Peter Sokolowski
@petersokolowski.bsky.social
Dictionary ambassador, Merriam-Webster.
Pinned
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
I see some book piracy discourse, and, to make a positive argument in favor of buying books, your marginal ability to influence what books get published and support the careers of writers you like is massive compared to most other forms of media.
November 25, 2025 at 11:07 PM
I once asked a bookseller at a large indie store how many people would have to buy a book for it to get the attention of the store buyer and cause an additional order and they said: Three.
MUPPET MOLIERE
The Jim Henson Company's 70th Anniversary Auction is today. If I had the funds, I would love to expand @ransomcenter.bsky.social's collection of author busts by purchasing these props from The Muppet Christmas Carol.
www.juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/...
#Muppets #JimHenson #booksky #filmsky 📚📽️
www.juliensauctions.com/en/auctions/...
#Muppets #JimHenson #booksky #filmsky 📚📽️
November 25, 2025 at 3:34 PM
MUPPET MOLIERE
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
We started showing our 8yo Back to the Future tonight. My Spanish wife texted her aunt about it & she said she never heard of it. Then she said do you mean Back to the Past which is its Spanish title.
Shouldn’t be surprised by the literalness as Knight Rider is called The Fantastic Car over there.
Shouldn’t be surprised by the literalness as Knight Rider is called The Fantastic Car over there.
November 24, 2025 at 10:13 PM
We started showing our 8yo Back to the Future tonight. My Spanish wife texted her aunt about it & she said she never heard of it. Then she said do you mean Back to the Past which is its Spanish title.
Shouldn’t be surprised by the literalness as Knight Rider is called The Fantastic Car over there.
Shouldn’t be surprised by the literalness as Knight Rider is called The Fantastic Car over there.
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
Impressionnant! D’ici 2030, Paris aura supprimé 60 000 places de stationnement pour une ville plus verte, plus résiliente, plus agréable pour les piétons et moins dépendante de la voiture.
November 24, 2025 at 3:29 PM
Impressionnant! D’ici 2030, Paris aura supprimé 60 000 places de stationnement pour une ville plus verte, plus résiliente, plus agréable pour les piétons et moins dépendante de la voiture.
Fantastic conversation here.
Episode 70, just a few weeks ago, was a great one for paper 2. We talked to @emhumps.bsky.social about prescriptivism and how people try (and usually fail) to control language use. This gives a great overview for a lot of issues on the paper: open.spotify.com/episode/6aoS...
Episode 70 - Emma Humphries & prescriptivism
Lexis · Episode
open.spotify.com
November 20, 2025 at 8:42 PM
Fantastic conversation here.
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
Introducing my new project… Your Wrong (yourwrong.co.uk). It’s all about the language rules and judgements that appear in different forms of popular culture. Films, series, podcasts, music, books, even graffiti!
I’d love your help to find examples!
I’d love your help to find examples!
Your Wrong
yourwrong.co.uk
February 5, 2025 at 9:34 AM
Introducing my new project… Your Wrong (yourwrong.co.uk). It’s all about the language rules and judgements that appear in different forms of popular culture. Films, series, podcasts, music, books, even graffiti!
I’d love your help to find examples!
I’d love your help to find examples!
LE BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU EST ARRIVE
Beaujolais nouveau 2025 : un millésime de qualité
Beaujolais nouveau 2025 : un millésime de qualité
l.lepoint.fr
November 20, 2025 at 6:33 PM
LE BEAUJOLAIS NOUVEAU EST ARRIVE
didn't have the coin for NYC rent
The American Numismatic Society’s collections of coins will be relocating from Manhattan to the spacious campus of the Toledo Museum of Art. The $20 million plan, to be completed in 2028, would make possible its long-harbored vision of a state-of-the-art money museum.
After 167 Years in New York, a Priceless Coin Collection Heads to Toledo
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 5:26 PM
didn't have the coin for NYC rent
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
@merriam-webster.com just released the first new print edition of its Collegiate Dictionary in 22 years — and it weighs five pounds! So of course, I had questions. :)
In today's podcast, I talk with @petersokolowski.bsky.social about why print still matters.
APPLE PODCASTS: bit.ly/3LMhwbL
In today's podcast, I talk with @petersokolowski.bsky.social about why print still matters.
APPLE PODCASTS: bit.ly/3LMhwbL
November 20, 2025 at 4:03 PM
@merriam-webster.com just released the first new print edition of its Collegiate Dictionary in 22 years — and it weighs five pounds! So of course, I had questions. :)
In today's podcast, I talk with @petersokolowski.bsky.social about why print still matters.
APPLE PODCASTS: bit.ly/3LMhwbL
In today's podcast, I talk with @petersokolowski.bsky.social about why print still matters.
APPLE PODCASTS: bit.ly/3LMhwbL
Today is the 100th birthday anniversary of jazz singer June Christy.
She had a cult following & was hugely popular in the early '50s, but now her music is much less frequently heard.
Her signature tune is a three-act opera in four minutes.
It's the JUNETENNIAL!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8c...
She had a cult following & was hugely popular in the early '50s, but now her music is much less frequently heard.
Her signature tune is a three-act opera in four minutes.
It's the JUNETENNIAL!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8c...
Something Cool (Mono)
YouTube video by June Christy - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 20, 2025 at 3:27 PM
Today is the 100th birthday anniversary of jazz singer June Christy.
She had a cult following & was hugely popular in the early '50s, but now her music is much less frequently heard.
Her signature tune is a three-act opera in four minutes.
It's the JUNETENNIAL!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8c...
She had a cult following & was hugely popular in the early '50s, but now her music is much less frequently heard.
Her signature tune is a three-act opera in four minutes.
It's the JUNETENNIAL!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8c...
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
I'm sorry but this is a generational flex
The best DM of my life from @alixeharrow.bsky.social today. Put this on my Wikipedia. Put it in my obit. Tell the bees
November 19, 2025 at 4:48 PM
I'm sorry but this is a generational flex
This reminds me that one of the most famous definitions ever is "a cake, long in shape but short in duration" for ECLAIR in Chambers dictionary.
Most people take it as a jocular reference to deliciousness but it was just an interpretation of the etymology:
'éclair' is "lightning" in French.
Most people take it as a jocular reference to deliciousness but it was just an interpretation of the etymology:
'éclair' is "lightning" in French.
The word "eclair" is short for "electronic Claire". Not many people know this.
November 19, 2025 at 7:31 PM
This reminds me that one of the most famous definitions ever is "a cake, long in shape but short in duration" for ECLAIR in Chambers dictionary.
Most people take it as a jocular reference to deliciousness but it was just an interpretation of the etymology:
'éclair' is "lightning" in French.
Most people take it as a jocular reference to deliciousness but it was just an interpretation of the etymology:
'éclair' is "lightning" in French.
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
It can't be a coincidence that today is also Johnny Mercer's birthday.
🎶 You're much too much and just too very, very / To ever be in Webster's Dictionary 🎶
🎶 You're much too much and just too very, very / To ever be in Webster's Dictionary 🎶
November 18, 2025 at 10:01 PM
It can't be a coincidence that today is also Johnny Mercer's birthday.
🎶 You're much too much and just too very, very / To ever be in Webster's Dictionary 🎶
🎶 You're much too much and just too very, very / To ever be in Webster's Dictionary 🎶
PUB DAY for DICTIONARY
Merriam-Webster, the country’s oldest dictionary publisher which is headquartered in Springfield, just released an updated Collegiate edition with 5,000 new entries.
Merriam-Webster goes old school with first new hardcover Collegiate dictionary in 22 years
Merriam-Webster, the country’s oldest dictionary publisher which is headquartered in Springfield, just released an updated Collegiate edition with 5,000 new entries.
www.wbur.org
November 18, 2025 at 1:27 PM
PUB DAY for DICTIONARY
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
Read this. All of it. "The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the MBCI [Mississippi Choctaws] a grant in 2020. The grant was a significant boost to the project. However, as the department was nearing completion of the dictionary, the Trump administration terminated the award."
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians received a grant for its Choctaw Dictionary project in 2020. However, as the department was nearing completion of the dictionary, the Trump administration terminated the award.
buff.ly/5ApEvre
buff.ly/5ApEvre
Mississippi Choctaw Dictionary Project Helps Preserve Language
The Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians’ Choctaw Dictionary Project is designed to help teach the language and encourage more daily use.
www.mississippifreepress.org
November 17, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Read this. All of it. "The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded the MBCI [Mississippi Choctaws] a grant in 2020. The grant was a significant boost to the project. However, as the department was nearing completion of the dictionary, the Trump administration terminated the award."
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
Print dictionaries: the original large language models
11/18/25
11/18/25
November 17, 2025 at 2:41 PM
Print dictionaries: the original large language models
11/18/25
11/18/25
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
I just don't have the time for chronology jokes.
I can’t see my way to making ophthalmology jokes.
I don't have the words to make linguistic jokes.
November 12, 2025 at 5:42 PM
I just don't have the time for chronology jokes.
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
VAMPIRE JAMES BOND
November 11, 2025 at 10:43 PM
VAMPIRE JAMES BOND
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
I'll see your "67" and raise you a "23 skidoo"! Yes, @dictionarycom.bsky.social picking "67" as Word of the Year got me thinking about other phrases with numbers.
"23 skidoo" was a viral catchphrase in the early 1900s that meant "get lost" or "beat it." (cont.)
"23 skidoo" was a viral catchphrase in the early 1900s that meant "get lost" or "beat it." (cont.)
November 11, 2025 at 6:47 PM
I'll see your "67" and raise you a "23 skidoo"! Yes, @dictionarycom.bsky.social picking "67" as Word of the Year got me thinking about other phrases with numbers.
"23 skidoo" was a viral catchphrase in the early 1900s that meant "get lost" or "beat it." (cont.)
"23 skidoo" was a viral catchphrase in the early 1900s that meant "get lost" or "beat it." (cont.)
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
No real Bond takes so I'll just link Shirley Bassey's banger version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" which inexplicably didn't get used for Thunderball. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5nu...
Mr Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (1992 Remaster)
YouTube video by Shirley Bassey - Topic
www.youtube.com
November 11, 2025 at 5:42 PM
No real Bond takes so I'll just link Shirley Bassey's banger version of "Mr. Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" which inexplicably didn't get used for Thunderball. www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5nu...
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
If you know that cat, you know where I was today.
November 11, 2025 at 4:34 PM
If you know that cat, you know where I was today.
Reposted by Peter Sokolowski
Happy Corduroy Appreciate Day to all who celebrate! 11/11, the date most resembling corduroy!
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
Happy Corduroy Appreciate Day to all who celebrate! 11/11, the date most resembling corduroy!