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
Ieithydd o Gymro yn Philadelphia. Tyfaf ieithoedd yn y lab. Barnau fy hun. Fo.
https://linktr.ee/garicgymro
Pinned
Gareth Roberts
@garicgymro.bsky.social
· Oct 22
Linguist Answers Word Origin Questions | Tech Support | WIRED
YouTube video by WIRED
youtu.be
This was quite good fun to do
youtu.be/mey9EsOwhDo?...
youtu.be/mey9EsOwhDo?...
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
In honour of Rob Reiner, have David Moore's thread on the best sword fight in movie history and exactly how nerdy it is.
As you may know, I have stopped using Twitter, and have decided to reproduce some of my more memorable threads here for posterity. Here’s one I hold wrote after a particularly engaging swordfighting lesson.
Buckle up, swordfighting fans, because I *have* studied my Agrippa!
[BIG ASS THREAD]
Buckle up, swordfighting fans, because I *have* studied my Agrippa!
[BIG ASS THREAD]
a man reading a book to a young boy
Alt: a man reading a book to a young boy
media.tenor.com
December 15, 2025 at 8:46 AM
In honour of Rob Reiner, have David Moore's thread on the best sword fight in movie history and exactly how nerdy it is.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
This story is astonishing.
🧵Omfg. In 1965, to keep an eye on China, the CIA hatched a plan to put a monitoring device on Nanda Devi, a difficult to climb mountain in India, overlooking China.
The device was powered by voltage generated by heat from radioactuve Plutonium.
They lost it in the icepack feeding the Ganges.
The device was powered by voltage generated by heat from radioactuve Plutonium.
They lost it in the icepack feeding the Ganges.
How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device in the Himalayas? (Gift Article)
A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about.
www.nytimes.com
December 14, 2025 at 8:14 PM
This story is astonishing.
So I have a question, specifically about the "as if you're watching a movie" part. I visualise books as I read them. But it's quite different from my experience of watching a movie, in which my eyes perceive a clear picture...
December 14, 2025 at 8:20 PM
So I have a question, specifically about the "as if you're watching a movie" part. I visualise books as I read them. But it's quite different from my experience of watching a movie, in which my eyes perceive a clear picture...
We celebrate Christmas in a secular way but I'm realising at least two of my kids have little idea of what Christians believe about it (in spite of us telling them)! Can anyone recommend a particularly good video about the nativity story that kids aged 8–14 would enjoy?
December 14, 2025 at 2:48 PM
We celebrate Christmas in a secular way but I'm realising at least two of my kids have little idea of what Christians believe about it (in spite of us telling them)! Can anyone recommend a particularly good video about the nativity story that kids aged 8–14 would enjoy?
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
The new reality of life for Ukrainian kids in Zaporizhzhia.
Drone "tunnels" keep pupils safer as they head to school, which is now metres underground.
#StopRussia
Drone "tunnels" keep pupils safer as they head to school, which is now metres underground.
#StopRussia
December 13, 2025 at 3:27 PM
The new reality of life for Ukrainian kids in Zaporizhzhia.
Drone "tunnels" keep pupils safer as they head to school, which is now metres underground.
#StopRussia
Drone "tunnels" keep pupils safer as they head to school, which is now metres underground.
#StopRussia
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
I genuinely don't know if this is a "Minnesotan" thing or an "old guy of a certain age" thing but in case it's Minnesotan and people need an anger translator: this guy is so angry he could just about set something on fire with his mind.
This one isn’t downloadable but if you have TikTok go watch it. Well worth your time www.tiktok.com/t/ZTr4gRL7v/
@Mercado Media video credit #minnesota #illinois #louisiana #america
TikTok video by June Osborne
www.tiktok.com
December 13, 2025 at 5:13 PM
I genuinely don't know if this is a "Minnesotan" thing or an "old guy of a certain age" thing but in case it's Minnesotan and people need an anger translator: this guy is so angry he could just about set something on fire with his mind.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
WOW.
Indiana Republican senators refused to be bullied by Trump.
Overwhelmingly.
Indiana Republican senators refused to be bullied by Trump.
Overwhelmingly.
Indiana’s Senate has voted AGAINST the GOP gerrymander that’d have locked in a 9-0 map.
This keeps the 7-2 map in place, saving two Democratic seats heading into 2026.
The vote failed big, 19/31.
The MAJORITY of the GOP senators opposed it!
This keeps the 7-2 map in place, saving two Democratic seats heading into 2026.
The vote failed big, 19/31.
The MAJORITY of the GOP senators opposed it!
December 11, 2025 at 9:46 PM
WOW.
Indiana Republican senators refused to be bullied by Trump.
Overwhelmingly.
Indiana Republican senators refused to be bullied by Trump.
Overwhelmingly.
Have arrived to collect my award
December 11, 2025 at 7:20 AM
Have arrived to collect my award
I mean, you'd kinda hope smoking would activate the smoke detection system with some reliability...
December 10, 2025 at 10:24 PM
I mean, you'd kinda hope smoking would activate the smoke detection system with some reliability...
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
'Skull of St. Thomas Aquinas being transported to Fossanova Abbey.'
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
Photograph by Daniel Ibanez
December 10, 2025 at 5:10 PM
SKULL OF THOMAS AQUINAS: TAKE A LEFT NOW
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
PRIEST: No, the GPS says we have to keep going—
SKULL: I KNOW A SHORTCUT
PRIEST: Do you remember the last ti—
SKULL: FOR THOSE WITH FAITH, NO EVIDENCE IS NECESSARY; FOR THOSE WITHOUT IT, NO EVIDENCE WILL SUFFICE
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
Once again, the ads in the print edition of @theonion.com are worth the price alone
December 10, 2025 at 12:37 AM
Once again, the ads in the print edition of @theonion.com are worth the price alone
Come on, this is silly. Primary school was years ago!
December 9, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Come on, this is silly. Primary school was years ago!
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Torture Techniques from CIA Black Sites Were Used at Alligator Alcatraz
Amnesty International, interviewing migrant detainees, identifies use of the confinement box. There can be no denying it is a torture prison
www.forever-wars.com
December 8, 2025 at 9:40 PM
They're using the confinement box, one of the most horrific methods of CIA torture in the post-9/11 black sites, against migrants now. This is the direct result of the lack of consequences for the architects of the torture program. Either there will be criminal penalties for this or it will expand.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
Hey Linguists Over A Certain Age: according to etymologynerd, we don't study the effects of social media algorithms on language change because we "find it hard to keep up with the fast pace of language change"
December 8, 2025 at 6:02 PM
Hey Linguists Over A Certain Age: according to etymologynerd, we don't study the effects of social media algorithms on language change because we "find it hard to keep up with the fast pace of language change"
Tonight's #BoardGames:
1. Hot Streak
2. Killer: Alien on Board
3. Gingerbread House
4. Wilmot's Warehouse
1. Hot Streak
2. Killer: Alien on Board
3. Gingerbread House
4. Wilmot's Warehouse
December 7, 2025 at 7:01 AM
Tonight's #BoardGames:
1. Hot Streak
2. Killer: Alien on Board
3. Gingerbread House
4. Wilmot's Warehouse
1. Hot Streak
2. Killer: Alien on Board
3. Gingerbread House
4. Wilmot's Warehouse
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
The video of this violent and illegal kidnapping was so embarrassing to Trumpers that ICE called the reporter to say it was masked CPB officers, not ICE thugs, who brutalized the victim.
The U.S. citizen who was very publicly detained in the Keys this week talks to the Miami Herald about what happened...
🎁🔗
🎁🔗
Exclusive: Woman detained by feds in Keys says she was following agents’ orders
“This is not the America that I grew up in, and this is not the America that we represent.”
www.miamiherald.com
December 6, 2025 at 1:03 PM
The video of this violent and illegal kidnapping was so embarrassing to Trumpers that ICE called the reporter to say it was masked CPB officers, not ICE thugs, who brutalized the victim.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
December 6, 2025 at 4:29 AM
The Nobel Prize committee should announce the World Cup winner tomorrow
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
En dashes: They’re here to serve.
Ah, the famous Christmas tradition of right wing men drinking cum.
December 5, 2025 at 11:27 PM
En dashes: They’re here to serve.
So this might seem nitpicky, but could we stop treating "birthright citizenship" as synonymous with jus soli citizenship? If you're American because—even though you were born in Germany—you have American parents, that's an example of birthright citizenship.
December 5, 2025 at 9:12 PM
So this might seem nitpicky, but could we stop treating "birthright citizenship" as synonymous with jus soli citizenship? If you're American because—even though you were born in Germany—you have American parents, that's an example of birthright citizenship.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
anyway this isn’t a legally difficult question it is a politically difficult question for the conservative majority and the only thing we’re waiting to see is if they will ignore political pressure and follow the clear text of the constitution or bend to the president’s demands.
December 5, 2025 at 7:05 PM
anyway this isn’t a legally difficult question it is a politically difficult question for the conservative majority and the only thing we’re waiting to see is if they will ignore political pressure and follow the clear text of the constitution or bend to the president’s demands.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
worth saying that some portion of the freed slaves were themselves illegal aliens having been brought illegally into the united states by smugglers. if the birthright clause applies to them, it applies to undocumented immigrants
Here is the question presented. It's a relatively clean vehicle for the Supreme Court to finally decide whether it is lawful for the president to deny birthright citizenship to the children of immigrants. www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/25...
December 5, 2025 at 7:03 PM
worth saying that some portion of the freed slaves were themselves illegal aliens having been brought illegally into the united states by smugglers. if the birthright clause applies to them, it applies to undocumented immigrants
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
Honestly, every left-wing group should create the tackiest cheapest ugliest trophy they can imagine and make a big show of presenting it to Trump with some obnoxious name like the Greenpeace Award for Big Beautiful Excellence in Body Odors or the ACLU Trophy for Presidential Strongly Napping.
December 5, 2025 at 7:37 PM
Honestly, every left-wing group should create the tackiest cheapest ugliest trophy they can imagine and make a big show of presenting it to Trump with some obnoxious name like the Greenpeace Award for Big Beautiful Excellence in Body Odors or the ACLU Trophy for Presidential Strongly Napping.
I'd like to just say how delighted and honoured I was to be awarded the Nickelodeon Prize for Research in Particle Physics earlier this week.
December 5, 2025 at 8:16 PM
I'd like to just say how delighted and honoured I was to be awarded the Nickelodeon Prize for Research in Particle Physics earlier this week.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
The White House surrenders at 138 million views. Sabrina wins.
December 5, 2025 at 7:55 PM
The White House surrenders at 138 million views. Sabrina wins.
Reposted by Gareth Roberts
We all know this is a lie, but can we stop valorizing this shit?
Sleeping this little actually really fucks you up and you make bad decisions. It makes you irritable. It fucks up your memory. It reduces your ability to react calmly and rationally.
Sleeping this little actually really fucks you up and you make bad decisions. It makes you irritable. It fucks up your memory. It reduces your ability to react calmly and rationally.
VARNEY: Do you work 18 hours a day?
MIKE JOHNSON: More. More. And I have to, because President Trump works 21 hours a day.
MIKE JOHNSON: More. More. And I have to, because President Trump works 21 hours a day.
December 5, 2025 at 2:41 PM
We all know this is a lie, but can we stop valorizing this shit?
Sleeping this little actually really fucks you up and you make bad decisions. It makes you irritable. It fucks up your memory. It reduces your ability to react calmly and rationally.
Sleeping this little actually really fucks you up and you make bad decisions. It makes you irritable. It fucks up your memory. It reduces your ability to react calmly and rationally.