Why do we speak of the red, white, and blue when discussing the American flag? Why not blue, white, and red or white, red, and blue? A couple of reasons: The color order lodged in the language thanks in part to the patriotic song from the 1840s...
Jingoism, or “extreme nationalism,” derives from a drinking-hall song popular in the 1870’s, with the belligerent refrain: “We don’t want to fight but by jingo if we do / We’ve got the ships, we’ve got the men, and got the money too / We’ve fought...
The difference between Mandarin and Cantonese points to a general difference between languages and dialects: languages tend to have a whole different nationalism or geopolitical power associated with them. For more about Mandarin and Cantonese in...
On the occasion of National Grammar Day, University of Illinois linguist Dennis Barron has pointed out some arresting posters from a wartime version from the early 20th century. They’re from a 1918 Chicago Women’s Club initiative called Better...
deep state n.— «Outside, thousands gathered with banners proclaiming solidarity with the dead Turkish-Armenian writer: “We are all still Hrant Dink”; “We want to see justice done.” Many Turks are convinced that a so-called “deep state”—a network of...