Gareth Roberts
@garicgymro.bsky.social
Welsh linguist in Philadelphia. I grow languages in the lab. Opinions my own. He. Ieithydd o Gymro yn Philadelphia. Tyfaf ieithoedd yn y lab. Barnau fy hun. Fo. https://linktr.ee/garicgymro
you will encounter more opportunities in life to change the batteries on a smoke alarm than you will to run into a burning building and no one gives a shit you changed those batteries but it is still very important and why are you waiting on a burning building, know what i’m saying, it’s a metaphor
If someone gives you a location and says something like, "I dunno, it's somewhere on Market, maybe not too far from Broad", do *NOT* follow up with, "Sorry, where exactly?" They've been very clear that they're not sure where exactly and that they're telling you as much as they know.
At the orthodontist for one of my kids. To discourage patients from eating candy, they cleverly provide a bowl of Hershey's Kisses.
Yessss! Another entry for the collection. I love these so much. (Please join me in calling them "Outerbridges".) #linguistics
Richard Waite@waiterich.bsky.social · last wk.I have lived in the DC area for almost 20 years, and have often biked & driven on Beach Drive in Rock Creek Park, and TODAY learned that it’s not named after any beach, but for Capt. Lansing H. Beach, an officer in the US Army Corps of Engineers who oversaw road construction in the park around 1900.
The annual United Kingdom Linguistics Olympiad (UKLO) is coming around - you can sign up as a volunteer marker until 2nd Nov, for marking 19th-30th Nov. I've been doing this since 2015 and it's normally quite fun (I like to have a go at the paper first) www.uklo.org #UKLO #linguistics 🐦🐦
welcome - UKLO
UKLO = UK Linguistics Olympiad Welcome to UKLO! We run an annual competition in which school children solve problems based on real languages. It's a test of skill and insight, not of how well you know...
uklo.org
Having heard a few more, I'm enthusiastic! A worthy successor, I think.
Gareth Roberts@garicgymro.bsky.social · 2mo agoFinally getting round to listening to the new #InOurTime with Misha Glenny. I'm somewhat optimistic; he seems like a fair choice to replace Melvyn Bragg.
Probably most people know that Jane Leeves, who played Daphne in Frasier, wasn't really from Manchester. What's slightly less well know is that John Mahoney *was*.
Gareth Roberts@garicgymro.bsky.social · last wk.The other fun fact about John Mahoney (which you no doubt know) is that he was English. Didn't move to the US till he was an adult and didn't become a citizen till he was 31.
Stephanie Cole's death reminded me of a fact that some fellow millennials may find distressing. When Waiting for God started, she was 48.
Rewatched the Matrix with the kids, which I hadn't seen since around 2000. It has not aged badly! And I have not changed my opinion of it. Which is... that it's a pretty good movie, but somewhat overrated.
This, to be fair, is a special instance of a wider phenomenon, in which people from country A are videoed trying food from country B and expressing enjoyment. This nice, heartwarming genre then gets sullied by people from country B taking it as evidence for some sort of culinary superiority.
Gareth Roberts@garicgymro.bsky.social · 2w agoAmericans sadly misinterpreted a lot of what was going on with those social media videos Europeans posted about 🇺🇸 during the World Cup. Europeans are excited to try Taco Bell because it's something they've seen in movies. Their excitement in no way implies that it surpasses food in Europe!
Americans sadly misinterpreted a lot of what was going on with those social media videos Europeans posted about 🇺🇸 during the World Cup. Europeans are excited to try Taco Bell because it's something they've seen in movies. Their excitement in no way implies that it surpasses food in Europe!
Friend shared this video of a man unveiling the library he hid when he fled Damascus in 2011. It’s incredible
"To lose one Reform leader in Wales, Mr. Farage, may be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness."
Will Hayward - Wales Journo@willhaycardiff.bsky.social · 2w agoThe leader of Reform UK in Wales has stepped down as leader following being arrested on suspicion of assault and engaging and controlling/coercive behaviour. He denies any wrongdoing. This is a developing story. Subscribe to the newsletter for full details.
The “branding dispute” being that it’s legally established as a memorial to John F. Kennedy, the president from the 1960s who was murdered in office by an assassin, and Trump wanted to slap his name on it too while he held power for reasons of pure narcissism.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 2w agoBREAKING: The Kennedy Center board votes to close over financial woes and branding dispute with President Trump, AP sources say.
When they eventually make a movie about this time, please don't put the male politicians in good suits. IMO, the ugly, low rent tailoring should be part of the story.
NEW: Once exceptionally rare, illegal deportations — in defiance of court orders or due to ICE screw-ups — are now a routine part of President Trump's mass deportation push. It happened 3 times this past week and more at least 30 times in recent months. www.politico.com/news/2026/09...
probably a good idea to vote in person if possible this time around, yeah?
This is pretty fucking wild. I had assumed in a worst case scenario he would target blue zip codes and toss ballots based on technicalities but this is even worse than I imagined.
SpacePrez@spaceprez.bsky.social · 4w agoThe polls are super bad for Trump so he's definitely going to try to cheat www.nytimes.com/2026/09/01/u...
