iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 03/10/2026

Top 10 songs about "defenestration": 1. "Out the window" by the Violent Femmes 2. ... Uh, that's all I got. I'll have to get back to you on this.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 23/09/2026

Friends, I have just come across this insane chart in a book on research methods for students. The authors are calling Feminism a "fad".

Image shows a chart which appears to show that feminist articles over time have decreased, which apparently means that Feminism is a fad. The text in the chart says "Feminism as a way of seeing the world (like social constructivism) has been described as simply "wrong-headed to start with". The empirical evidence to support it has always been highly selective. It was a great "home" for the chattering middle classes in the rich countries who had more time on their hands than sense - working class women were just too busy working and they have always been excluded from any real "feminist" concern."

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 21/09/2026

Here's a flat adverb appearing in the @avcx.bsky.social crossword. What a great clue.

Picture shows a crossword grid.
Clue: Fast, perhaps (but not rapid)
Answer: Adverb

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 18/09/2026

I can't remember where I found this image (LinkedIn probably), but it's some AI slop about linguistics and it is hot garbage. Check out where German words come from (Turkey lol). Check out the Old Norse coming from... Ireland.

Image is AI slop showing an incorrect map of Europe, North Africa and the Middle East. The map purports to show where words come from, but misplaces them on the map. German is in Turkey, Swedish is in Ukraine. It's tough to tell because the map is wrong.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 14/09/2026

I'm teaching paragraph structure to my students this week and I can't wait to show them this mess. Topic sentence? Fuck you.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 14/09/2026

[Santa's little helper wheels by with a collar blocker] Grandpa Simpson: Hey, the lamp's running away! This made me laugh so hard that I understood comedy.

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Jonathan Kasstan @jrkasstan.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Rosen does historical #linguistics this week!

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 28/08/2026

Fair enough, @puzzmo.com. The word I was looking for was "meeces"

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Janne M. Korhonen @jmkorhonen.fi · 18/08/2026

What the most right wing government in Finnish history promised: 100 000 new jobs, reduced government debt What the most right wing government in Finnish history delivered: 100 000 new poor, greatly increased government debt

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 08/08/2026

I saw that new Spider-Man movie and he had a Mets poster on his wall, which is how they show the audience that he's an antihero. Maybe a villain.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 07/08/2026

Just in time for this semester, I have updated my AI policy. The main idea remains the same (no AI in my classes). But now there are more sources (many more unfortunately). Feel free to reuse, adapt and share! docs.google.com/document/d/1...

docs.google.com

AI policy and guidelines - Joe McVeigh.docx

You are strictly prohibited from using Generative AI (AI) or Large Language Models (LLMs) for research or writing assignments, including ChatGPT, Gemini, Claude, Copilot, Grammarly and Grok. Any submi...

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 20/06/2026

Ok, beers drank. Sauna heated. Sun... not set! Hyvää juhannusta, kaverit. Let's dunk on some bad linguistics. You probably already know this op-ed is lazy and stupid. But why is it lazy and stupid? I’m glad you asked! bsky.app/profile/theg...

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Jenni Räikkönen @jenniraikkonen.fi · 10/06/2026

Researchers using corpus-based approaches to the study of English: Welcome to the ICAME48 conference in Helsinki in May 2027! Follow our BlueSky account @icame48.bsky.social and our website (see the link in comments) for updates. The CfP will soon be published. #ICAME48

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Richard Kadrey @richardkadrey.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

The Punisher sticker we've needed all along

You're not The Punisher
You're a white supremacist who didn't read the comics

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Michael Erard @michaelerard.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Readers of Bluesky, the cover of my next book. #langsky #booksky #language #journalism

at the top, in a serif font, The Language Beat, Michael Erard, and at the bottom the subtitle, Essays and Reporting on Language and Life, with a blurb from Onze Taal. In between is a sea of blue quotation marks atop which rides a small black and white boat

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Matthew J Kuiper @matthewjkuiper.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

The whole “restoring trust in higher ed” discussion falters in precisely the same way as Dems’ “if we listen, do good governance, and take the high road, we’ll win them over.” No you won’t. You can’t. You’ve misdiagnosed the nature of their “distrust.” 1/

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 05/06/2026

Latest book review from our puppy and it's a savage one

Picture shows a ripped up book and a puppy looking adorably guilty.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 05/06/2026

Tangentially related to this, there is a huge written language bias in linguistics. And (almost) no one talks about it. Probably because it's terrifying to even think about.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 04/06/2026

Academic research also means spending a year writing 15,000+ words, then cutting it down to 8,000 (which is still 1,000 too many?) & publishing it just so you can have an article that you can cite in the research that you originally set out to do because that study didn't exist when you started.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 28/05/2026

I'm reading that social media linguistics book and I probably won't finish it. Many yikes. And big ones too.

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 26/05/2026

I'm so fucking furious. So, here's my podcast in a podcast app, which now has this nice "show transcript" button Perhaps it's taking you to our free, high quality transcripts that we PAY A HUMAN to make? Absolutely not. 🧵

Lingthusiasm podcast in a podcast app
Episode 116: Cross-cultural communication (in space!)
Lingthusiasm - A podcast that's enthusiastic about linguistics
Play, mark played, playlist buttons
A prominently displayed "view transcript" banner with the "AI sparkles"
Description:
Sometimes, you're talking with someone and you just seem to click. Other times, you just can't seem to get comfortable: they're standing too close or too far away for comfort, making too much or too little eye contact, touching or not touching you in a way that just doesn't quite feel right. But where do our senses of what feels comfortable in a conversation come from, and how can they be so different from each other?

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Niko Stratis @nikostratis.com · 20/05/2026

Real question: the fuck do you guys think the word meant before

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Strong Language @stronglang.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

Have you read Beowulf? No you haven't. And especially not like this. Well, you fucking should. Or anyway the fight between Beowulf and Grendel, which is short enough that you'd get through it. @sesquiotic.bsky.social brings it to you. stronglang.wordpress.com/2026/05/19/w...

stronglang.wordpress.com

Wolf-boy versus Grinder (the Bow Valley Beowulf)

tl;dr: I’ve translated the intro to Beowulf and the fight scene between Beowulf and Grendel into modern rural Western Canadian English, complete with lots of rude language. Why? Beca…

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 16/05/2026

Oh wow You're gonna wanna make sure you put this patch on the right way. Which is up to you to decide. I ain't judging.

Same patch held upside down and it says "Mom ho". To each their own. No judgement here.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 15/05/2026

This is a bad look from Helsinki University. They are straight marketing AI use to doctoral students with some shady webinar. None of the "distinguished panelists" are named in the email. The presumption is that everyone is using the plagiarism machine. B/c this text is from marketers, not scholars.

Screenshot of a marketing email sent through the University of Helsinki's Doctoral School mailing list. The email markets a webinar on "Designing Your Research with Assistance from AI".

Blech.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 06/05/2026

Thinking today about when I first read these lines from Shakespeare and thought... "Hey, those are GWAR lyrics!"

Soliloquy from Shakespeare:
To sleep, perchance to dream—ay, there's the rub:
For in that sleep of death what dreams may come,

Soliloquy from GWAR
To die, perchance, to sin, hahahaha, there's the rub
For in that sleep of sin, what, what kingdom may come?

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The Onion @theonion.com · 30/04/2026

Flyers Fans Not Sure Whether Gritty Supposed To Be Eating Live Bird theonion.com/flyers-fans-not-sure-w…

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 22/04/2026

What's the most Philly sports comment you have? I'll start. Rescheduling a kidney stone removal to go to a game. #GoFlyers

A poster on r/flyers says that they are having a kidney stoned removal pushed back so that they can attend a Flyers playoff game.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 19/04/2026

I'm happy to say that the kids on bluesky are talking about how "Porter Martone" sounds in a Philly accent (aka hoagie mouth). And you know it sounds great. Go Flyers.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 17/04/2026

Finally! I got a comment from a reviewer telling me that I should have my article proofread by a native speaker. Or someone specialized in academic English. And all for a typo in the word #linguistics!!! I feel like I won a prize.

Figure shows a comment from a reviewer on my article. The say I wrote "linguistics features" which I totally did and then say "I therefore encourage the authors to have their manuscript proofread by a native speaker or someone specialized in academic English." Guess this means I don't need to read any more student theses! Or teach academic English!

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 17/04/2026

I love when I hear the origin of a word and then I look it up and the dictionary is like "definitely maybe" 🤷‍♂️

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Olli Silvennoinen @ollisilv.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

In 2019, I defended my PhD on 'It's not X, it's Y' and similar constructions, which I call contrastive negation constructions. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that 'It's not X, it's Y' would become the topic of comment pieces in newspapers. 🧵

theguardian.com

ChatGPT’s latest stylistic quirk is sinister, infuriating – and absolutely everywhere | Stuart Heritage

Once you start noticing “it’s not X, it’s Y” as you scroll online, you can’t fail to register it. I’ve become so hypervigilant that it has seeped into my subconscious thoughts

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 27/03/2026

I had some students use an image from They Live in a presentation today. This is a blatant attempt to bribe me into giving them a good grade. And I am totally ok with it. A+, everyone. Keep up the good work.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 26/03/2026

My university's administration, in their great and infinite wisdom, has decided to cut the library. And librarians. I wish I was making this up.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 26/03/2026

The most expensive and volatile substance on Earth?? You mean men's emotions?

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da share z0ne @dasharez0ne.bsky.social · 23/03/2026

NEVER - dashare.zone ADMIN

A SKLETTIN AT NIGHT "I WILL NEVER ASK A COMPUTER ANYTHING, A CARPENTER DOESNT ASK THEIR HAMMER, AND IF THE DAMB THING STARTED COMPLIMENTING THEM, THEY WOULDENT ASSUME IT KNEW WHAT IT WAS TALKING ABOUT " - NOTICE THAT THE RULING CLASS TREATS WORKERS AS IF THERE ROBOTS OR DRONES TO BE OPTIMMIZED, AND THEY TREAT ROBOTS AND APPS AS IF THERE PEOPLE, THEY PUT EYES ON THE DELIVERY ROBOTS, THEY MAKE THE CHAT BOTS TELL US WERE SMART AND COOL,,, BUT THEY TELL US TO "STOP DRINKING LATTE'S" AND SKIP MEAL'S WHEN WE CANT SAVE UP ANY FUCKEN MONEY!!! THEY TELL US WERE RUINING THE ECONOMY BY NOT HAVEN ENOUGH KID'S, THEY SAY WE FUCKED EVERYTHING UP BY NOT BUYING HOUSE'S, OR NOT BUYING DIAMOND'S, BUT THEY REPLACE US WITH GROCERY STORE ROBOT'S AND A SCRIPT THAT GUESSES WHAT TO SAY BASED ON READING EVERY REDDIT POST, AND THEY WANT US TO TREAT THOSE LIKE THERE PEOPLE,,, TO THE RICH, HUMANS ARE DISPOSABLE, GREEDY, HUNGRY AND THE TECHNOLOGY THEY OWN IS IMPORTANT, HUMBLE, AND WORTHWHILE - THEY CALL EACH OTHER "SELF MADE MILLIONAIRE" AND "SELF MADE BILLIIONAIRE" AND FORGOT THAT THE MONEY COMES FROM US, A CHAT BOT WILL NEVER PAY A SUSCRIPTION FEE, A DELIVERY ROBOT OR SELF DRIVING CAR WILL NEVER COME BACK FOR MORE GROCERYS,,, ONE DAY A REAL RAIN WILL COME AND WASH THESE PARASITES OFF THERE YACHTS INTO THE OCEAN AND UNTIL THEN WE MUST DENY THEM OUR MONEY, ATTENTION AND PEACE - DASHARE.ZONE ADMIN

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 20/03/2026

It's important to not lie to your students. For example, I just saw one of them in the cafe. He asked what we were doing in class today. So I told him "I don't know. It's a surprise! See you in 45 minutes."

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 14/03/2026

The Word of the Year can be a phrase. Just saying.

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Joe McVeigh @eviljoemcveigh.com · 12/03/2026

You know those depictions of hell where it's just a waiting room? Like the most boring place ever? This is that. Just a monotonous demon droning crap like "the agent draws on publicly available information to surface writing suggestions inspired by the published work of influential voices"

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