Brian Powers

The Greatest Insults Part II: Mark Twain was an Asshole

One of the most famous authors in United States history and a man who never, ever looks happy with having his picture taken, Mark Twain, the author of the Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, among many others, led a long and colorful life filled with adventure, fame and fortune.

A Portrait of Language Lovers

I would like to apologize for the length of time that passes between posts these last couple years, this is all on me, and I’m thrilled if you’re still around, following LATG on Facebook or Twitter, and otherwise giving me some sort of self validation. I’ve been doing things, working, writing stuff for other people,…
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Hyperwebster and the Universe’s Longest Game of Scrabble

Infinity is famously difficult to picture. You can imagine huge numbers or things repeating into the horizon, fractals that appear to go on forever, but since infinity never stops, it’s impossible to really consider everything that could go into it. So, food for thought – what if we didn’t have to think about infinity as…
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Johannes Goropius Becanus, False Etymology and the Garden of Eden

Pre-Enlightenment-era Dutch linguists such as Johannes Goropius Becanus probably don’t make the list of things you think about on a regular basis. Typically, they wouldn’t make my list, either, but right now I’m on a little bit of a linguistic history kick and I have a few grievances that need airing.Click these—> The 15th, 16th,…
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A Linguist, a Polyglot and a Translator Walk Into a Bar…

The more I write the more it becomes painfully and abundantly clear that outside of language circles, the general population does not really understand much about the practical aspects of language or the differences between many of the titles bestowed upon various roles within the language community. Many people have done no more with language…
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What Language Will We Speak in Space, on Mars and Beyond?

  In the spirit of February’s massively successful maiden SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch, I wanted to throw together a short mini-post about space and language. Before we get into the languagey stuff, I feel like I need to briefly explain what’s going on. On Tuesday Feb 6th, entrepreneur billionaire Elon Musk’s private space launch company…
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