Explorations in the language of sports and beyond.
Here you’ll find perspectives on how language shapes the way we interpret information. Some pieces focus on sports, others on culture or everyday communication, but all of them examine language as a lens for understanding meaning.
Pete Alonso’s Free Agency: Decoding His Language and What It Means for the Mets’ Future
A linguistic and paralinguistic analysis of how Alonso and Edwin Díaz signal commitment, hesitation, and leverage through shifts in wording, tense, reduced forms, and physical cues. It offers a clearer sense of what their “yeahs,” “yes,” and half-shrugs actually communicate about their futures in Queens.
The Power of Precision: When Clever Language Replaces Clear Thinking
An examination of how witty, imprecise language can obscure meaning rather than clarify it. Using a sports-media advertisement as a case study, the piece explores how clever phrasing displaces clear claims and influences interpretation.
The Hidden Dangers of Apologies
This analysis explores the structure of apology language, the role of performative verbs, and the gap between what an apology claims to do and what it actually accomplishes. It highlights that simply saying the words is often not enough to repair the harm.