The hottest Language Substack posts right now

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Justin E. H. Smith's Hinternet • 708 implied HN points • 14 Aug 25
📚 Literature Language
  1. Words can disappear for different reasons, like being banned or forgotten, and it can really change how we express ourselves and perceive the world.
  2. The act of sharing and speaking these lost words can help bring them back to life, making them part of everyday conversations again.
  3. Even if we can't save every word, every time someone uses a forgotten word, it's a small victory in keeping our language alive.

Rescuing the dash from large language models (short post)

Philosophy bear • 143 implied HN points • 23 Dec 25
📚 Literature Language
  1. The dash is a useful tool in modern writing because it lets authors shape syntax more freely and highlight meaning.
  2. Large language models tend to overuse the em dash, which can make that punctuation act as a tell for AI-written text.
  3. Deliberately using a hyphen (-) instead of an em dash (—) is a simple human counter-signal, since it is technically incorrect and less likely to be produced by default by LLMs.

So Here's a "thing"

So Here’s a Thing • 1592 implied HN points • 26 Feb 23
🎨 Art & Illustration Language
  1. Engagement in posts should be a pleasure and not a chore, focusing on quality over quantity to prevent overwhelming the audience.
  2. Consider offering a paid subscription for those who want to support content and provide exclusive features for those subscribers.
  3. Etymology reveals the evolution of words like 'thing' over time, showcasing how meanings shift and adapt in language.
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Write Like A Normal Person, Please

A Mug of Insights • 1513 implied HN points • 19 May 23
📖 Philosophy Language
  1. Philosophy often seems obscure and complex to regular people due to its unique language and terminology.
  2. Understanding philosophy is akin to learning a foreign language, with its own set of definitions and interpretations.
  3. Mastering philosophy involves a shift in mindset, where the complexities of the language eventually click and become a new way of thinking and understanding.

The Transcult

Not On Your Team, But Always Fair • 1434 implied HN points • 27 Jul 23
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Understanding the Trans phenomenon involves accepting weird beliefs with no evidence.
  2. Historically, getting rid of longstanding practices like religion doesn't always lead to societal improvement.
  3. The Transcult showcases how denying reality can signal loyalty to status-strategy groups.

Cussing For Ladies

Design Mom • 1434 implied HN points • 27 Sep 23
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. When women are criticized for swearing, it may mean they need to speak up more.
  2. Women are often held to impossible standards when it comes to language and behavior.
  3. The reaction to language changes, like cursing, can reveal deeper issues and beliefs.

Why Hallucinations Will Never Be Eliminated

Teaching computers how to talk • 167 implied HN points • 03 Dec 25
🕹 Technology Language
  1. Language models are just predictions and approximations of text, which means they can sometimes make up information that sounds believable but isn't true.
  2. These models don't understand the world the way humans do; they only see words related to other words, so they can get confused easily and not follow conversations well.
  3. People who develop language models try to make them safer, but sometimes these systems can be tricked, and that’s a serious concern since they can't truly differentiate between safe and dangerous content.

The culinary language of Catalunya

Longer Tables with José Andrés • 707 implied HN points • 29 Jan 24
🍲 Food & Drink Language
  1. Catalan language has unique food-related words like 'Pà' for bread and 'Mar i muntanya' for 'sea and mountains'.
  2. Catalan is spoken in various regions beyond Catalonia, like Valencia, Balearic Islands, Andorra, Italy, and France.
  3. Learning some Catalan food words can enrich your culinary experience, like 'Botifarra amb mongetes' for sausage with white beans.

The Idea of a Revolution

kamilkazani • 1336 implied HN points • 28 Jun 23
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. The word 'revolution' has evolved in meaning over time from circular to linear change in politics.
  2. Originally, a revolution referred to a return to the original state of affairs with changes in personnel.
  3. The French Revolution played a significant role in changing the meaning of the word 'revolution' to signify permanent and irreversible change.

Brand names are all nonsense now

Embedded • 1316 implied HN points • 31 May 23
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Start-ups are using nonsensical words in brand names, creating gibberish.
  2. The tech industry is a major contributor to the trend of abandoning traditional words for syllables.
  3. This trend of nonsensical names extends beyond the online world to real-life aspects like advertising and social media.

Defending Adverbs Exuberantly if Conditionally

Counter Craft • 880 implied HN points • 28 May 25
📚 Literature Language
  1. Adverbs can be useful tools in writing, despite the common advice to avoid them. They can add depth and nuance to sentences when used thoughtfully.
  2. Many writers misuse adverbs by using them to repeat information that is already clear. It's better to choose words that enhance the meaning rather than say the same thing twice.
  3. Context is key when using adverbs. Sometimes they can provide clarity, but other times, they may slow down the pace. Think carefully about how they affect your writing.

Problematic

kamilkazani • 628 implied HN points • 09 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Using the word 'problematic' in speech can be a powerful status signaling tool.
  2. The word 'problematic' is versatile, conveying nuance, sophistication, and a passive-aggressive tone.
  3. Avoid adding specific details when calling something 'problematic' to prevent an easy escape route for the accused.

sunday speech pool

bad cattitude • 79 implied HN points • 14 Dec 25
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. How you say something often matters more than the words themselves.
  2. Changing your tone, accent, or delivery can flip the meaning and change how people respond.
  3. This post is behind a paywall and intended for paid subscribers.

You catch more flies with vinegar

Disaffected Newsletter • 1059 implied HN points • 17 Aug 23
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Some common sayings might have their meanings reversed over time. A phrase like 'blood is thicker than water' could mean the opposite of what we think it does.
  2. The saying 'you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar' isn't accurate when it comes to actual flies. Sometimes vinegar works better for attracting pests like fruit flies.
  3. Making a fruit fly trap with vinegar is simple. Just mix vinegar in a jar with holes in the lid, and the flies won't be able to escape after they get in.

Ichigo Ichie

Seven Senses • 479 implied HN points • 20 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Language has a huge impact on how we see the world and connect with others. Some words from other languages describe feelings or actions that English can't fully capture.
  2. The Japanese term 'Ichigo Ichie' means 'one lifetime, one encounter.' It reminds us that every moment is unique and we should appreciate the present.
  3. We often get lost in thinking about the future and miss out on what is happening right now. Practicing mindfulness can help us enjoy our everyday experiences more.

The Philippines

Wyclif's Dust • 1341 implied HN points • 02 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. The Philippines is a developing country with many poor areas, but it's also growing quickly. Despite limited resources, people are adapting and using technology like Facebook for business and communication.
  2. Malls are really important in the Philippines. They provide a cool escape from the heat and are seen as a sign of progress, showing how shopping has become part of modern life.
  3. Family plays a huge role in Filipino culture. The extended family is very close-knit, with many children being looked after by relatives, and this sense of community helps young parents a lot.

The Subjective Grounds the Physical

Ethics Under Construction • 25 implied HN points • 25 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Language
  1. Physicalism assumes the physical is primary, but subjective experience actually grounds and makes physical facts intelligible; you can’t fully describe phenomena like color or pain without the first-person perspective.
  2. Experiential facts are a distinct, irreducible class: what it is like to see red or feel pain is constitutive of those facts and can’t be captured by wavelengths or neural descriptions alone, as thought experiments like Mary’s Room and the Chinese Room illustrate.
  3. There is no neutral “view from nowhere” — all knowledge is mediated by subjects, and objectivity is best understood as a shared, structured map built from and dependent on subjective experience.

The One Weird Trick That Gave Humans Language

The Ruffian • 319 implied HN points • 02 Aug 25
🔬 Science Language
  1. Humans have a special way of communicating that's different from other animals. Unlike apes, we have unique brain areas for language, like Broca's and Wernicke's areas, which help us produce and understand speech.
  2. Our ability to speak is not just about having a bigger brain. Instead, it includes inherited instincts like taking turns in conversations and sharing attention, which help us learn language from a young age.
  3. Language skills come from a combination of learned and instinctual behaviors. Children need social connections to develop language, just like baby birds learn to fly by trying and practicing with a supportive environment.

Review: Here There Are Blueberries

Eclecticism: Reflections on literature, writing and life • 8 implied HN points • 10 Feb 26
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Ordinary people can become perpetrators, but responsibility varies and the roles of victim, bystander and perpetrator can shift over time.
  2. Trauma can pass down generations both for survivors and for descendants of perpetrators, who may inherit guilt or the burden of making amends for actions they didn’t commit.
  3. Language and the omission of facts help enable and hide atrocities, so we must pay close attention to euphemisms, word choices and missing information.

Ultrafinitism as arithmetic potentialism

Infinitely More • 25 implied HN points • 12 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Language
  1. Ultrafinitism can be fruitfully seen as a form of potentialism, which clarifies its philosophical commitments and lets us give a formal treatment of ultrafinitist theories.
  2. Models of finite arithmetic naturally extend step by step to larger models (M+, M++, and so on), presenting arithmetic as a growing structure even without committing to a single completed limit model.
  3. The potentialist view highlights that mathematical truth can depend on how a theory develops, and it provides a natural framework for discussing and adjudicating different ultrafinitist positions about mathematical existence.

Do You Have Aura—or Are You Mid? A Gen-Z Slang Dictionary.

Common Sense with Bari Weiss • 927 implied HN points • 18 Dec 24
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Gen Z is often thought to lack ambition and social skills, but many young people want to challenge those stereotypes. They feel connected to past generations and want to fight for causes they believe in.
  2. A recent essay contest revealed that Gen Z has unique perspectives on communication, especially through their slang. Young people believe these terms help unite them across different backgrounds.
  3. Understanding Gen Z slang can be tricky for older generations, but it's an important part of their identity. Words like 'rizz' and 'slay' are not just casual language; they reflect the culture and experiences of young people today.

Radicalised Bureaucracies

Paroxysms • 898 implied HN points • 03 Feb 23
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. There has been a resurgence of interest in the Professional Managerial Class (PMC) and their impact on society, especially in relation to economic foundations and cultural dignity.
  2. The PMC is seen as converting economic issues into moral or cultural problems, focusing on symbolic recognition rather than material redistribution.
  3. The rise of radical bureaucracies within institutions has shifted towards a language of Critical Social Justice, emphasizing ethical values like equity and inclusion over technocratic principles.

Words of Place

Street Smart Naturalist: Explorations of the Urban Kind • 239 implied HN points • 29 Feb 24
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Seattle has a unique vocabulary that reflects its history and culture. Learning these words helps people connect with the city more deeply.
  2. Many terms in Seattle's lexicon come from local geography and community, like 'The Mountain' for Mt. Rainier or 'Skid Road' from the logging industry.
  3. The relationship between language and place is important. Understanding local terms can enrich our appreciation of the environment and the people around us.

Human culture in the age of machines

The Counterfactual • 79 implied HN points • 10 Jun 24
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Language can change based on what we read and hear, including the influence of AI like ChatGPT. If more people use certain words from LLMs, those words might become more popular in everyday conversation.
  2. Technology, especially intelligent machines, can shape our culture by creating new ideas and behaviors. This includes changing the way we communicate and even how we think.
  3. The impact of machines on culture could lead to two different futures: one where everything becomes more similar (homogenization), and another where many unique cultures and languages emerge (diversification). Both possibilities pose interesting challenges for our future.

A straight-talking chinwag with Di from Mana Wāhine Kōrero is always a pleasure :-)

A B’Old Woman • 319 implied HN points • 19 Jan 24
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. Di from Mana Wāhine Kōrero speaks openly about the impact of gender ideology on children. It's important to address how this can affect young people's understanding of themselves.
  2. The conversation touches on the importance of language, especially te reo Māori and women's language. Losing these languages can feel painful and impacts cultural identity.
  3. There was a discussion about an older Māori woman facing backlash for her t-shirt that stated 'Men are not women, even if you squint.' This highlights ongoing tensions around gender identity and expression.

Cetacean Philosophy

Justin E. H. Smith's Hinternet • 846 implied HN points • 15 Dec 24
📖 Philosophy Language
  1. Sperm whales have their own unique way of thinking and understanding the world. It's important not to put their ideas into human categories too easily.
  2. Recent studies show that sperm whales do have a true language, which we are still trying to fully understand. They can express complex thoughts and engage in creative conversation.
  3. The attempt to define 'cetacean philosophy' risks oversimplifying the whales' perspectives. We need more time and careful study before making conclusions about their thoughts and beliefs.

On Cultivating “Genius” (Part I)

if not, Paris • 530 implied HN points • 20 Feb 23
🎭️ Culture Language
  1. The term 'genius' and language have been questioned by structuralists and post-structuralists, blurring clear meanings.
  2. Academic discourse can prioritize sounding smart over communicating effectively, leading to confusion and inadequacy.
  3. Academia's cultivation of 'genius' can limit new ideas and perspectives, impacting the understanding of genius in the 21st century.

Mountains Hanging by a Hair

What Is Called Thinking? • 18 implied HN points • 19 Jan 26
📖 Philosophy Language
  1. Many detailed Jewish laws rest on minimal scriptural wording yet are treated as fully authoritative, justified by the claim they were handed down at Sinai and by longstanding communal acceptance.
  2. Oral law functions like hair growing from the body of the written Torah: it organically extends, elaborates, and depends on the text while creating a coherent whole where meaning arises from the system rather than isolated words.
  3. When legal reasoning is unmoored from communal acceptance and lived obligation it becomes mere intellectual virtuosity, so legitimacy ultimately depends on practice and social recognition rather than purely abstract derivation.

Guide to Punctuation

Castalia • 479 implied HN points • 17 Oct 23
📚 Literature Language
  1. Periods are like your own voice, giving rhythm to your writing. They bring a sense of closure.
  2. Commas are your dependable partners, helping to organize ideas and making them clearer, even when there are little disagreements about how to use them.
  3. Dashes add excitement and new possibilities to your writing. They let you explore long thoughts in a fresh way, even if they feel a bit chaotic.