language

Hulk Hogan: Don't Let One Racist Slur on Tape Define My Lifetime of Repeatedly Using Racist Slurs

Taylor Berman · 08/31/15 11:47AM

Disgraced wrestling star Hulk Hogan went on Good Morning America this morning to defend himself following the release last month of leaked transcripts of a video in which he repeatedly referred to “fucking niggers” and admitted that he’s a “racist, to a point.” “I’m not a racist,” he told ABC News’ Amy Robach. “I never should have said that. It was wrong.”

CIA Director John Brennan Bravely Holds Out Against Saying "Torture" 

Tom Scocca · 12/12/14 03:35PM

Is the CIA physically capable of speaking the truth about its torture program? Not under conventional interrogation. About 20 minutes into CIA director John Brennan's somber-squirrel performance in his press conference yesterday, a reporter for the Associated Press asked him a pointed question: "Do you agree with President Obama's statement that the CIA, in common parlance, tortured detainees?"

Hamilton Nolan · 06/13/14 01:33PM

The Wall Street Journal warns of "The Terrorist Army Marching on Baghdad." Once it's an army, can you still call it "terrorist?" Either armies are different from terrorists, or all armies are terrorists. Consistency, please. Arguments on this point are welcome.

Angry White Man Demands Right to Call Lena Dunham a "Slut"

Hamilton Nolan · 06/02/14 04:15PM

Quin Hillyer is a white male conservative who writes for National Review. So? Does he not have the same rights as anyone else? The right to call a woman a slut, and to deploy racial slurs as he deems necessary?

The Very Best Descriptions of Self-Published Books

Hamilton Nolan · 02/17/14 03:42PM

Even if you are a famous author published by a top publishing house and celebrated in rarefied literary circles, you will never write anything better than the description of a self-published author's book.

Word Terrorism: Black Friday Is Problematic For the Nuclear Option

Ken Layne · 11/25/13 01:51PM

problematic (noun, adjective) You're at work, looking at the Internet instead of doing tasks related to your employment. Something is bothering you! Did a celebrity comment on the issue of race? What is up with Katy Perry being so old? Why is "everyone" on Twitter mentioning a #longread that just didn't do anything for you? Welcome to the world of things that are problematic—meaning, things that don't concern you at all, as opposed to actual problems such as your parking tickets, student loans, self-diagnosed nutritional disorders and loser brother who wants to sleep on your sofa while he "looks for a job."

Word Terrorism: Send Your Selfies To the Ideas Editor

Ken Layne · 11/20/13 11:00AM

selfie: (noun) Nobody has any idea how to take a photograph of another person. Or, everyone hates you. What else explains the badly lit and poorly focused horror mugshots your so-called friends produce when pointing their phones at you? Did they try to zoom in on the first pimple you've had in three years, or are they just fundamentally inept at life? Is it absurd to think a person might use the simple photo-editing tools on every phone to change your eyes from demonic-idiot red to their actual color, or to maybe remove that sesame seed stuck between your front teeth? The selfie is your only shot at ever having a decent shot of yourself. Don't be embarrassed. Take as many pictures as it takes to get one of your beautiful face, instead of your flabby arm that somehow got all the light from the flash.

Cord Jefferson · 07/05/13 01:37PM

Here is a man who has wisely invested $75,000 of his own money into developing a symbol to represent the word "the." All that cash got him a symbol that basically looks like an uppercase "T" and a lowercase "h" smashed together. Smart.