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Geoff Nunberg

Geoff Nunberg is the linguist contributor on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross.

He teaches at the School of Information at the University of California at Berkeley and is the author of The Way We Talk Now, Going Nucular, Talking Right and The Years of Talking Dangerously. His most recent book is Ascent of the A-Word. His website is www.geoffreynunberg.com.

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Opinion
12:26 pm
Mon June 25, 2012

Taboo Revival: Talking Private Parts In Public Places

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Originally published on Tue June 26, 2012 8:35 am

Geoff Nunberg is the linguist contributor on NPR's Fresh Air. His new book, Ascent of the A-Word, will be appearing this summer.

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Commentary
12:00 pm
Wed May 30, 2012

The Word 'Hopefully' Is Here To Stay, Hopefully

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The word "hopefully" has been used in thousands of NPR stories.
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Originally published on Wed May 30, 2012 3:52 pm

Geoff Nunberg, the linguist contributor on NPR's Fresh Air, is the author of the book The Years of Talking Dangerously.

There was something anticlimactic to the news that the AP Stylebook will no longer be objecting to the use of "hopefully" as a floating sentence adverb, as in, "Hopefully, the Giants will win the division." It was like seeing an obituary for someone you assumed must have died around the time that Hootenanny went off the air.

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Opinion
11:36 am
Tue March 13, 2012

Slut: The Other Four Letter S-Word

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Sandra Fluke, a third-year law student at Georgetown University, testifies about contraceptives and insurance coverage during a hearing before the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee.
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Geoff Nunberg, the linguist contributor on NPR's Fresh Air with Terry Gross, is the author of the book The Years of Talking Dangerously.

"My choice of words was not the best," Rush Limbaugh said in his apology. That's the standard formula for these things — you apologize not for what you said but for the way you said it.

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