iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 7h

A new series of @lagbling.bsky.social #ActivismInProgress starts this month! Register for Celeste Rodriguez Louro (UWA) on 14 Oct, 10am UK, 'From Australian Indigenous yarning to voice tech: Sociolinguistic fieldwork and the making of fairer technology' 🐦🐦 events.teams.microsoft.com/event/431c47...

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Margot Finn @eicathomefinn.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Celtic (UG), Chinese & Russian (UG), Contemporary History, Economics & Statistics (joint degree), Inclusive Education (MSc), Intellectual History, Italian & Classics (joint), Law & Social Policy (joint), Medieval History, Persian Studies (UG), Portuguese (UG), Psychology & Economics (joint)....

heraldscotland.com

Full list of the 90 programmes earmarked for closure at leading Scottish university

Managers say the cuts are necessary “to protect our world-leading reputation and resilience in research and teaching” but staff members have hit…

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Marco Perale @mperale.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

www.ucuedinburgh.org.uk/blog/five-we... 90 courses to be closed at Edinburgh, most in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences, incl. Portuguese, Persian studies, and apparently Medieval History. 1,800 job losses estimated. The University has confirmed there is no financial deficit.

ucuedinburgh.org.uk

Five-week strike at Edinburgh University at start of new academic term — UCU Edinburgh

UCU SCOTLAND PRESS RELEASE 11:00 AM Thursday 17 September 2026 Members of the University and College Union (UCU) Scotland at Edinburgh University will strike for 25 days over five weeks from 2...

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Strongly suggest you read the description of this petition -- seems like Birmingham is behaving even more disgracefully than other universities in the cuts it's proposing here. @birminghamucu.bsky.social c.org/5p5QYjrgzg

c.org

Firma la petizione

Stop redundancies at the University of Birmingham

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

My university has just merged with another institution so they're doing an event where we learn about each other. Does this stop people using the acronym for departments I've never heard of? Absolutely not. No, I just have to guess whether GBS stands for 'business school' or 'biological sciences' or

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

Some people seem more inclined than others to pronounce a name they see written according to English spelling rules, even when they've heard the right pronunciation (like not saying the final syllable of Salvatore). Anyone know of work on this? Cognition ideally, but sociology also good #linguistics

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Good Law Project @goodlawproject.org · 15/08/2026

Dr Arday’s tragic death was the direct, foreseeable result of press harrassment, with racism playing a key role We're asking the prime minister to commission an immediate public inquiry ito ensure we never see a tragic death like Dr Arday's again goodlaw.social/n1ck

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

I googled 11.30 Pacific to UK time (and did not request the assistance of AI), and it looks like even these superpowers can't cope with timezones and daylight savings.

An AI overview where the AI offers an answer, then second guesses itself several times, saying 'or wait, that's incorrect... or wait, is that right... let's check...'

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

This is my semi-regular shout out to linguists: if you have/are a PhD student who'd write a great book review for the Journal of Linguistics, especially if it'd help increase our global diversity of authors, let me (reviews editor) know a couple of books they/you'd like to review. #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

researchgate really wants you to upload full texts, but that just splits your download statistics for their own gain, right? all these people requesting a full text when it's freely accessible somewhere else with just a quick google...

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 25/06/2026

If you've got a spare couple of quid and want to support a good thing, this is one you could consider. Arts Emergency help working-class young people get into arts careers (because opportunities are reliant on who you know, and because funding for arts is being cut so much).

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Liesbeth Corens @onslies.bsky.social · 12/05/2026

This matters. Please co-sign. Managers like to pretend that petitions don't move them, but in reality cannot but answer questions about the numbers, and suddenly things that were deemed inevitable appear to be more-evitably-than-previously-declared.

change.org

Sign the Petition

Save the Humanities at the University of Hertfordshire

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Today's fun 'work' is going to the @britishacademy.bsky.social to hear Mark Steedman talk about LLMs and processing meaning (it's the PhilSoc Anna Morpurgo-Davies lecture). You can join online if you register: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/natural-la... #linguistics

eventbrite.co.uk

Natural Language and Artificial Intelligence

Can Artificial Intelligence truly imitate natural language without any flaws?

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

Hey #corpus #linguistics people. Making some transcripts. The auto transcript outputs like this: Speaker Timestamp speaker turn Is this OK, if I use <> for markup? Or is there a way to easily format it like other corpus transcripts: speaker1 speaker turn speaker2 speaker turn

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Ah, writing retreat > productive procrastination > new blog post for you all. It's been a while! Enjoy! Despite the title, this is about the meaning of 'like'. #linguistics linguistlaura.blogspot.com/2026/05/lite...

linguistlaura.blogspot.com

Literally non-literal, when literally asked about literalness

Someone on Reddit was trying to identify the fibre their yarn was made from, and someone suggested burning a bit of it since burning hair/wo...

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 30/04/2026

I'm at the 'find your voice' stage of our project modules, and am doing the time-honoured task of getting infuriated by the wrong #linguistics on the advice that is on university web pages on this topic. Did you know, it's only 3rd person if it's existential?

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 09/04/2026

Can someone remind me, how do you trick ScholarOne into letting you log into another journal with your existing account? #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 05/04/2026

Hey if you need something to do over this long weekend, have a go at my PhD student Anna-Merete’s survey. It’s sentences to rate, you just need to have any English variety as your first language, and it’ll take you 10–15 minutes. #linguistics docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F...

docs.google.com

Can You Say That?

The aim of this project is to investigate the (im)possibilities of sentence structure in English and Danish, and the differences between the two languages. By contributing, you help further our unders...

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 02/04/2026

oh no I just over-simplified prescriptive rules and tense/aspect to the point where I basically said 'anything you say is right' which I suppose I am fine as a position with but I know the listeners of bbc bristol will have just heard me say 'don't worry there are no rules!' #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

Every year I'm surprised by the fact there is one more day of March than I'm expecting there to be. Makes up a bit for having one less hour of Sunday than usual. I also learnt recently that these days are called the 'borrowing days'.

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University and College Union (UCU) @ucu.org.uk · 04/03/2026

Another day out and proud on the picket lines today at Northumbria University. Staff are fighting to defend the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and stop management’s attempt to force them out through pay freezes. This is about dignity, security and refusing to let pensions be stripped away.

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 04/03/2026

Someone wrote "Most people get whey more protein than is needed" and yes it could have been a pun (it was reddit) but I think was actually a genuine priming error #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 26/02/2026

Verb ellipsis klaxon: [characters discuss marriage] 'Ever been?' 'Married? No.' #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 19/02/2026

Something students struggle with is constructing ungrammatical examples. Is there a handy chapter on this in a handbook or something? #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 06/02/2026

During lockdown I went to tons of online talks and I miss it. What are some good #linguistics talk series mailing lists I can get onto?

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 18/01/2026

My life is literacy-heavy (read a lot as a kid, job involves lots of reading, am v online) so it's rare I find a word that I know the pronunciation and meaning of but not the spelling (rather than vice versa). Today I learnt how 'salchow', a word I've known since I was a child, is spelt #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

I don't know who to tag to thank but I have ALREADY used stuff from the SOTL session at #LSA2026 in my teaching, not even 24 hours after learning it (I looked again at the data in my slides, and talked to students about where it came from and how it was cited). #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 12/01/2026

Years ago, 957 people from Twitter contributed to my research on 'because X' and I promised I'd share the results with them. I can't, because twitter, but please share it with people here anyway: www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi... Non-paywalled pre-print: kar.kent.ac.uk/105654/ #linguistics

degruyterbrill.com

8 A snapshot of the emerging because-X construction

8 A snapshot of the emerging because-X construction was published in English Sociosyntax on page 227.

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 08/01/2026

So can someone help me troubleshoot virtual access to #LSA2026? I'm getting a 'host has a meeting in progress' message and don't know what to do about that.

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

sigh. why do I never remember to tag things. #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 05/01/2026

Good news, fans of the @lagbling.bsky.social Activism in Progress series: it's back! First speaker of 2026 is @ramonagonczol.bsky.social talking about heritage language projects with secondary schools. 4pm (GMT), Wed 14 Jan. Register here: events.teams.microsoft.com/event/d87fb0...

events.teams.microsoft.com

Microsoft Virtual Events Powered by Teams

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 18/12/2025

The current drama in the Archers is over whether you can say “a jug of cocktail”. Ambridge is divided. I find it anomalous, I think, but it ought to be easy to get this sense (compare “a jug of pork pie”: less likely, but definitely grindable). #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 08/12/2025

SynTeach is going to #LSA2026! We're doing focus groups while we're there so if you're interested, fill in the form and tick the LSA box. We're looking for teachers and students, people who loved syntax and people who hated it... anyone with syntax Thoughts! #linguistics forms.gle/PiBYpVPr1yg2...

forms.gle

SynTeach Focus Group Interest Form

SynTeach is a project researching peoples' experiences teaching and learning syntax in higher education. We have conducted surveys of the field including syntax instructors and students, and we are pl...

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 07/12/2025

Any other linguists watching this Doctor Who spin off? Definitely room for a linguist in the United Nations of the Land. #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 05/12/2025

App idea for someone to make pls: duolingo but for people who a) only want to learn enough to go on holiday in a month's time and will not continue after, & b) are linguists so want it packed with grammar info in order to extrapolate e.g., 'she would like' from 'I would like'. Thanks. #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 18/11/2025

My 3mm needles are MISSING. Where can they be?? I don’t lend my good ones and I’m faiiiiirly sure I haven’t got a stray project somewhere (or if so I can’t find it).

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 14/11/2025

Very much enjoyed using the construction just now “… which I wonder if means…” #linguistics

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 29/10/2025

If you're in Kent: this is tomorrow! It's free, open to all, and will be really interesting. Lots of stories from the editor of the House of Lords Hansard. You need to book your free ticket at the link. @babelzine.bsky.social #linguistics www.kent.ac.uk/whats-on/bab...

kent.ac.uk

The Babel Lecture 2025 - John Vice

Booking page for the Babel Lecture 2025, with John Vice.

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 27/10/2025

SynTeach is a project looking at how syntax is taught in higher ed. Our next stage is FOCUS GROUPS—whether you loved or hated syntax, we'd love to talk to you! Sign up to be contacted as we're recruiting now: forms.gle/PiBYpVPr1yg2... #linguistics

forms.gle

SynTeach Focus Group Interest Form

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Damon Beres @damonberes.com · 16/10/2025

We tried the new Live Translation feature that Apple has heavily marketed. It turns out to be optimized for Spanish as spoken in Spain (pop. 49 million) as opposed to Latin America or the Caribbean (663 million), which makes it kind of a disaster to use in the U.S. And that's just one problem. Alas.

theatlantic.com

Lost in AirPod Translation

Apple promises to put an AI interpreter in everyone’s ears. It couldn’t even help me order tamales.

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 16/10/2025

@gretchenmcc.bsky.social @superlinguo.bsky.social In your Labov and the bunny episode you asked 'is this example going to start showing up in people's lecture slides?'. Can confirm, yes it is.

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 08/10/2025

We're hosting this event at @unikent.bsky.social at the end of the month! So excited to hear all the goss about transcribing the House of Lords bickering! It's free and there is wine, so I'm in #linguistics #language

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 18/09/2025

The 'short proposal' option here would be a great conference poster for someone doing linguistic fieldwork on an under-described language. Focussed conferences like this are really fun too. It's in Bielefeld, which does exist, I know people who've been there wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de/jhartmann25/...

wwwhomes.uni-bielefeld.de

SyNCC - Call For Papers

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Laura Bailey @linguistlaura.bsky.social · 25/08/2025

My train announcer has such a lot of /ʃ/ in his /str/ that he pronounced Strood almost as Shrood #linguistics

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Maria Bustillos @mariabustillos.com · 24/08/2025

WaPo opinion piece claims that 'delve' occurs more in LLMs because AI companies hire a lot of people in Nigeria and Kenya More on the linguistic frequency of 'delve', by the great @kolatubosun.bsky.social, a favorite post at @flaminghydra.com flaminghydra.com/delving-into...

flaminghydra.com

Delving Into Reader's Digest

A few weeks ago, I read that Reader’s Digest (U.K.) was shutting down after 86 years. I’ve returned to the news several times since then, to remind myself of what Reader’s Digest meant to my earliest ...

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Yorkshire Bylines @yorkshirebylines.co.uk · 24/08/2025

✍️ Education Education, education… and bums on seats A personal memoir of the Blair-era widening participation policy for higher education, that promised opportunity, but left a complex legacy By Dr Pam Jarvis @drpam.bsky.social

yorkshirebylines.co.uk

Education, education… and bums on seats

A personal memoir of the Blair-era widening participation policy for higher education, that promised opportunity, but left a complex legacy

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