I do love the idea of a group of anointed language keepers from all the Indo-European languages meeting under cover of darkness at some forsaken crossroads to consult a copy of Pokorny.

Rick Caruso’s Private Fire Crew@amandasmith.bsky.social · 21h ago

Every fiber of my being is vibrating with desire to reply “no, you are the first. This is groundbreaking. Boosting for visibility” even though I know it would get me banned from r/askhistorians

We talked to @korystamper.bsky.social, lexicographer and author, about the unexpectedly gripping story of the struggle to define colours. www.alliterative.net/podcast/2026...

Episode 126: True Color, with Kory Stamper — The Endless Knot

We talked to Kory Stamper, lexicographer and author, about the unexpectedly gripping story of the struggle to define colours and wrestle the kaleidoscope of our social, scientific, artistic, sartorial...

alliterative.net

Possibly the best way to end the FAQ on your new AI search function.

Many thanks to the morning risers of the Colour Society of Australia (!) who attended my zoom talk, asked good questions, and laughed (I presume) at my dumb jokes. 💜

GIMME BACK THOSE BROKEN WINGS

scribblegurl@scribblegurl.bsky.social · 2w ago

I HAVE STOPPED THINKING ABOUT TOMORROW

Had to scroll down to make sure there was no Plague of Locusts Watch.

Raymond "Bud" Groceries, southpaw and back-up pitcher for the 1929 Philadelphia Athletics

kim@kimmymonte.bsky.social · 3w ago

your baseball pitcher name is your grandfather’s first name and the last thing you bought i’ll go first mine’s Dominic Sandals

I'm sorry/you're welcome

Neil Robinson@neiljames.bsky.social · 3w ago

@korystamper.bsky.social has prepared me for this moment!

Imagine having the self-confidence to assume that you’ve thought more deeply about word choice than a professional lexicographer.

After the release of my first book, "Word by Word: The Secret Life of Dictionaries," I got an email from a random dude that just said, "Don't you mean 'Word _For_ Word'?" I don't, didn't, and evermore won't, my guy!

S R Jones @aegisimmemorial.bsky.social · last mo.

If you see this, please tell me the worst/most baffling bit of creative feedback you've ever recieved. Mine is still the time somebody told me my aliens had names that were too alien. Not that they were unpronounceable, just that they didn't sound enough like human names.

Happy 4th of July, Philly edition.

Kory Stamper@korystamper.bsky.social · 12mo ago

Can you tell which one of us is the loud one in this marriage?

Sallie Mae: Hey. Hey! Kory! Open a CD with us! Savings account? Money market account? Me: ... what? SM: We're getting into BANKING! Give us your money, we'll give you INTEREST! Me: How about you just cut my student loan interest rates instead. SM: DIFFERENT COMPANY, NO CAN DO, WE DO BANKING NOW!

KIDS AND PEOPLE: Color Impact 2026 is starting now! I'm up first. Don't be late! But if you are, the joke slides are a little later. iscc.org/event-6690357

Color Council - Color Impact 2026: Defining Color

iscc.org

Introduced friends (and their toddler) to one of the modern classics last night. @skleinedler.bsky.social @ivacheung.com

<steps to lectern> <organizes notes> <clears throat> "AFFORDABILITY" PREDATES THE DEMOCRATIC PARTY BY 250 YEARS, YOU ACCURSED APPLEHEAD DOLL IN AN ILL-FITTING SUIT <straightens tie> <leaves lectern>

Aaron Rupar@atrupar.com · 2mo ago

Trump: "We have the strongest economy we've ever had. The word 'affordability' is a fake word made up by the Democrats."

And I don't like pompous dipshits, but we are both going to have to get used to disappointment, Lou.

The Guardian@theguardian.com · 2mo ago

The hill I will die on: I really don’t like ‘like’ – or other imprecise and redundant speech | Louis de Bernières

Pro tip! If you really liked one part of a book, you can just tell the author that without mentioning the parts of the book you didn't care for.

So you know how Google search now sucks because of AI? I've found a workaround (that is not changing your default search engine--though you should absolutely change your default search engine). It uses browser settings and udm=14 (more on which at udm14.com). I'll post step-by-steps below.

When my kids were little, we lived at the private boarding school where Herr Maestro taught. It was fancy; we were not. It was a tension. And little kids, you know--they just _yell_ things, sometimes private things, right there in the dining hall. Embarrassing for all! We devised a solution. 1/2

merritt@merrittk.com · 2mo ago

hit me with your hyperspecific friend or family slang. when i was a kid my friend once ate too many sour patch kids and then had some ketchup on fries and it was painful because of how acid blasted his tongue was. he told this story a few times, so "a ketchup story" came to mean an oft-repeated tale

POCKET FRIENDS! If you want to hear _actual color experts_ share how they talk about color in their industry, you should register for COLOR IMPACT 2026: a virtual symposium about defining color! June 24, 12pm-5pm ET! I'll be keynoting, whatever, but look at this lineup: iscc.org/Color-Impact/

Color Impact

iscc.org

Good morning, True Color is going to be translated into RUSSIAN (!), so let me preemptively apologize to the translator for all the talk about "blue" and just "blue." Простите, Russian translator!

Hot parenting take: your goal is to parent in such a way that you are simultaneously owned by and proud of your adult child's roast of you.

Is your weekend feeling a little monochrome? You should fix that by listening to my conversation with Maiken Scott on @thepulse.whyy.org about colors! www.npr.org/podcasts/510...

The Pulse

Go on an adventure into unexpected corners of the health and science world each week with award-winning host Maiken Scott. The Pulse takes you behind the doors of operating rooms, into the lab with so...

npr.org

More etymological discussion - re Ukrainian tryzub - between me (in blue) and @korystamper.bsky.social (in gray)

I ham what I ham.

Harvey Hawks @harveydrone.bsky.social · 3mo ago

I enjoyed True Color by @korystamper.bsky.social so much I went back and also listened to Word by Word, which I had missed before. Required reading for (amateur) word nerds. The audiobook reading is always a treat when the author nails the delivery of their own jokes.

Real question: the fuck do you guys think the word meant before

The New York Times@nytimes.com · 3mo ago

“Whimsy” is having a moment, thanks to Gen Z and some millennials who have recast the word to characterize a lifestyle that blends playfulness, spontaneity and being present.

Kory Stamper, a dictionary person herself, sets out to remind readers that every definition in a dictionary is a creative interpretation that was once written and frequently revised by ordinary, fallible humans. spectrumculture.com/2026/05/10/t...

True Color: by Kory Stamper - Spectrum Culture

In True Color, Stamper livens a niche subject with diligent attention to detail and a lighthearted, humorous style that keeps the reader engaged.

spectrumculture.com

<dips toe into discourse> - Yes, "lawfare" is a word. - Yes, it's modeled on "warfare." - Its definition (from Cambridge Dictionaries) is "the use of legal action to cause problems for an opponent." - The important phrase there is "to cause problems for an opponent." - I am not a lawyer.

See? This bouquet and this light skews the color to green. I love this wall color!

Kory Stamper@korystamper.bsky.social · 3mo ago

Now: you're going to look at those paint swatches and say "BUT THESE ARE GREEN!" The wall color is, I promise you, a blue-green. My camera and the morning light skewed it blue. And that's why I love this wall color.