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Is Texting Actually Advancing Language?
Part 1 of the TED Radio Hour episode Spoken And Unspoken.
About John McWhorter's TEDTalk
Does texting mean the death of good writing skills? Linguist John McWhorter says that there's much more to texting — linguistically, culturally — than it seems, and it's all good news.
About John McWhorter
Linguist John McWhorter studies language through the lens of social, historical and technological developments. McWhorter teaches at Columbia University and is also a contributing editor at The New Republic and TheRoot.com. He's the author of What Language Is (And What It Isn't and What It Could Be); Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue: The Untold History of English; and Winning The Race: Beyond The Crisis In Black America.
Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
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The new ordinance applies to certain grocers operating in the city and has led to some self-checkout lanes to shutter.
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Children asked to waive right to see a judge in exchange for $2,500
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There’s still a lot to be determined as the refinery, which supplies about one-fifth of Southern California's vehicle fuels, works to restore production and as data is collected.
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The FCC voted to end E-Rate discounts for library hotspot lending and school bus Wi-Fi.
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About half the Pacific Airshow’s 2025 lineup has been grounded because of the federal government shutdown.
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USC says it’s reviewing the letter also sent to eight other prestigious schools nationwide. California's governor vowed that any California universities that sign will lose state funding.