Allusionist 102. New Rules - transcript

July 13, 2019 The Allusionist

HZ: How are we supposed to learn these rules? Because it's very subtle.

GRETCHEN McCULLOCH: It is very subtle. And I think we learn them from interacting with each other primarily.

HZ: I know that I was never taught through formal channels to emphasise something by repeating letters - omfggggg! - or by putting a full stop or exclamation mark after every 👏 word 👏 in 👏 the 👏 sentence, or by attaching a gif of a panda upending a desk.

GRETCHEN McCULLOCH: We have been doing emphasis in writing for a lot longer than the internet has even been a glimmer in someone's imagination.

Allusionist 76. Across the Pond - transcript

April 6, 2018 The Allusionist

HZ: We’ve all noted by now that Americans don’t spell colour or neighbour with a ‘u’ because who needs it, and Brits snigger uncontrollably at ‘fanny pack’. We know American and British Englishes are different, but the question is “Why?”

LYNNE MURPHY: People will say to me, "Why do British people say this and American people say that?" and I'm like, "Well, because they learned English in different places."