · 06/06/2026

hbox_overfull

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Just learned that Canadians are included in new UK requirements for a 20£ "electronic travel authorization" for tourist visits and I am OUTRAGED on behalf of all commonwealth citizens.

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Ian Coldwater 🧊🚫 @lookitup.baby · 02/06/2026

Someone actually did a study a while back that showed the most effective way to get women out of TERF groups wasn’t people trying to change their minds, it was them getting literally any benign hobby, like learning other languages or taking up needlework

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Ugh reviewing proofs is so boring, I deeply resent that this is one of the many tasks downloaded to authors by for-profit academic publishers

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Wikipedia tells me that "portmanteau" means "blend" (like "brunch" or "smog"), but am I hallucinating that in morphology we also use it for affixes that combine, say, tense and agreement, when you can't (easily) divide those into smaller pieces?

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 01/06/2026

Subscribing to @theonion.com in print for one year for $99 was an A+ decision, the satirical ads alone have been worth it for me. If you have the funds to spare, I recommend it.

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Brian Phillips @brianphillips.lol · 27/05/2026

I thought I'd get maybe 25 replies to this request and use two or three of them. We're now at 1400. The column, which is 4600 words long (blame yourselves), is finished, but this thread should be studied by future historians. No era has ever been as utterly annoyed, as molecularly fed up, as we are

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katp2.bsky.social @katp2.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

imagine being an elite university or major newspaper or an elected member of Congress and realizing that you don't have the moral backbone of, to quote this marvelous post, a group popular 40 years ago and best known for lip syncing and also one of them is dead.

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Ben Alpers @benalpers.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

MIT closing three of its four libraries is shocking and appalling and underscores that the source of so much of the crisis in higher education comes not from attacks from the far right or the collapse of public trust, but rather from the university administrative class itself.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

The frequency with which singular/plural ambiguity ('they', 'you', 'sheep') gives rise to any communicative confusion in my life pales in comparison to the frequency with which impersonal 'you' gives rise to confusion and needs to be clarified.

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Plasma Ring @plasmaring.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

The Economy being good means nothing to me because it's a measure of how confident assholes feel in their line going up, and everything they do to make the line go up hurts me and devastates everyone who's doing worse than me. This isn't fucking rocket surgery.

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Plasma Ring @plasmaring.bsky.social · 27/05/2026

so like lemme weigh in on this as someone who is more financially comfortable than many in my generational cohort: everything I have gained seems precarious and temporary because I know the people with real money will take it all from me the second they get an opportunity and no one will protect me.

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 24/05/2026

Just realized that I can detect the Short Front Vowel shift in my own speech using French loans because I have Quebecois closed syllable laxing! My English "clique" has [i], French "clique" has [ɪ], and "click" is lower than both.

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vidwiscon.bsky.social @vidwiscon.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

Vid Party 2026 is ON! Saturday 5/23 at 8pm CST. Register for Wiscon to attend reg.wiscon.net Comment on Dreamwidth or email us to suggest vids or volunteer! wiscon-vidparty.dreamwidth.org/31303.html

reg.wiscon.net

WisCon Online Registration

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

For anyone who can't make it live to any @wiscon.bsky.social panels over the weekend, for $5 (or $0 if you email registration@wiscon.net) you get access to (imo) the world's greatest Discord server, and also recordings of most panels (if you are someone capable of ever watching recordings).

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 22/05/2026

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Bronwyn @bron.bsky.social · 21/05/2026

Literally every time I tell a non-fannish person about @wiscon.bsky.social, they're like "…but why is it called 'WisCon'?" And I have to explain that it is literally just that "Wisconsin" has the syllable "con" in it.

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