Joshua Raclaw
@joshuaraclaw.com
sociocultural linguist working in trans and queer linguistics and conversation analysis. posts about yiddish, cooking, adhd, cats, professor stuff. (they/זײ) [ˈɹæ.klɔ] מיר װעלן זײ איבערלעבן
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Damn, this plaque is about to get accused of treason
West Point plaque: "Our code of military obedience requires that, should orders and the law ever conflict, our officers must obey the law."
November 26, 2025 at 2:11 AM
Damn, this plaque is about to get accused of treason
Sick of hearing about the AI bubble, looking forward to instead hearing about the AI bubbie
November 26, 2025 at 1:10 AM
Sick of hearing about the AI bubble, looking forward to instead hearing about the AI bubbie
I just think it's nice that the Yiddish word for a pendulum literally means AN UNREST (umru; אומרו)
November 25, 2025 at 11:28 PM
I just think it's nice that the Yiddish word for a pendulum literally means AN UNREST (umru; אומרו)
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Men will do things like announce “the most popular pie in the country is bad and it’s not debatable” and still be allowed to have jobs and drive cars.
Apple pie is bad. This is not really debatable. So is key lime pie, while we’re on the topic. Pecan pie is the 🐐 tho.
November 25, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Men will do things like announce “the most popular pie in the country is bad and it’s not debatable” and still be allowed to have jobs and drive cars.
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
The Kamala Harris book is so excruciating
November 24, 2025 at 8:54 PM
The Kamala Harris book is so excruciating
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
November 25, 2025 at 4:15 PM
one of the coolest things about ChatGPT is how you can actually just never use it. you can fill your whole entire life with simply not once using it. it's incredible.
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
a real sentence from my yiddish class: ‘and so the turkey was exposed as a nativist’
November 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
a real sentence from my yiddish class: ‘and so the turkey was exposed as a nativist’
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
November 25, 2025 at 8:44 PM
My microwave sings a little song when my Hot Pocket is done. Should it have the right to vote?
yiddish is so good because the word for "apple pie" is just "epl pai" (עפּל פּײַ)
November 25, 2025 at 9:10 PM
yiddish is so good because the word for "apple pie" is just "epl pai" (עפּל פּײַ)
I’ve never tried reading Yiddish written left-to-right before and I’m kind of shocked at how viscerally discomforting it is
November 25, 2025 at 7:13 PM
I’ve never tried reading Yiddish written left-to-right before and I’m kind of shocked at how viscerally discomforting it is
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
I'm never going to stop pronouncing Chotiner's name in my head as in Yiddish
November 25, 2025 at 5:30 PM
I'm never going to stop pronouncing Chotiner's name in my head as in Yiddish
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
November 25, 2025 at 3:02 PM
A package hasn't "shipped" if you've only "created the label"
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
l bet some of y‘all think Kristi is joking.
Nope.
The Republicans hid this on purpose for almost a year and the MSM missed it.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Nope.
The Republicans hid this on purpose for almost a year and the MSM missed it.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
November 25, 2025 at 7:00 AM
l bet some of y‘all think Kristi is joking.
Nope.
The Republicans hid this on purpose for almost a year and the MSM missed it.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
Nope.
The Republicans hid this on purpose for almost a year and the MSM missed it.
www.politico.com/news/magazin...
I have a very lax and accommodating late policy where students can submit late assignments any time before the end of week 13 of the semester, with frequent reminders of this unyielding deadline all thirteen weeks, and yet every year a few students try to submit late work at the beginning of week 14
November 25, 2025 at 3:19 PM
I have a very lax and accommodating late policy where students can submit late assignments any time before the end of week 13 of the semester, with frequent reminders of this unyielding deadline all thirteen weeks, and yet every year a few students try to submit late work at the beginning of week 14
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
“We’ve tried to not have to do it, but we've got direct orders,” the masked ICE agents told them www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/i...
November 25, 2025 at 12:26 PM
“We’ve tried to not have to do it, but we've got direct orders,” the masked ICE agents told them www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/i...
took a gummy and decided i'm going to try adding some angostura bitters to the cranberry sauce this year
November 25, 2025 at 1:19 AM
took a gummy and decided i'm going to try adding some angostura bitters to the cranberry sauce this year
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
I'm so tired of people telling me to have students critique LLM outputs. I'm just going to print this on little cards and hand them out
I will add the following: our students lack the research skills required to audit an LLM essay for errors. They don’t arrive on campus with these skills; we teach it to them over four long years. So throwing freshmen in the deep end and saying “swim your way to a shore of rectitude” is folly.
November 24, 2025 at 2:36 PM
I'm so tired of people telling me to have students critique LLM outputs. I'm just going to print this on little cards and hand them out
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Man Who Thought Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ Was Over In For Thrill Of His Fucking Life https://theonion.com/man-who-thought-fleetwood-macs-the-chain-was-over-in-for-thrill-of-his-fucking-life/
November 24, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Man Who Thought Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’ Was Over In For Thrill Of His Fucking Life https://theonion.com/man-who-thought-fleetwood-macs-the-chain-was-over-in-for-thrill-of-his-fucking-life/
The Yiddish version of this sign is so funny because at first glance it looks like the two pillars of wheat say "BREAD OF THE LITTLE LION" (ברױט דעם לײבעל) and "BUY WITH UNION" (קױפֿט מיט יוניאן) but then you realize it just says "buy bread with the union label" (קױפֿט ברױט מיט דעם יוניאן לײבעל)
The London Jewish Bakers’ Union was the longest-lived Jewish trade union, operating from 1905 to 1970.
The banner reminded shoppers to buy bread with the union label, which guaranteed it was baked under acceptable working conditions.
The banner reminded shoppers to buy bread with the union label, which guaranteed it was baked under acceptable working conditions.
November 24, 2025 at 10:29 PM
The Yiddish version of this sign is so funny because at first glance it looks like the two pillars of wheat say "BREAD OF THE LITTLE LION" (ברױט דעם לײבעל) and "BUY WITH UNION" (קױפֿט מיט יוניאן) but then you realize it just says "buy bread with the union label" (קױפֿט ברױט מיט דעם יוניאן לײבעל)
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
The story told here--one where anecdata suggests agency and autonomy have run amok and nameless activists are to blame--certainly rhymes with the NYT's disastrous panic about trans kids. Then you realize it's literally being written by the same author.
Autism rates have increased in recent decades, but the reasons are more complicated than what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has presented. Hear more on today's episode of "The Daily." nyti.ms/480eqtm
The Autism Diagnosis Problem
Autism rates have increased in recent decades, but the reasons are more complicated than what Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has presented.
nyti.ms
November 24, 2025 at 9:36 PM
The story told here--one where anecdata suggests agency and autonomy have run amok and nameless activists are to blame--certainly rhymes with the NYT's disastrous panic about trans kids. Then you realize it's literally being written by the same author.
quote from an interview i did that perfectly sums up the yiddish reading expierence:
"You know in America you read a children's story where they catch a bird and the bird has a broken leg, and they heal the bird, happy bird flies away. In Yiddish the bird has a broken leg and then the bird dies."
"You know in America you read a children's story where they catch a bird and the bird has a broken leg, and they heal the bird, happy bird flies away. In Yiddish the bird has a broken leg and then the bird dies."
November 24, 2025 at 7:25 PM
quote from an interview i did that perfectly sums up the yiddish reading expierence:
"You know in America you read a children's story where they catch a bird and the bird has a broken leg, and they heal the bird, happy bird flies away. In Yiddish the bird has a broken leg and then the bird dies."
"You know in America you read a children's story where they catch a bird and the bird has a broken leg, and they heal the bird, happy bird flies away. In Yiddish the bird has a broken leg and then the bird dies."
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Yiddish has great ways to say you’re annoying someone, like “banging them a teapot” (האַקן אַ טשײַניק) or “spinning them a hat” (דרײען אַ היטל) and other things I am doing to this dog
November 23, 2025 at 8:34 PM
Yiddish has great ways to say you’re annoying someone, like “banging them a teapot” (האַקן אַ טשײַניק) or “spinning them a hat” (דרײען אַ היטל) and other things I am doing to this dog
Reposted by Joshua Raclaw
Amazingly, almost everything in this skeet is wrong. The myth of Spinoza's "excommunication" is mostly a product of twentieth century post-Christian wishful thinking.
November 24, 2025 at 3:54 PM
Amazingly, almost everything in this skeet is wrong. The myth of Spinoza's "excommunication" is mostly a product of twentieth century post-Christian wishful thinking.
Very charmed that Yiddish ended up with both the words DZHEZ (דזשעז) and DZHAZ (דזשאַז) to refer to jazz music
November 24, 2025 at 2:37 PM
Very charmed that Yiddish ended up with both the words DZHEZ (דזשעז) and DZHAZ (דזשאַז) to refer to jazz music