Glenn Hadikin

"At home, a lot of girls dress the same way. It's boring. I pretty much dress like this all the time. People always get a shock when I turn up to their door to fix something. I work with lots of fortysomething men and they probably just think I'm a bit weird."

Trope doing rounds in Reform circles that Hannah Spencer is a "fake plumber" because those people can't imagine that a Green politician might be anything other than the sum of their horrid prejudices.

If it were a lie she'd have been playing the longest of long games... because here she is in 2013.

Just come across the apparent Badenoch quote "monster of mass harvesting of Muslim votes"

At what point do the Muslim MPs on the Tory benches think "yeah... she really doesn't think we're people"

The cost of casting animals as heroes and villains in conservation science New research shows how these storytelling choices can distort science – and how to move beyond them.

The cost of casting animals as heroes and villains in conservation science
theconversation.com/the-cost-of-...

Spoiling a lot of takes but begging a large number of other questions... "Worsening graduate fortunes, it turns out, are a particularly British problem"

www.ft.com/content/649d...

𝗚𝗟𝗢𝗖𝗔𝗟 𝗟𝗔𝗖 – 𝗕𝘂𝗻𝗼𝗻𝗴: 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗯𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗮’𝘀 𝗩𝘂𝗹𝗻𝗲𝗿𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲

The Bunong language in Cambodia is vulnerable due to Khmer Rouge-era displacement. Ethnographers and activists strive to safeguard its use and cultural heritage. #glocallac #linguistics

📘 More details : glocal.soas.ac.uk/saving-bunong/

How can we decolonise Corpus Linguistics? Please share any good papers or tasks for an MA class.

Scientists Put A Human "Language Gene" Into Mice And Curious Things Unfolded Mice are still incapable of writing the complete works of Shakespeare, despite some being given a human "language gene".

www.iflscience.com/scientists-p... This was not written by the mouse.

I will just keep repeating. I have never never never seen anything like this. 30 years of reporting.

From metaphors on market day to metaphors we live by I was talking the other day with some people about AI metaphors. During that discussion the thorny question came up ‘what are metaphors anyway?’, followed by ‘is there anything in language that’s n…

In these times of trouble, something a bit niche but also a bit soothing - a post where I dug out some old roots of #metaphor theory that we have largely forgotten makingsciencepublic.com/2026/01/23/f... #histling

Pay-off spend up by two-thirds as universities shed 13,000 jobs Analysis of UK sector accounts shows number of job losses well above predictions, with experts warning cuts are not over yet

There should be grave national concern about one of Britain’s leading economic sectors and chief export earners shedding tens of thousands of often skilled relatively well paid jobs. Universities are also key to local and regional economies across the country.

Excerpt from Wikipedia reads: "Fight against merchandising his characters For years, Watterson battled against pressure from publishers to merchandise his work, something that he felt would cheapen his comic through compromising the act of creation or reading.[21][22] He refused to merchandise his creations on the grounds that displaying Calvin and Hobbes images on commercially sold mugs, stickers, and T-shirts would devalue the characters and their personalities. Watterson said that Universal kept putting pressure on him and that he had signed his contract without fully perusing it because, as a new artist, he was happy just to find a syndicate willing to give him a chance (two other syndicates had previously turned him down). He added that the contract was so one-sided that, if Universal really wanted to, they could license his characters against his will, and could even fire him and continue Calvin and Hobbes with a new artist. Watterson's position eventually won out, and he was able to renegotiate his contract so that he would receive all rights to his work. Later he said that the licensing fight exhausted him and contributed to the need for a nine-month sabbatical in 1991.[23]"

Bill Watterson is my favorite cartoonist. I adored the relationship btw Calvin and Hobbes as a child. But as I've gotten older, these strips feel even more tender and insightful. My respect for him grew when I learned of his stance against merchandising. Such principles are almost unheard of today.

English lessons shouldn’t be an immigration test – why the UK’s new policy risks deepening exclusion The UK government says tougher English rules will aid integration. Esol experts warn they risk turning language learning into a tool of exclusion.

theconversation.com/english-less...

Today’s activities: an all-day meeting to decide how specifically to make our surviving degree courses worse, the general outlines already having been imposed (fewer modules, fewer hours per module, fewer assessments, fewer subject modules, fewer academics).

The 2025 Word of the Year is "slop," both as a noun for low-quality AI-generated content and as a combining form for anything of little value. Read the full press release. #WOTY2025 #ADS2026 #LSA2026
americandialect.org/2025-word-of...

The Norwegian Nobel Prize committee has been forced to make a statement, declaring that the prize cannot be transferred.
It's hard even to comprehend how stupid this has become

Image shows a bridge over a marsh in early morning light.

Cold start in Portsmouth today.

What to do if you fail at your new year resolution Most people struggle to stick by their good intentions for the year ahead.

theconversation.com/what-to-do-i...

Is Iceland’s language a Norse code – or legacy of Celtic settlers? Gaelic origins of Icelandic words and landmarks challenge orthodox view of Viking heritage, says author

Also this is an interesting story:
www.theguardian.com/world/2023/j...

How Celtic languages spread across Britain and Ireland: why we need to reconsider the early story New insights from archaeology, genetics and early inscriptions are helping to uncover the story of Celtic languages in Britain and Ireland.

theconversation.com/how-celtic-l...

What is a Glottal Stop? The glottal stop plays a significant role in a variety of languages and accents, and it can influence grammar and meaning.

The glottal stop is probably one of the simplest, yet interesting, sounds in language.

https://aboutlinguistics.com/explore/what-is-a-glottal-stop/

#linguistics #language #phonetics #glottalstop

one of four in a week

www.nytimes.com/2025/12/19/n...

Some words affect us more than others. It boils down to how they sound | The-14 Why some words hit harder than others research shows surprising sound patterns make vivid words stand out, deepen processing, improve memory, communication

Some words affect us more than others. It boils down to how they sound
#Science #Language #Linguistics #Psycholinguistics #Communication #Science #Cognition #Memory #Words #Speech #Education #InformationTheory #The14 #The14Media
the-14.com/some-words-a...

"WTF, this is so dangerous!" Social media influencers & youth mental health Join our event and hear youth-led insights on what good and bad mental health communication looks like online.

I've been part of a team contributing to this project about understanding young people's experiences of high-follower TikTok influencer accounts posting about mental health. Excited to be chairing the Mental Elf webinar in the new year: www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/wtf-this-i... #qualitative #linguistics

Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is my cyclical reminder that there's really only one consistently reliable source of info in the public record that isn't owned by right wing billionaires, who really want to put an end to it.

Please give at least the $2.75 minimum they request if you can.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Reflecting on Brexit during all these Erasmus reports it's sad to consider how many people must have decided 'let's leave just in case' rather than 'let's stay just in case' when they were clearly confused and didn't know half of what the EU does.

Erasmus scheme to return for UK students, BBC understands The UK ended its participation in the scheme in 2020 after agreeing a Brexit deal with the EU.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

You'll need to make do with us for a while!

AI: how can general practice make the best use of it? Alongside our new report, Becks Fisher looks at how GPs are using AI, what worries them the most about it, and what should happen next if general practice is to harness the benefits from AI. This…

How are GPs using #AI, what worries them the most about it, and what should happen next if #GeneralPractice is to harness the benefits from AI?

Read the latest blog from our Director of Research and Policy,
@becksfisher.bsky.social 👇

Very happy to find a @mydogsighs.bsky.social piece in the wild today!!

Twice in two weeks, first in Germany then in England last week, I have spoken with friends who work at pro-refugee NGOs who have experienced multiple recent attacks on their offices.