Betsy Sneller
@betsysneller.bsky.social
Asst prof linguistics @ Michigan state. I like cats, fiber arts, people. I’ll finish the rest of this later.
Pinned
Betsy Sneller
@betsysneller.bsky.social
· Dec 18
Bill Labov died this morning. I'm not coherent enough to talk about how important and influential and brilliant he was. I am very sad.
I was so lucky to know him, and I am grateful every day that he (and Gillian, and Walt, etc) built an academic field where kindness is expected.
I was so lucky to know him, and I am grateful every day that he (and Gillian, and Walt, etc) built an academic field where kindness is expected.
Okay, buckle up bsky, it's time for the Tale of the Bunny Paper.
Here's the imported thread from twitter where the search all started:
bsky.app/profile/bets... (1/n)
Here's the imported thread from twitter where the search all started:
bsky.app/profile/bets... (1/n)
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
Downtown Lansing is getting her orchi today, good for her
January 13, 2026 at 2:22 PM
Downtown Lansing is getting her orchi today, good for her
Aside from her poetry, which is beautiful, Jane Zwart taught me my favorite classroom trick, which is Rumpelstiltskin-ing.
One day when no one was contributing she said: "You guys. Don't worry. My whole job is to be Rumpelstiltskin, and turn anything you say into gold."
One day when no one was contributing she said: "You guys. Don't worry. My whole job is to be Rumpelstiltskin, and turn anything you say into gold."
Let me tell you: some of our countries aren’t where we left them.
Jane Zwart, from her luminous collection ODDEST & OLDEST & SADDEST & BEST
#smallpoemsunday
Jane Zwart, from her luminous collection ODDEST & OLDEST & SADDEST & BEST
#smallpoemsunday
January 12, 2026 at 1:47 PM
Aside from her poetry, which is beautiful, Jane Zwart taught me my favorite classroom trick, which is Rumpelstiltskin-ing.
One day when no one was contributing she said: "You guys. Don't worry. My whole job is to be Rumpelstiltskin, and turn anything you say into gold."
One day when no one was contributing she said: "You guys. Don't worry. My whole job is to be Rumpelstiltskin, and turn anything you say into gold."
Let me tell you: some of our countries aren’t where we left them.
Jane Zwart, from her luminous collection ODDEST & OLDEST & SADDEST & BEST
#smallpoemsunday
Jane Zwart, from her luminous collection ODDEST & OLDEST & SADDEST & BEST
#smallpoemsunday
January 12, 2026 at 9:38 AM
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
Charging officers has not helped, in large part because it sends the message that it's one bad apple and oh look we'll get them.
I want to see state attorney generals charge the entire fucking system that leads up to these shootings.
I want to see state attorney generals charge the entire fucking system that leads up to these shootings.
January 9, 2026 at 12:59 AM
Charging officers has not helped, in large part because it sends the message that it's one bad apple and oh look we'll get them.
I want to see state attorney generals charge the entire fucking system that leads up to these shootings.
I want to see state attorney generals charge the entire fucking system that leads up to these shootings.
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
“I feel like we’ve lost the plot a little bit and that’s one of the reasons that we’re seeing apple consumption ... go down,” said a seventh-generation apple grower in PA. “The whole experience has been so consolidated and so driven by capitalism, and in some ways it’s very shortsighted.”
Tasty in-depth read about the state of apple cultivation in the US (obligatory @chuckwendig.bsky.social tag).
Are the Apple Farmers Alright? - Offrange
People aren’t eating apples like they used to, but flashy new cultivars may not be the solution.
ambrook.com
January 8, 2026 at 6:47 PM
“I feel like we’ve lost the plot a little bit and that’s one of the reasons that we’re seeing apple consumption ... go down,” said a seventh-generation apple grower in PA. “The whole experience has been so consolidated and so driven by capitalism, and in some ways it’s very shortsighted.”
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
I hate to tell you fashionistas, but this cardigan will bobble within three minutes of wearing it.
Why? The "yarn" is actually roving - i.e. fibres with no twist to them - and you don't want to wear roving.
Why? The "yarn" is actually roving - i.e. fibres with no twist to them - and you don't want to wear roving.
January 7, 2026 at 8:33 PM
I hate to tell you fashionistas, but this cardigan will bobble within three minutes of wearing it.
Why? The "yarn" is actually roving - i.e. fibres with no twist to them - and you don't want to wear roving.
Why? The "yarn" is actually roving - i.e. fibres with no twist to them - and you don't want to wear roving.
Actually wait, #ADS2026 friends, does anyone know if there's going to be a live stream for WOTY? It's time to hype this up!
Also time for me to send an email to my socio students to let them know, if in fact they can access a live stream
Also time for me to send an email to my socio students to let them know, if in fact they can access a live stream
Ahhhhhhhh, is today the day, Betsy?? I demand a live stream!
January 7, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Actually wait, #ADS2026 friends, does anyone know if there's going to be a live stream for WOTY? It's time to hype this up!
Also time for me to send an email to my socio students to let them know, if in fact they can access a live stream
Also time for me to send an email to my socio students to let them know, if in fact they can access a live stream
#ADS2026: are we singing WOTY like
WOTY WOTY WOTY WOTY rockin everywhere (Bubba Sparx)
or
WOTY OTY OTY OTY (Megan Thee Stallion)
#linguistics 🐦
WOTY WOTY WOTY WOTY rockin everywhere (Bubba Sparx)
or
WOTY OTY OTY OTY (Megan Thee Stallion)
#linguistics 🐦
January 7, 2026 at 3:49 PM
#ADS2026: are we singing WOTY like
WOTY WOTY WOTY WOTY rockin everywhere (Bubba Sparx)
or
WOTY OTY OTY OTY (Megan Thee Stallion)
#linguistics 🐦
WOTY WOTY WOTY WOTY rockin everywhere (Bubba Sparx)
or
WOTY OTY OTY OTY (Megan Thee Stallion)
#linguistics 🐦
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
i have to sew in the lining but uh. WHIM FOLLOWED
December 24, 2025 at 3:46 AM
i have to sew in the lining but uh. WHIM FOLLOWED
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
This and the discussion about how academics can now just read AI summaries of things really drives home how much these guys always confuse the product for the goal. You don't do a coloring sheet because you want to have a colored sheet at the end!!! The coloring is the point!!!
December 21, 2025 at 11:39 PM
This and the discussion about how academics can now just read AI summaries of things really drives home how much these guys always confuse the product for the goal. You don't do a coloring sheet because you want to have a colored sheet at the end!!! The coloring is the point!!!
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
I keep wanting to say something, and I keep not knowing what to say.
The trans community does not harm cis people by existing. They are just trying to live their lives, same as anyone else. That life doesn't look exactly like mine; my life doesn't match anyone else's. That's okay.
The trans community does not harm cis people by existing. They are just trying to live their lives, same as anyone else. That life doesn't look exactly like mine; my life doesn't match anyone else's. That's okay.
December 19, 2025 at 10:57 PM
I keep wanting to say something, and I keep not knowing what to say.
The trans community does not harm cis people by existing. They are just trying to live their lives, same as anyone else. That life doesn't look exactly like mine; my life doesn't match anyone else's. That's okay.
The trans community does not harm cis people by existing. They are just trying to live their lives, same as anyone else. That life doesn't look exactly like mine; my life doesn't match anyone else's. That's okay.
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
This is Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ethics pledge.
She was a lobbyist for Ballard — the same firm hired to lobby for both Paramount AND Netflix.
But Trump’s Justice Department said Bondi will oversee the Warner Bros. merger.
It reeks of corruption.
Bondi must recuse herself.
She was a lobbyist for Ballard — the same firm hired to lobby for both Paramount AND Netflix.
But Trump’s Justice Department said Bondi will oversee the Warner Bros. merger.
It reeks of corruption.
Bondi must recuse herself.
December 18, 2025 at 4:13 PM
This is Attorney General Pam Bondi’s ethics pledge.
She was a lobbyist for Ballard — the same firm hired to lobby for both Paramount AND Netflix.
But Trump’s Justice Department said Bondi will oversee the Warner Bros. merger.
It reeks of corruption.
Bondi must recuse herself.
She was a lobbyist for Ballard — the same firm hired to lobby for both Paramount AND Netflix.
But Trump’s Justice Department said Bondi will oversee the Warner Bros. merger.
It reeks of corruption.
Bondi must recuse herself.
Slowly coming to the truly awful realization that no, my back isn't sore because I slept weird.... I just need to strengthen my core.
December 18, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Slowly coming to the truly awful realization that no, my back isn't sore because I slept weird.... I just need to strengthen my core.
Extremely disappointed in my senator @slotkin.senate.gov .
Jon Ossoff (GA), Gary Peters (MI), Jack Reed (RI), Jacky Rosen (NV), Chuck Schumer (NY), Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Elissa Slotkin (MI), Mark Warner (VA), Raphael Warnock (GA), & Sheldon Whitehouse (RI).
U.S. Senate: U.S. Senate Roll Call Votes 119th Congress - 1st Session
www.senate.gov
December 16, 2025 at 10:01 AM
Extremely disappointed in my senator @slotkin.senate.gov .
The WOTYoty
did you know: the American Dialect Society is the oldest "word of the year" event in the States, and the words are chosen by several hundred linguists who get raucous in a big meeting room in January. you can submit nominations for us to consider!
great activity for classrooms!
great activity for classrooms!
Submit 2025 Words-of-the-Year Nominations
The American Dialect Society’s popular 2025 words-of-the-year vote will be held during the society’s 2026 annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana. Nominations will be taken Thursday, January 8, 2026…
americandialect.org
December 15, 2025 at 6:57 PM
The WOTYoty
We've given billionaires way more than long enough to role play "effective altruism" or whatever, it's time for a tax structure that can actually pay for functioning social programs.
December 14, 2025 at 11:15 PM
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
We have been fundamentally betrayed. I know an individual man or woman made this invention or that discovery, but all of it occurs on the mountain of progress we collectively made. HUMANITY made the steam engine; HUMANITY went to the moon. WE did it, together. We've always been a collective.
December 12, 2025 at 8:07 PM
We have been fundamentally betrayed. I know an individual man or woman made this invention or that discovery, but all of it occurs on the mountain of progress we collectively made. HUMANITY made the steam engine; HUMANITY went to the moon. WE did it, together. We've always been a collective.
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork
December 12, 2025 at 4:00 AM
I guess it's fitting that it's a reimagined, worse version of someone else's artwork
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
What's especially crazy about this is that it's an unbelievably cheap intervention. It costs approximately zero dollars and saves lives. There is essentially no material elements to compete over. There's nothing left but animus.
More research showing a thing the GC movement wishes to deny trans people, in this case respecting their name and pronouns, is a thing that improves mental health and could prevent a death by suicide, yet still they persist.
“Transgender and nonbinary youth (ages 13 to 24) whose pronouns are respected were 31 percent less likely to attempt suicide in the past year than those whose pronouns are not respected, according to a new report from The Trevor Project”
www.advocate.com/exclusives/p...
www.advocate.com/exclusives/p...
December 11, 2025 at 12:47 PM
What's especially crazy about this is that it's an unbelievably cheap intervention. It costs approximately zero dollars and saves lives. There is essentially no material elements to compete over. There's nothing left but animus.
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
Just discovered an insane new form of co-intelligence where you briefly share the mind of a great thinker in history and then a portion of their mind travels in yours for the rest of your life. Calling it a "book."
December 11, 2025 at 3:08 AM
Just discovered an insane new form of co-intelligence where you briefly share the mind of a great thinker in history and then a portion of their mind travels in yours for the rest of your life. Calling it a "book."
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
Israel hunted a 70 year old lady down with a gun drone and then hoovered above to make sure she bled out next to her dying son. They both join almost 1,000 Palestinians Israel has massacred or maimed in its genocide during the "ceasefire".
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
Israeli drone chases and kills elderly woman in Gaza as attacks continue
At least seven Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks as military pushes deeper beyond truce demarcation line.
www.aljazeera.com
December 8, 2025 at 3:24 AM
Israel hunted a 70 year old lady down with a gun drone and then hoovered above to make sure she bled out next to her dying son. They both join almost 1,000 Palestinians Israel has massacred or maimed in its genocide during the "ceasefire".
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/12...
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
Meanwhile some of the most interesting organic radical action on the ground is coming from rural communities protesting data centers. Somehow that doesn’t excite a lot of people who preach about radial action.
December 7, 2025 at 5:26 PM
Meanwhile some of the most interesting organic radical action on the ground is coming from rural communities protesting data centers. Somehow that doesn’t excite a lot of people who preach about radial action.
Reposted by Betsy Sneller
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December 2, 2025 at 12:51 PM
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