Let other pens dwell on guilt and misery

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/after-dark-at-the-movies-the-damned/

Posted by Carrie S

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=147617

This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you!

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https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/after-dark-at-the-movies-the-damned/

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https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70026&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=alignment

Posted by Mark Liberman

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70026

In today's email there was a message from AAAI 2026 that included a "Call for the Special Track on AI Alignment""

AAAI-26 is pleased to announce a special track focused on AI Alignment. This track recognizes that as we begin to build more and more capable AI systems, it becomes crucial to ensure that the goals and actions of such systems are aligned with human values. To accomplish this, we need to understand the risks of these systems and research methods to mitigate these risks. The track covers many different aspects of AI Alignment, including but not limited to the following topics:

Value alignment and reward modeling: How do we accurately model a diverse set of human preferences, and ensure that AI systems are aligned to these same preferences?
Scalable oversight and control: How can we effectively supervise, monitor and control increasingly capable AI systems? How do we ensure that such systems behave according to predefined safety considerations?
Robustness and security: How do we create AI systems that work well in new or adversarial environments, including scenarios where a malicious actor is intentionally attempting to misuse the system?
Interpretability: How can we understand and explain the operations of AI models to a diverse set of stakeholders in a transparent and methodical manner?
Governance: How do we put in place policies and regulations that manage the development and deployment of AI models to ensure broad societal benefits and fairly distributed societal risks?
Superintelligence: How can we control and monitor systems that may, in some respects, surpass human intelligence and capabilities?
Evaluation: How can we evaluate the safety of models and the effectiveness of various alignment techniques, including both technical and human-centered approaches?
Participation: How can we actively engage impacted individuals and communities in shaping the set of values to which AI systems align?

This reminded me of my participation a few months ago in the advisory committee for "ARIA: Aligning Research to Impact Autism", which was one of the four initiatives of the "Coalition for Aligning Science".

Alignment, like journey, is an old word that has been finding new meanings and broader uses over the past few decades. I suspect a role for Dungeons & Dragons, which has been impacting broader culture in many ways since the 1970s:

In the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) fantasy role-playing game, alignment is a categorization of the ethical and moral perspective of player characters, non-player characters, and creatures.

Most versions of the game feature a system in which players make two choices for characters. One is the character's views on "law" versus "chaos", the other on "good" versus "evil". The two axes, along with "neutral" in the middle, allow for nine alignments in combination. […]

The original version of D&D (1974) allowed players to choose among three alignments when creating a character: lawful, implying honor and respect for society's rules; chaotic, implying rebelliousness and individualism; and neutral, seeking a balance between the extremes.

In 1976, Gary Gygax published an article title "The Meaning of Law and Chaos in Dungeons and Dragons and Their Relationships to Good and Evil" in The Strategic Review Volume 2, issue 1, that introduced a second axis of good, implying altruism and respect for life, versus evil, implying selfishness and no respect for life. The 1977 release of the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set incorporated this model. As with the law-versus-chaos axis, a neutral position exists between the extremes. Characters and creatures could be lawful and evil at the same time (such as a tyrant), or chaotic but good (such as Robin Hood).

For some metaphorical extensions, see "Alignment charts and other low-dimensional visualizations", 1/7/2020.

A quick scan of Google Research results shows a steady increase in references including the word alignment, though 2014 or so. (I've included counts for the word results to check for general corpus-size increases).

  YEARS   ALIGNMENT RESULTS  RATIO
1970-1974   19000   200000   10.53
1975-1979   31700   350000   11.04
1980-1984   56900   355000    6.24 
1985-1989  119999   305000    2.54 
1990-1994  207000   362000    1.75 
1995-1999  363000   546000    1.50
2000-2004  644000   799000    1.24 
2005-2009 1080000   856000    0.79 
2010-2014 1220000   760000    0.62 
2015-2019 1200000  1260000    1.05 
2020-2024  967000  1800000    1.86

And a graphical version:

It would be interesting to track the evolution, across the decades in various cultural areas, of meaning and sentiment for alignment and aligning.

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70026&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=alignment

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70026

pauraque

In this top-down sci-fi RPG, you play as Jake Stone, a bounty hunter in a distant galaxy. In the course of your regularly scheduled bounty hunting, you discover a conspiracy to suppress hyperdrive technology and prevent your people and their nearby enemies the Rigians from exploring beyond the local star systems. You and you alone (for some reason) must figure out who is trying to keep you locked in together and how you can escape.

Jake converses with an alien who says he is there to evaluate his peoples technology

Jake converses with an alien who says he is there to evaluate his peoples technology

I have intense nostalgia for one specific aspect of this game. Interestingly, in retrospect I think it is probably also the worst aspect of this game.

( Namely: in space everything is extremely far apart. )

Solar Winds is not commercially available, which is slightly surprising given the developer's later high-profile work. But if you are so inclined, you can play part one and part two in your browser. I've read that the game was heavily inspired by Star Control II, which I haven't played, but I would be interested to check it out and compare.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/figure-skating-eloisa-james-more/

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148131

Wild and Wrangled

Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage is $2.99! This is book four, which is the latest installment in the Rebel Blue Ranch series. It released in April, so it’s a pretty new release.

She’s the one that got away. He’s the one that never let her go.

From the bestselling author of Done and Dusted and Swift and Saddled, the next book in the Rebel Blue Ranch series, a small town romance in which past lovers get a second chance to rediscover what they lost.

Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right?

But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is, until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one the neighbor.

Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like Cam Ashwood. But ever since he returned home last year, the girl who was his first, well, everything has become a woman seemingly determined to keep him at arm’s length. And he was okay with that—at least, that’s what he kept telling himself. She was getting married, after all. But now she’s single and living next door. Dusty wants to show her that they can be friends, and that he can stay put.

Despite her best attempts to stay far away from Dusty Tucker, Cam realizes that being close to him is like slipping on her favorite jeans. Easy. Comfortable. That is until past wounds start to open and feelings—both old and new—wreak havoc. Nearly ten years after they first met, Dusty and Cam begin to wonder if their first love can also be their last. And this time, will it be forever?

You can find ordering info for this book here.

From Lukov with Love

From Lukov with Love by Mariana Zapata is $2.49 at Amazon and a KDD! It’s available elsewhere, but not on sale. This romance was recommended in our Winter Olympics Rec League. Have you read this yet?

If someone were to ask Jasmine Santos to describe the last few years of her life with a single word, it would definitely be a four-letter one.

After seventeen years—and countless broken bones and broken promises—she knows her window to compete in figure skating is coming to a close.

But when the offer of a lifetime comes in from an arrogant idiot she’s spent the last decade dreaming about pushing in the way of a moving bus, Jasmine might have to reconsider everything.

Including Ivan Lukov.

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Hate Mail

Hate Mail by Donna Marchetti is 99c! This looks like a rivals to friends to lovers romance with an epistolary element. I’m definitely curious about this one.

Naomi and Luca have been pen-pals since fifth-grade. Well, more like bitter rivals caught in an epic battle of insults and verbal jousting…

But what starts as a hilarious chain of hate filled letters, slowly develops into a friendship spanning coasts and years. That is until one day, years later, when the letters suddenly stop.

It’s been two years since Naomi last heard from Luca. Two years since the letter that changed everything.

But when a new envelope turns up out of the blue at her desk at the local news station, Naomi is determined not to let Luca have the final word.

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Viscount in Love

Viscount in Love by Eloisa James is $1.99! This is book one in the Accidental Brides series, which I haven’t heard much about. This came out last summer.

Two eccentric orphans bring together a grumpy viscount and the free-spirited heroine who steals his heart in the first novel in Eloisa James’s new Accidental Brides series, in which haughty aristocrats find themselves married to the wrong women.

He wants a nanny, not a bride…

Suddenly guardian to twins, Viscount Dominic Kelbourne is luckily betrothed to a suitable lady—until she elopes. With no time to woo, Dominic decides to marry his fiancée’s unconventional sister. Torie isn’t perfect, but their kisses are so passionate that society thinks he’s actually chosen her.

She wants to marry for love…

Torie has never been able to make sense of words on a page, so she has turned her talents to art. She longs for a man who values her as she is… but marries for the sake of the twins. She doubts Dominic is capable of love, let alone respect, but as their heated debates turn into something more, Torie begins to imagine a life as a wife, not a nanny.

But when the arrogant viscount finds that his viscountess has stolen his heart, he’ll have to give all he has to win her love.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/figure-skating-eloisa-james-more/

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148131

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/habo-pink-and-gold-carriage/

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148114

This HaBO is from Nicola, who wants to find this series:

I’ve been trying to find this book for about ten years since our library updated their internal system and cleared my access to loan history before 2016.

There are for sure two books in this series, and I think only two.

The first one has the heroine move next door to an Earl (possibly other nobleman). As part of the opening he wakes up hungover, with a splitting headache, and hears a massive renovation racket next door. He goes over and starts an argument with the newly arrived heroine (newly wealthy, but I don’t think noble) which ends up in the gossip rags. To save her reputation they pretend to court, and of course fall in love.

He is a libertine who is charming, funny, and of course actually a good guy on the inside- she is funny, smart, and strong.

A key detail I remember is she at some point rides in a bright pink and gold carriage wearing a dress to match. That said, I think they get stuck somewhere and she gets covered in mud and ruins the whole thing.

The earl has a Scottish friend (also noble?) who is leads the second book. The woman he falls in love with has some shady friends and there’s a scene in that one where she has to save him from being murdered by criminal elements.

I’m fairly confident this was published sometime around 2013/2014, as it was a recommendation in the comments sections of a Jezebel article about romance novels (before Jezebel imploded thanks to VC takeover).

The internet has not saved me yet, hoping the bitches have ideas!

Let’s HaBO!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/habo-pink-and-gold-carriage/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148114

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70020&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=spinach-smorgasbord

Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70020

I want to thank Jonathan Silk (comment here) for pushing Popeye to further heights and deeper depths in our understanding of his favorite vegetable. We're not "finiched" with spinach yet.

Now it's getting very interesting and confusing (Armenian is creeping in):

palak

English

Etymology

From Hindi पालक (pālak), from Sanskrit पालक्या (pālakyā).

Noun

palak (uncountable)

1. (India, cooking) Spinach or similar greens (including Amaranthus species and Chenopodium album).

Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Armenian բալախ (balax), dialectal փալախ (pʻalax).

Noun

palak (definite accusative palağı, plural palaklar)

1. (dialectal, Artvin) leaf
2. (dialectal, Ahlat) a tender soft grass that grows in wet places
3. (dialectal, Artvin) short grass that grows again after being mown
4. (dialectal, Divriği) crop sown early that remains short and does not form ears
5. (dialectal, Çemişgezek, Ağın, Şanlıurfa, Ankara) dry grass
6. (dialectal, Ahlat) type of grass eaten by animals
7. (dialectal, Ardanuç) time of crop to form ears
8. (dialectal, Ovacık) dry grass

Related terms

- palaḫ, palağ

References

- “palaḫ (II)”, in Türkiye'de halk ağzından derleme sözlüğü [Compilation Dictionary of Popular Speech in Turkey] (in Turkish), volume 9, Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 1977, page 3382a
- “palak (IV), (V)”, in Türkiye'de halk ağzından derleme sözlüğü [Compilation Dictionary of Popular Speech in Turkey] (in Turkish), volume 9, Ankara: Türk Dil Kurumu, 1977, page 3382b
- Dankoff, Robert (1995) Armenian Loanwords in Turkish (Turcologica; 21), Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag, § 41, page 24
- Bläsing, Uwe (1992) Armenisches Lehngut im Türkeitürkischen am Beispiel von Hemşin (Dutch Studies in Armenian Language and Literature; 2) (in German), Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, § 101, pages 64–65

(Wiktionary)

Armenian

spanakh սպանախ, but we also have to contend with balax բալախ < Mid. Arm. balax բալախ < Old Arm. balax բալախ (common glasswort [Salicornia europaea]), which we have cited from Wiktionary several times above, without any indication of where it comes from. Surely, though, it must be cognate with Hindi पालक (pālak) < Sanskrit पालक्या (pālakyā). So how / when did it pass between Sanskrit and Armenian?

Japanese

Nathan Hopson:

Wikipedia gives the following for the etymology of ほうれん草

ホウレンソウ（菠薐草）の由来は、中国の唐代に「頗稜（ホリン）国」（現在のネパール）から伝えられたことによる^[6]。後に改字して「菠薐（ホリン）」となり、日本では転訛して「ホウレン」となった^[7]^[8]。「ホウレン」の語源は、「菠薐」の唐音とされ^[6]、「法蓮草」は当て字とされる。

"The etymology of hōrensō 菠薐草 is from the Táng dynasty-era name Horin 頗稜（ホリン）国 (Nepal). The characters later changed to 菠薐（ホリン）, which came to be pronounced hōren (not horin) in Japan… [The alternative] 法蓮草 is phonetic assignation."

The entry for 頗稜 includes this:

Compare modern Nepali पालुङ्गो (pāluṅgo, “spinach”), Assamese পালেং (paleṅ), Bengali পালং (paloṅ, “spinach (Spinacia oleracea)”). Possibly the source of 菠菜 (bōcài).

The following two Chinese blogs provide much interesting information and food for thought.

Wáng Guóliáng 王國良 (5/2/16) emphasizes the pentagonal cross section of the spinach stem to account for the lîng / ren 薐 syllable / morpheme in the Taiwanese and Japanese words for the plant.

He was preceded in some of his ideas by Susan Plant Kingdom Blogspot (2/4/16), such as that 菠薐 was fancifully transcribed in Teochew / Chaozhou and other Southern Min topolects as bue-lóng 飛龍 ("flying dragon").

Korean

From Bob Ramsey:

sigeumchi 시금치

Korean word for 'spinach': it's 시금치. However, I confess I hadn't really thought about what the origin of the word was, so I immediately went to some reliable Korean lexical sources, and they all repeat what you'll find in a Wikipedia search, namely, that the word was borrowed from Chinese 赤根菜 'red-root vegetable', adding that it's probably borrowed from the Early Mandarin form of the word. It seems it was first attested in Korea in a 1517 Middle Korean text, where the form was written sikunchoy (transcribed in Martin's Yale Romanization).

There are still a lot of loose ends / fibers, so we may have to come back for a second / third helping later on. For now, though:

Selected readings

"Spinach: Mongolian rhapsody" (7/10/25)
"Spinach: Indian interlude" (7/10/25)
"Spinach: the Persian vegetable" (1/19/21)
"Spiny spinach" (7/9/25)

[Thanks to Bob Ramsey

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70020&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=spinach-smorgasbord

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70020

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/hide-your-wallet-july-15th-release-week/

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148110

Happy Tuesday!

This is quite a busy week for new releases; we have a dozen on our radar. Things do calm down as we get closer to the end of the month.

Which releases are you excited for this week? Let us know in the comments!

A Witch’s Guide to Magical Innkeeping

Author: Sangu Mandanna
Released: July 15, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy

An enchanting novel about a witch who has a second chance to get her magical powers—and her life—back on track, from the national bestselling author of The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.

Sera Swan was once one of the most powerful witches in Britain. Then she resurrected her great-aunt Jasmine from the (very recently) dead, lost most of her magic, befriended a semi-villainous talking fox, and was exiled from her magical Guild. Now she (slightly reluctantly and just a bit grumpily) helps Aunt Jasmine run an inn in Lancashire, where she deals with her quirky guests’ shenanigans, tries to keep the talking fox in check, and longs for the magical future she lost.

When she learns about an old spellbook that holds the secret to restoring her power, she turns to Luke Larsen, a gorgeous historian who might just be able to help her unlock the book’s mysteries. Luke, who has his own reasons for staying at the inn, never planned on getting involved in the madcap goings-on around him and definitely had no intention of letting certain grumpy innkeepers past his icy walls, so no one is more surprised than he is when he not only agrees to help, but also finds himself thawing.

Running an inn, reclaiming lost magic, and staying one step ahead of the watchful Guild is a lot for anyone, but Sera is about to discover that she doesn’t have to do it alone… and that the weird, wonderful family she’s made might be the best magic of all.

Amanda: Is this a Grumpy/Grumpy romance?!

Want this book? We can help: buy links ahoy!.

Atonement Sky

Author: Nalini Singh
Released: July 15, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: Paranormal, Romance
Series: Psy-Changeling #9

The hunt for a stealthy predator takes a damaged J-Psy to the heart of falcon territory in this new Psy-Changeling Trinity novel from New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh…

Justice-Psy Eleri Dias knows the end is near for her, her mind one step away from fatal psychic exposure. In the short time that remains, she is determined to atone for an act of omission that has haunted her for a long, cruel decade. But that decision not only means facing a powerful changeling wing leader, but also putting herself in the path of a serial killer.

Falcon wing leader Adam Garrett is fiercely protective of his family and his clan. After losing his parents as a teenager in a shocking act of malice, Adam has no forgiveness in him for the J-Psy who betrayed him, betrayed them, at the most painful moment of his life. But the evil that stalks his territory will allow him no respite, forcing him once more into contact with the J he has never been able to forget.

Everything that could’ve been between Eleri and Adam was lost years ago, a shimmering promise crushed. As they work to uncover a monster, the moment of reckoning looms ever closer. Soon, there may be no more time left for either atonement…or love…

Sarah: The whole world is based on understanding empathy, which, yes please – AND the hero does a lot of emotional heavy lifting in this one!

Want this book? We can help: buy links ahoy!.

The Bewitching

Author: Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Released: July 15, 2025 by Del Rey
Genre: Gothic, Horror, Science Fiction/Fantasy

Three women in three different eras encounter danger and witchcraft in this eerie multigenerational horror saga from the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic.

“Back then, when I was a young woman, there were still witches”: That was how Nana Alba always began the stories she told her great-granddaughter Minerva—stories that have stayed with Minerva all her life. Perhaps that’s why Minerva has become a graduate student focused on the history of horror literature and is researching the life of Beatrice Tremblay, an obscure author of macabre tales.

In the course of assembling her thesis, Minerva uncovers information that reveals that Tremblay’s most famous novel, The Vanishing, was inspired by a true story: Decades earlier, during the Great Depression, Tremblay attended the same university where Minerva is now studying and became obsessed with her beautiful and otherworldly roommate, who then disappeared under mysterious circumstances.

As Minerva descends ever deeper into Tremblay’s manuscript, she begins to sense that the malign force that stalked Tremblay and the missing girl might still walk the halls of the campus. These disturbing events also echo the stories Nana Alba told about her girlhood in 1900s Mexico, where she had a terrifying encounter with a witch.

Minerva suspects that the same shadow that darkened the lives of her great-grandmother and Beatrice Tremblay is now threatening her own in 1990s Massachusetts. An academic career can be a punishing pursuit, but it might turn outright deadly when witchcraft is involved.

Silvia Moreno-Garcia is back with some more Gothic spookiness.

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

The Enchanted Greenhouse

Author: Sarah Beth Durst
Released: July 15, 2025 by Bramble
Genre: Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: Spellshop #2

New York Times bestselling author Sarah Beth Durst invites you to her new standalone novel set in the world of The Spellshop! Follow her to The Enchanted Greenhouse, a cozy fantasy nestled on a far-away island brimming with singing flowers, honey cakes, and honeyed love.

Terlu Perna broke the law because she was lonely. She cast a spell and created a magically sentient spider plant. As punishment, she was turned into a wooden statue and tucked away into an alcove in the North Reading Room of the Great Library of Alyssium.

This should have been the end of her story . . . Yet one day, Terlu wakes in the cold of winter on a nearly-deserted island full of hundreds of magical greenhouses. She’s starving and freezing, and the only other human on the island is a grumpy gardener. To her surprise, he offers Terlu a place to sleep, clean clothes, and freshly baked honey cakes—at least until she’s ready to sail home.

But Terlu can’t return home and doesn’t want to—the greenhouses are a dream come true, each more wondrous than the next. When she learns that the magic that sustains them is failing—causing the death of everything within them—Terlu knows she must help. Even if that means breaking the law again.

This time, though, she isn’t alone. Assisted by the gardener and a sentient rose, Terlu must unravel the secrets of a long-dead sorcerer if she wants to save the island—and have a fresh chance at happiness and love.

Funny, kind, and forgiving, The Enchanted Greenhouse is a story about giving second chances—to others and to yourself.

More cozy fantasy from Sarah Beth Durst.

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

Everyone is Lying to You

Author: Jo Piazza
Released: July 15, 2025 by Dutton
Genre: Mystery/Thriller

The #tradwife murder mystery we’ve all been waiting for. From the bestselling author of The Sicilian Inheritance and the creator of the Under the Influence podcast comes an explosive thriller about two estranged friends, a grisly murder, a sudden disappearance, and the truly shocking revelation that everyone is lying to you about something . . .

Lizzie and Bex were best friends in college. After graduation, Bex vanished, leaving Lizzie confused and devastated.

Fifteen years later, Bex is now Rebecca Sommers, a “traditional” Instagram influencer with millions of followers who salivate over her perfect life on her ranch with her five children and handsome husband, Gray. Lizzie is a struggling magazine writer, watching reels while her young children demand her attention.

One night out of the blue, Bex calls Lizzie with a career-making proposition—an exclusive interview with her about her multimillion-dollar business venture and an invitation to MomBomb, the high-profile influencing conference.

At the conference, Bex goes missing and Gray is found brutally murdered on their ranch. Lizzie finds herself plunged into the dark side of the cutthroat world of social media that includes jealousy, sordid affairs, swingers, and backstabbing. She must learn who her old friend has become and who she has double-crossed to try to find her, clear her name, and maybe even save her life.

Piazza’s master storytelling and razor-sharp insight into the world of social media brings us a pulpy, juicy, and cleverly plotted read that will have you guessing all the way through and leave you gasping for more.

Sarah: Trad wife murder mystery – and if you’re familiar with mommy bloggers and/or influencers, this is a JUICY fun book.

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

Hit Me with Your Best Charm

Author: Lillie Vale
Released: July 15, 2025 by Viking Books for Young Readers
Genre: LGBTQIA, Paranormal, Romance, Young Adult

“Enchanting, flirty, and crafted from pure practical magic!”—Julian Winters, award-winning author of Right Where I Left You

The occasionally magic, always superstitious town of Prior’s End is famous for three whimsical charm at the annual Fall Festival, the legend of the wishing well hidden in a forest bristling with secrets, and Nova Marwood’s missing hiker father.

Every year without him, it gets easier to pretend Nova doesn’t believe in myth and magic. Easier to pretend she’s doing okay. Easier to pretend she doesn’t have a secret crush on the girl she fake-hates.

Kiara Mistry is the luckiest girl in town and the thief of every crush Nova had her heart set on first. In theory, Nova should resent Kiara. But it’s getting harder to deny her feelings.

When Nova lays an unintended hex on Kiara at the Fall Festival, and one misfortune after another swiftly follows, soon Kiara’s very survival is at stake. To reverse the bad luck, Kiara’s exes turned BFFs commence a quest for the miraculous wishing well. There’s only one person who can get them there . . . Nova.

But to save Kiara—and maybe find her dad, too—she’ll have to believe in something much stronger than magic. Nova will need to believe in herself.

Tara: I think it sounds really cute.

Find buy links for this book here..

How to Sell a Romance

Author: Alexa Martin
Released: July 15, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

Romance is the biggest scheme of them all in this laugh-out-loud romantic comedy from beloved author Alexa Martin.

Emerson Pierce loves everything about being a kindergarten teacher except the painfully low salary. It isn’t until she hears about Petunia Lemon—an opportunity to sell makeup products, make some extra money, and meet a group of skin-care aficionados—that she begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Sure, it sounds a little too good to be true, but what’s the worst that could happen?

Investigative reporter Lucas Miller didn’t always have a chip on his shoulder…until his wife joined Petunia Lemon, drained their savings, and filed for divorce. Now he’s a little bitter, a lot single, and determined to expose the company. After infiltrating their largest convention yet, the last thing he expects is to lose sight of his mission for one night with the gorgeous woman at the bar.

When Emerson and Lucas learn that she’s his daughter’s teacher, they decide to ignore their scorching chemistry. Until things with Petunia Lemon turn downright diabolical and Emerson turns to Lucas for help. They work together to bring the company down but can the two come out on top in this pyramid scheme of love?

Dahlia: I’m already a Martin fan from The Playbook series, but even if I weren’t, everything about this book looks hilarious and utterly cathartic for anyone who’s ever wanted to see multi-level marketing schemes taken on.

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

In the Veins of the Drowning

Author: Kalie Cassidy
Released: July 15, 2025 by Little, Brown and Company
Genre: Fantasy/Fairy Tale Romance, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy
Series: The Siren Mage #1

An “atmospheric and evocative” (Rachel Gillig) romantasy debut about a threatened Siren who forges a bond with a brooding, self-righteous king in order to flee the king who raised her, for fans of One Dark Window and For the Wolf.

The monster is always slain…

Imogen Nel is in hiding. Hiding from a cruel kingdom that believes Sirens are monstrous, blood-hungry creatures. Hiding from a king and his captain who viciously hunt her kind. Hiding from her own alluring abilities. By keeping herself from the sea, Imogen’s bloodlust is dulled, and her black wings remain hidden beneath her skin.

When a neighboring king comes to visit, Imogen can no longer hide. He knows precisely what she is, and he believes she can save both their kingdoms from an even greater monster. But Imogen’s power threatens to violently reveal itself, and the two form a blood bond that protects them both. They flee the kingdom together, traversing waters teeming with the undead. As the lines between duty to their people and desire for each other begin to blur, Imogen worries her own ancestral powers may not be enough to kill what hunts her—the only way to defeat a monster may be to become one herself.

Amanda: I’m clicking buy because of the siren heroine.

Find buy links for this book here..

Maid for Each Other

Author: Lynn Painter
Released: July 15, 2025 by Berkley
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

A millionaire and a house cleaner are a match maid in heaven in this sparkling new romantic comedy by Lynn Painter, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Happily Never After.

As a professional cleaner, Abi Mariano never thought her apartment would have any sort of infestation, but because of a building-wide outbreak, she now needs somewhere to stay for a week. As a part-time student with two jobs, she doesn’t have many options. Then the solution presents itself: the owner of the penthouse she cleans is out of town for the week. She normally wouldn’t consider it, but he’s literally never around (she hasn’t even met him). It goes great…until one morning she finds two strangers in the kitchen. They’re the parents of the penthouse owner and they seem to think they’ve heard all about Abi—not as their son’s maid, but as his girlfriend.

Declan Powell has always put his career first, working his way up to become an executive at his company, but he still has his sights set on the next level. When his parents mention that they met his girlfriend, “Abby,” he all but chokes on his escargot. As wonderful as it sounds that she was just darling, he doesn’t actually have a girlfriend—he made her up to get everyone off his back. When Dex finds out who Abi really is, he makes her a proposition: pretend to date him, and he’ll provide everything she needs during their little arrangement. What harm would it do? It’s purely business, no pleasure…right?

Lara: This is a romance with an old-school vibe with none of the cringe/offense that comes with reading an actually old romance. Review incoming!

Find buy links for this book here..

The Odds of Getting Even

Author: Amanda Sellet
Released: July 15, 2025 by St. Martin's Griffin
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

A fling with a mysterious stranger leads to a rollicking adventure in the wilds of South Dakota in this madcap and romantic follow-up to Amanda Sellet’s Hate to Fake it to You.

The last thing reluctant resort employee Jean Harrington expected to find on a middle-of-the-night towel run was a bashful scientist in desperate need of company . . . and clothes. Charmed by his awkwardness and endearing tangents about reptiles, she returns the next day to give the handsome mystery guest she knows only as “Charlie” lessons in poker.

He’s reserved and she’s chaotic, but together, the two of them just click. It’s like a honeymoon without the hassle of a wedding, until Jean discovers there’s a lot more to Charlie’s story than shyness and snakes—and she isn’t the only person with a pressing interest in his whereabouts, not to mention his secretly scandalous dating history.

When Charlie has the audacity to abandon her without a word, Jean has a score to settle. She’ll do whatever it takes to get him back—no, get back at him—even if it means chasing him across an ocean to brave the wild west of his remote hometown, and the famous family business he neglected to mention. With flames from their pasts raising the stakes, Jean is gambling she can get the upper hand before Charlie calls her bluff.

The real trick will be remembering what they’re playing for, when the biggest risk is putting all their cards on the table.

Dahlia: Sellet is one of the wittiest writers out there, and after the clever romp that was Hate to Fake it to You, I am totally ready for this follow-up. (Plus, reserved guy/chaotic girl is my favorite hetero pairing.)

Want this book? We can help: buy links ahoy!.

Roll for Romance

Author: Lenora Woods
Released: July 15, 2025
Genre: Contemporary Romance, Romance

Two fledgling tabletop gamers find themselves falling for each other—both in and out of their weekly D&D sessions—in this charming, fantasy-tinged romance.

“Sweet, charming, and wonderful!”—Sarah Beth Durst, author of The Spellshop

When Sadie Brooks unexpectedly loses her marketing job, she flees New York City to spend the summer with her best friend in small-town Texas, where joining his Dungeons & Dragons campaign is the perfect distraction while she plans her next steps.

In the game, she becomes Jaylie, a powerful human cleric blessed by the Goddess of Luck. But in real life, Sadie believes her luck has run out—until she meets Noah Walker, the outgoing bartender roped into joining their party as Loren, an adventurous and charismatic lute-strumming elf. Just as Jaylie finds herself succumbing to the bard’s charms over the course of their party’s travels, Sadie also begins to fall under Noah’s spell.

As their relationship progresses in both worlds, Sadie wonders if what they have might last beyond the game. But like his traveling bard character, Noah never stays in one place for long. When a new opportunity arises in New York, Sadie must face the truth about why she lost her job in the first place—and whether she and Noah have found something in Texas worth staying for. Torn between her career dreams in the city and the exciting uncertainty of a new adventure, she will have no choice but to roll the dice.

Elyse: I’ve never read a D&D romance before but I am here for it!

Find buy links for this book here..

Taste the Love

Author: Karelia Stetz-Waters
Released: July 15, 2025 by Forever
Genre: Contemporary Romance, LGBTQIA, Romance

A delicious, heartwarming romantic comedy about big dreams, life-changing friendships, and the people who bring out your best.

Six years ago, eco-chef Alice Sullivan and her culinary-school rival almost gave into the burning tension between them. But those kisses? Just the heat of competition boiling over. Sullivan never expected to see Kia after graduation . . . until Kia crashes back into her life with a plan to buy Sullivan’s beloved Portland greenspace.

Kia has worked hard building her social media empire as the big-hearted glitter-bomb queen of the food-truck scene. Now she’s one step away from opening a foodie utopia for underrepresented culinary talents. But Kia’s plans catch the attention of a bulldozer-happy food conglomerate, and now both Kia and Sullivan’s dreams are on the line. When a legal loophole turns out to be the only way to save what they each love most, they’re left with one pull off a very public fake marriage to obtain the deed to the land and keep their old rivalry under control.

As the line between fake and real love blurs, can Kia and Sullivan set aside their differences and find the perfect recipe for happily ever after?

Tara: I love fake relationship romances, so I’m looking forward to this one.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/hide-your-wallet-july-15th-release-week/

Want to order this one? We’ve got the links you need!.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148110

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70014&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bibliographical-cornucopia-for-linguists-part-2

Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70014

"Context Shift, Word Drift: The Meaning Transference of the Word Prèet in Thai Society." Kumhaeng, Korrakot et al. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12, no. 1 (July 8, 2025): 1050. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-05454-y.

This research investigates the semantic change and conceptual metaphor of the Thai word prèet (/เปรต/), which originates from the Pali-Sanskrit term meaning “departed.” The primary objective is to explore how the term’s meaning has shifted in contemporary Thai society, where it is now used pejoratively to criticize behaviors such as excessive greed, gluttony, immorality, and social deviance. Data for this study are drawn from both historical texts, particularly the Traibhumi Phra Ruang (a prominent Thai Buddhist text from the 14th-century Sukhothai period), and modern Thai linguistic usage. The analysis employs conceptual metaphor theory, focusing on metaphors like SOCIAL DEVIANCE IS MONSTROSITY, MORAL FAILURE IS DEGRADATION, GREED IS HUNGER, and SPIRITUAL LIMINALITY IS MONSTROSITY. to understand how these shifts reflect changing cultural and societal values. Additionally, Impoliteness Theory is applied to examine how prèet functions as a linguistic tool for social critique. Findings show that the semantic evolution of prèet reveals an intricate relationship between language, culture, and metaphor, as it transitions from a religious concept to a vehicle for social commentary. The implications of this study highlight the dynamic nature of language in reflecting societal shifts.

"When Dialects Collide: How Socioeconomic Mixing Affects Language Use." Louf, Thomas et al. EPJ Data Science 14, no. 1 (July 10, 2025): 47. https://epjdatascience.springeropen.com/articles/10.1140/epjds/s13688-025-00563-9.

The socioeconomic background of people and how they use standard forms of language are not independent, as demonstrated in various sociolinguistic studies. However, the extent to which these correlations may be influenced by the mixing of people from different socioeconomic classes remains relatively unexplored from a quantitative perspective. In this work we leverage geotagged tweets and transferable computational methods to map deviations from standard English across eight UK metropolitan areas. We combine these data with high-resolution income maps to assign a proxy socioeconomic indicator to home-located users. Strikingly, we find a consistent pattern suggesting that the more different socioeconomic classes mix, the less interdependent the frequency of their departures from standard grammar and their income become. Further, we propose an agent-based model of linguistic variety adoption that sheds light on the mechanisms that produce the observations seen in the data.

"Re-Examining Second Language Acquisition of English Reflexives: New Evidence for Lexical Learning Driven Process and against First Language Transfer." Zeng, Li et al. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12, no. 1 (July 9, 2025): 1063. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-05466-8.

This study re-examines second language (L2) acquisition of English reflexives by testing 98 first language (L1)-Chinese learners of L2 English with different proficiency levels and 12 native English speakers as controls. Using a truth-value judgment task, we systematically tapped the learners’ judgments of various types of antecedents including long-distance objects. The results show that L2 English learners’ errors in referring English reflexives to long-distance antecedents cannot be due to L1 transfer of Chinese reflexive referential pattern. Instead, these errors align with those documented in the literature on native English children’s acquisition of reflexives. Moreover, as L1-Chinese learners’ English proficiency improved, most of them unlearned the errors, and performed similarly to native English adult controls. This developmental trajectory recapitulates the pattern seen in native English children’s acquisition of reflexives. These findings cast doubt on the view of L1 Chinese transfer and provide support for the Lexical Learning Hypothesis.

"Metaphor Interpretation in Jordanian Arabic, Emirati Arabic and Classical Arabic: Artificial Intelligence vs. Humans." Zibin, Aseel et al. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications 12, no. 1 (July 1, 2025): 942. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41599-025-05282-0.

This study examines how well humans, both Jordanians and Emiratis, and four AI tools—ChatGPT-4, ChatGPT-3.5, Google Gemini, and Ask PDF—can understand metaphors in Classical Arabic (CA) and its everyday forms in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and Emirati Arabic (EA). We tested fifty participants from Jordan and the UAE on their grasp of various colloquial and CA metaphorical expressions. Two distinct tests were employed, each comprising 40 items. Test 1 was administered to Jordanian participants and included 20 metaphorical expressions in Jordanian Arabic and 20 metaphorical expressions in Classical Arabic. Similarly, Test 2 was administered to Emirati participants and contained 20 expressions in Emirati Arabic and 20 expressions in Classical Arabic. The Mann–Whitney U test was employed to evaluate differences in accuracy and interpretation between AI tools and human participants from both regions in the contexts of colloquial and Classical Arabic. The results showed that participants from Jordan had a better understanding than the AI tools, likely due to their strong cultural background. In contrast, the Emirati participants performed similarly to the AI. The AI tools were more effective at interpreting CA metaphors compared to Emirati participants; AI tools are typically trained on diverse datasets and that usually leads to strong performance in interpreting formal or Classical Arabic expressions. These findings emphasize the need for improvements in AI models to boost their language processing abilities, as they often miss the cultural aspects required for accurately interpreting figurative language. This study adds to the ongoing discussion about AI and language interpretation, revealing both the potential and the obstacles AI faces when dealing with culturally rich and context-sensitive language.

Religions, topolects, language learning, AI — linguistics is exciting and ever changing, never boring.

[Thanks to Edward M "Ted" McClure]

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70014&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bibliographical-cornucopia-for-linguists-part-2

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70014

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/fae-bookish-romances-more/

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148054

By the Book

By the Book by Jasmine Guillory is $3.99! This is a Beauty and the Beast inspired contemporary romance and we’ve had the cover on Cover Awe before. Have you read this one?

A tale as old as time—for a new generation…

Isabelle is completely lost. When she first began her career in publishing right out of college, she did not expect to be twenty-five, living at home, still an editorial assistant, and the only Black employee at her publishing house. Overworked and underpaid, constantly torn between speaking up or stifling herself, Izzy thinks there must be more to this publishing life. So when she overhears her boss complaining about a beastly high-profile author who has failed to deliver his long-awaited manuscript, Isabelle sees an opportunity to finally get the promotion she deserves.

All she has to do is go to the author’s Santa Barbara mansion and give him a quick pep talk or three. How hard could it be?

But Izzy quickly finds out she is in over her head. Beau Towers is not some celebrity lightweight writing a tell-all memoir. He is jaded and withdrawn and—it turns out—just as lost as Izzy. But despite his standoffishness, Izzy needs Beau to deliver, and with her encouragement, his story begins to spill onto the page. They soon discover they have more in common than either of them expected, and as their deadline nears, Izzy and Beau begin to realize there may be something there that wasn’t there before.

Best-selling author Jasmine Guillory’s reimagining of a beloved fairy tale is a romantic triumph of love and acceptance and learning that sometimes to truly know a person you have to read between the lines.

You can find ordering info for this book here.

The Jasad Heir

The Jasad Heir by Sara Hashem is $2.99! This is book one in The Scorched Throne series. I heard about this one through a reading newsletter one of my friends sends out. She isn’t a big romance reader, but had great things to say about this fantasy romance.

Ten years ago, the kingdom of Jasad burned. Its magic outlawed; its royal family murdered down to the last child. At least, that’s what Sylvia wants people to believe.

The lost Heir of Jasad, Sylvia never wants to be found. She can’t think about how Nizahl’s armies laid waste to her kingdom and continue to hunt its people—not if she wants to stay alive. But when Arin, the Nizahl Heir, tracks a group of Jasadi rebels to her village, staying one step ahead of death gets trickier.

In a moment of anger Sylvia’s magic is exposed, capturing Arin’s attention. Now, to save her life, Sylvia will have to make a deal with her greatest enemy. If she helps him lure the rebels, she’ll escape persecution.

A deadly game begins. Sylvia can’t let Arin discover her identity even as hatred shifts into something more. Soon, Sylvia will have to choose between the life she wants and the one she left behind. The scorched kingdom is rising, and it needs a queen.

In this Egyptian-inspired debut fantasy, a fugitive queen strikes a deadly bargain with her greatest enemy and finds herself embroiled in a complex game that could resurrect her scorched kingdom or leave it in ashes forever.

You can find ordering info for this book here.

My Feral Romance

My Feral Romance by Tessonja Odette is $2.49 on Amazon! Book one in the series was on sale for Prime Day. If you picked that one up and want to have book two queued up and read, now’s your change.

A painter in need of a model.
A matchmaker seeking a subject.
An arrangement that will tangle their hearts.

Fae shifter Daphne has landed the opportunity of a illustrating her favorite author’s steamy romance novels. If only she could master male physiques…and other essential anatomy. What she needs is a model. Yet how does the socially awkward fae with a tendency to bite find a man she can comfortably paint in the nude?

Self-proclaimed matchmaker Monty Phillips is a hopeless romantic, but only when it comes to others. Meddling in the love lives of strangers via his popular advice column keeps romance a safe distance away. Yet when he’s tasked with proving his tips on modern courtship work, he’ll need to step out from behind the pen and into someone’s love life.

And he knows just the perfect plaything.

The last time Daphne saw Monty, he broke her heart and discarded their friendship. Now he wants to drag her into one of his idiotic matchmaking games—where she’s the subject! But when he promises to pose as her model in exchange, she can’t refuse. At least it’s only temporary. If he’s the expert he claims to be, she can replace him with a lover in no time.

Painting sessions and flirting lessons commence, rekindling their friendship. But when instructional seduction turns their platonic spark into burning desire, will either have the courage to fan the flames?

Bridgerton meets My Fair Lady and a dash of He’s Just Not That Into You in My Feral Romance , a spicy standalone fantasy romcom in the Fae Flings and Corset Strings series. If you like fae bargains, friends-to-lovers romance, and cozy fantasy worlds, you’ll love this sizzling tale.

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Book People

Book People by Jackie Ashenden is 99c! This contemporary romance came out at the end of January and we mentioned it on Hide Your Wallet. Did any of you add this to your TBR pile?

Don’t miss this utterly charming, spicy, enemies-to-lovers rom-com from Jackie Ashenden!

When Kate, a fledgling bookseller, decides to open a bookshop that celebrates the kinds of genre fiction she loves to read (popular and fun!), she’s surprised to find that not everyone in the town is as excited as she is.

Least excited of all? Sebastian, owner of the highbrow bookshop across the road, who has rules for everything: the kind of books he sells, the clothes he wears, and the people he dates (no-one local).

When the pair find themselves working together on the town’s literary festival, their growing attraction becomes harder and harder to ignore. Professional rivalry aside, just one steamy kiss can’t mean anything, can it?

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/fae-bookish-romances-more/

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148054

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69990&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bibliographical-cornucopia-for-linguists-part-1

Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69990

Bibliographical cornucopia for linguists, part 1

Since we have such an abundance of interesting articles for this fortnight, I will divide the collection into two parts, and provide each entry with an abstract or paragraph length quotation.

"Word Learning as Category Formation." Caplan, Spencer. PLOS ONE 20, no. 7 (July 3, 2025): e0327615. https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0327615.

A fundamental question in word learning is how, given only evidence about what objects a word has previously referred to, children are able to generalize to the correct class. How does a learner end up knowing that “poodle” only picks out a specific subset of dogs rather than the broader class and vice versa? Numerous phenomena have been identified in guiding learner behavior such as the “suspicious coincidence effect” (SCE)—that an increase in the sample size of training objects facilitates more narrow (subordinate) word meanings. While SCE seems to support a class of models based in statistical inference, such rational behavior is, in fact, consistent with a range of algorithmic processes. Notably, the broadness of semantic generalizations is further affected by the temporal manner in which objects are presented—either simultaneously or sequentially. First, I evaluate the experimental evidence on the factors influencing generalization in word learning. A reanalysis of existing data demonstrates that both the number of training objects and their presentation-timing independently affect learning. This independent effect has been obscured by prior literature’s focus on possible interactions between the two. Second, I present a computational model for learning that accounts for both sets of phenomena in a unified way. The Naïve Generalization Model (NGM) offers an explanation of word learning phenomena grounded in category formation. Under the NGM, learning is local and incremental, without the need to perform a global optimization over pre-specified hypotheses. This computational model is tested against human behavior on seven different experimental conditions for word learning, varying over presentation-timing, number, and hierarchical relation between training items. Looking both at qualitative parameter-independent behavior and quantitative parameter-tuned output, these results support the NGM and suggest that rational learning behavior may arise from local, mechanistic processes rather than global statistical inference.

"Investigating Intentionality in Elephant Gestural Communication." Eleuteri, Vesta et al. Royal Society Open Science 12, no. 7 (July 9, 2025): 242203. https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rsos.242203.

A crucial feature of language is the ability to communicate cognitive goals to a specific audience, i.e. goal-directed intentionality. Core criteria for this ability include (i) audience directedness: signalling in the presence of an attentive audience, (ii) persistence: continuing signalling until goals are met, and (iii) elaboration: using new signals following communicative failure. While intentional use has been demonstrated in individual gestures in some non-primates, primates—in particular apes—show this ability across many gestures. But is goal-directed intentionality across many gestures restricted to primates? We explored whether savannah elephants use many gestures with goal-directed intentionality. We presented semi-captive elephants with desired and non-desired items, recording their communicative attempts when an experimenter met, partially met or failed to meet their goal of getting the desired item. Elephants used 38 gesture types almost exclusively when a visually attentive experimenter was present, demonstrating audience directedness. They persisted in gesturing more when their goal was partially as compared with fully met but showed no difference in persistence when the goal was met or not met. Elephants elaborated their gesturing when their goal was not met. We find goal-directed intentionality across many elephant gestures and reveal that elephants, like apes, assess the communicative effectiveness of their gesturing.

"Mountain Chickadee Chatter: Scientists Are Decoding the Songbird's Complex Calls." Haley, Sofia Marie. The Conversation, May 27, 2025. http://theconversation.com/mountain-chickadee-chatter-scientists-are-decoding-the-songbirds-complex-calls-247091.

The extensive vocal repertoire of mountain chickadees has yet to be fully documented. There are five basic categories of call types:

- Contact calls: communicate identity, sort of like a name, and location.
- “Chick-a-dee” calls: coordinate flock movement and communicate a variety of complex information about the environment, from food availability to predator presence and type.
- Alarm calls: alert others of the presence of a predator.
- Begging calls: used by chicks or females to elicit feeding behavior from males.
- Gargle calls: advertise dominance over other individuals in a flock, primarily used by males.

“Chick-a-dee” calls contain several elements resembling the basic elements of human grammar. Essentially, the various sounds a chickadee utters mean different things, similar to words in human languages. And the way that a chickadee combines these sounds changes the meaning. Word order matters, just like grammar matters in human language. If a chickadee were to phrase its calls in the wrong note order, the call would no longer convey the same meaning, even if composed of the same elements.

The author distinguishes between the two large categories of songs and calls. A video is included; in it you can hear the author distinguish and mimic different types of bird talk

"The Emoji Tongue." Longreads, July 1, 2025. http://longreads.com/2025/07/01/emoji-language-keith-houston/. Excerpt from Face with Tears of Joy: A Natural History of Emoji. Houston, Keith. 1st ed. W. W. Norton & Company, Incorporated, 2025. https://wwnorton.com/books/9781324075158.

In 2015, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary went all-in on the still-novel phenomenon of emoji. That year, the guardians of the venerable OED named the FACE WITH TEARS OF JOY emoji ()—now, as then, the world’s most popular emoji—as Word of the Year, beating out such zingers as “ad blocker,” “Brexit,” “lumbersexual,” “on fleek,” and “sharing economy.” For emoji to be blessed in this way by the OED was remarkable enough, but it also invited a question: if was a word, did that make emoji a language?

This morning I stood out on my stoop and listened to a flock of crows conversing. After about 5 minutes, I could distinguish a variety of different caws and calls. Some were soft and subdued, almost like whispers, others were excited and raucous. I was convinced that, if I listened to them for half a day and observed their behavior in relation to the caws and calls, I would be able to figure out what they were communicating to each other.

Then I sat down at my computer and wrote some messages to friends. It has become my custom to follow my signature with the emoji for a snail, which happens to be my logo, and has been for many decades. I don't know if it will come through in WordPress, but I'll give it a try: VHM . That is pronounced "snail / wōniú / ghongha / ciplēkirā / katatsumuri / etc., etc., etc."

[Thanks to Edward M "Ted" McClure]

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69990&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=bibliographical-cornucopia-for-linguists-part-1

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69990

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/cover-snark-juicy-pickle/

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148065

Welcome back to Cover Snark!

A Duke Never Tells by Suzanne Enoch. A smarmy duke on a hot pink background and a lime green title.

Sarah: What the hell.

Kiki: No, thank you.

I don’t want it.

Sarah: Who is designing these covers. Like what the ever loving crap

Are they trying to be like Indies? Single dude on the cover? They’ve got it all wrong. He needs to be bald, grimy, dehydrated, and looking at his junk.

Elyse: Is that a Jonas brother?

Betrayed by the Alpha by Blue Thorne. A shirtless man with long brown hair tossed over his right shoulder. His arms are covered in dark tattoos and he has on a pair of jeans. He's standing in forest of dead trees. At the top of the cover is a pair of wolf eyes.

From Karen: His left forearm is really creepy. It looks to me as if he has a growth of some kind that he really should have looked at. The tattoo (is that feathers?) seems to emphasize the lumpiness. I can’t not notice it though I wish I could.

Sarah: Definitely has some swelling that should be looked at. That is what I look like after any encounter with greenhead flies.

Elyse: That tattoo is for sure infected.

Juicy Pickle by JJ Knight. A nondescript white dude in a white button down leans against a palm tree.

Amanda: It’s part of the “Top 100 bestselling Pickleverse”

Sarah: This is a weird timeline.

Elyse: So it’s him and the pickle on a deserted island?

Claudia: Pass!

Kiki: Hey, here’s a question: why doesn’t this woman have eyes?

Also is that man Bryan from Rachel Lindsay’s season of the bachelor?

Also why does it, ya know, look like that?

Sarah: What is happening? Some kind of pollen apocalypse? How bad would your allergies be if you were in this picture, Amanda?

Amanda: Very bad.

Claudia: I fear that the feather fan is also bad news!

Elyse: This feels like an image where you’re supposed to find hidden objects in the picture.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/cover-snark-juicy-pickle/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148065

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=recursive-summarization

Posted by Mark Liberman

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004

Today's SMBC:

The mouseover title: "I saw an article that said it was a 3 minute read then offered an AI summary, and I believe it may be included in an eventual epitaph for civilization."

The Aftercomic:

Of course it's not just news…

So far, none of the AI helpers offer emotionally indicative grunting noises. At least not as far as I know, though maybe Grok is on it?

Accurate graphical summarizations would actually sometimes be useful. Current AI poster generation is about posters to advertise an event, not the sort of figures that would be useful as a summary of complex material, e.g. here:

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=recursive-summarization

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=70004

pauraque

sunshine_revival's next challenge is:

Fun House
Journaling: What is making you smile these days? Create a top 10 list of anything you want to talk about.
Creative: Write from the perspective of a house or other location.

Birds always make me smile, so let's do a bird list! To narrow it down a bit, I'll talk about a few of the birds I only got to know after I left San Francisco and moved to New England. The order is going to be arbitrary because of course all birds are equally fantastic, but I'll play along with the top 10 theme.

( Top Ten New England Birds [photo heavy] )

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Posted by Mark Liberman

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69993

Joel Becker et al., "Measuring the Impact of Early-2025 AI on Experienced Open-Source Developer Productivity", METR 7/10/2025:

Despite widespread adoption, the impact of AI tools on software development in the wild remains understudied. We conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) to understand how AI tools at the February–June 2025 frontier affect the productivity of experienced open-source developers. 16 developers with moderate AI experience complete 246 tasks in mature projects on which they have an average of 5 years of prior experience. Each task is randomly assigned to allow or disallow usage of early-2025 AI tools. When AI tools are allowed, developers primarily use Cursor Pro, a popular code editor, and Claude 3.5/3.7 Sonnet. Before starting tasks, developers forecast that allowing AI will reduce completion time by 24%. After completing the study, developers estimate that allowing AI reduced completion time by 20%. Surprisingly, we find that allowing AI actually increases completion time by 19%—AI tooling slowed developers down. This slowdown also contradicts predictions from experts in economics (39% shorter) and ML (38% shorter). To understand this result, we collect and evaluate evidence for 20 properties of our setting that a priori could contribute to the observed slowdown effect—for example, the size and quality standards of projects, or prior developer experience with AI tooling. Although the influence of experimental artifacts cannot be entirely ruled out, the robustness of the slowdown effect across our analyses suggests it is unlikely to primarily be a function of our experimental design.

(See also this version…)

A graph of their results:

This Swedish thesis confirmed those survey results, but did not test actual development time — the METR results show that users' opinions about productivity are by no means always accurate. Of course those METR results were based on Claude 3.5 — Claude 4 might be different. Or might not be. And maybe making coders feel good is worth a 19% productivity decline…

(Here's someone who's really enthusiastic about using Claude Code — I assume the latest version — but again, it's opinion and not productivity measurement.)

Articles like "Generative AI is Turning Publishing Into a Swamp of Slop" (7/10/2025) suggest that LLMs are enhancing "productivity" in certain corners of the publishing industry. So it would be interesting to understand (beyond the obvious reasons) why coding is different, and what the implications are for other applications.

The METR discussion includes some attempts to "very roughly gesture at some salient important differences", which would apply in other fields. My own concern, based on considerable experience, is that the motives of the administrators (and consultants) responsible for tool choice are pretty clearly not always aligned with productivity improvements. Or user satisfaction, for that matter…

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69993&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-effect-of-ai-tools-on-coding

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69993

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Posted by Victor Mair

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69910

A learned friend recently sent me a draft composition on medieval Chinese history in which he referred to "*" as an "asterix". This reminded me that ten years ago I wrote a post, "The many pronunciations of '*'" (12/17/15), on this subject and we had a lengthy, vigorous discussion about it.

Given that lately we've been talking a lot about Celts, Galatians, and so on, I think it is appropriate to write another post on Asterix the Gaul, that famous French comic book character, and how he got his name. Also inspired / prompted by Chris Button's latest comment.

I often hear "*" pronounced "asterix" or "asterick", and so on (e.g., "astrisk" [two syllables], esp. in rapid speech). It's hard even for me to pronounce "*" or type the symbol those ways, so ingrained is the pronunciation "as-ter-isk".

First, a little refresher course on "*", how / when it came about, how it is written, how it is pronounced, and what it signifies:

The asterisk (/ˈæstərɪsk/ *), from Late Latin asteriscus, from Ancient Greek ἀστερίσκος, asteriskos, "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.

Computer scientists and mathematicians often vocalize it as star (as, for example, in the A* search algorithm or C*-algebra). An asterisk is usually five- or six-pointed in print and six- or eight-pointed when handwritten, though more complex forms exist. Its most common use is to call out a footnote. It is also often used to censor offensive words.

…

The asterisk was already in use as a symbol in ice age cave paintings. There is also a two-thousand-year-old character used by Aristarchus of Samothrace called the asteriskos, ※, which he used when proofreading Homeric poetry to mark lines that were duplicated. Origen is known to have also used the asteriskos to mark missing Hebrew lines from his Hexapla. The asterisk evolved in shape over time, but its meaning as a symbol used to correct defects remained.

In the Middle Ages, the asterisk was used to emphasize a particular part of text, often linking those parts of the text to a marginal comment. However, an asterisk was not always used.

One hypothesis to the origin of the asterisk is that it stems from the 5000-year-old Sumerian character dingir , though this hypothesis seems to only be based on visual appearance.

(Wikipedia)

Now, on to how Asterix the Gaul and the other characters in the comic got their names.

All the fictional characters in Asterix have names which are puns on their roles or personalities, and which follow certain patterns specific to nationality. Certain rules are followed (most of the time) such as Gauls (and their neighbours) having an "-ix" suffix for the men and ending in "-a" for the women; for example, Chief Vitalstatistix (so called due to his portly stature) and his wife Impedimenta (often at odds with the chief). The male Roman names end in "-us", echoing Latin nominative male singular form, as in Gluteus Maximus, a muscle-bound athlete whose name is literally the butt of the joke. Gothic names (present-day Germany) end in "-ic", after Gothic chiefs such as Alaric and Theoderic; for example Rhetoric the interpreter. Greek names end in "-os" or "-es"; for example, Thermos the restaurateur. British names usually end in "-ax" or "-os" and are often puns on the taxation associated with the later United Kingdom; examples include Mykingdomforanos, a British tribal chieftain, Valuaddedtax the druid, and Selectivemploymentax the mercenary. Names of Normans end with "-af", for example Nescaf or Cenotaf. Egyptian characters often end in -is, such as the architects Edifis and Artifis, and the scribe Exlibris. Indic names, apart from the only Indic female characters Orinjade and Lemuhnade, exhibit considerable variation; examples include Watziznehm, Watzit, Owzat, and Howdoo. Other nationalities are treated to pidgin translations from their language, like Huevos y Bacon, a Spanish chieftain (whose name, meaning eggs and bacon, is often guidebook Spanish for tourists), or literary and other popular media references, like Dubbelosix (a sly reference to James Bond's codename "007").^[68]

Most of these jokes, and hence the names of the characters, are specific to the translation; for example, the druid named Getafix in English translation – "get a fix", referring to the character's role in dispensing the magic potion – is Panoramix in the original French and Miraculix in German.^[69] Even so, occasionally the wordplay has been preserved: Obelix's dog, known in the original French as Idéfix (from idée fixe, a "fixed idea" or obsession), is called Dogmatix in English, which not only renders the original meaning strikingly closely ("dogmatic") but in fact adds another layer of wordplay with the syllable "Dog-" at the beginning of the name.

The name Asterix, French Astérix, comes from astérisque, meaning "asterisk", which is the typographical symbol * indicating a footnote, from the Greek word ἀστήρ (aster), meaning a "star". His name is usually left unchanged in translations, aside from accents and the use of local alphabets. For example, in Esperanto, Polish, Slovene, Latvian, and Turkish it is Asteriks (in Turkish he was first named Bücür meaning "shorty", but the name was then standardised). Two exceptions include Icelandic, in which he is known as Ástríkur ("Rich of love"), and Sinhala, where he is known as සූර පප්පා (Soora Pappa), which can be interpreted as "Hero". The name Obelix (Obélix) may refer to "obelisk", a stone column from ancient Egypt (and hence his large size and strength and his task of carrying around menhirs), but also to another typographical symbol, the obelisk or obelus (†).

For explanations of some of the other names, see List of Asterix characters.

The translators who created all of these different versions in so many languages are to be commended for maintaining the humorous spirit of the onomastics in the original. "Vive 'Astérix le Gaulois'!"

Selected readings

"The many pronunciations of '*'" (12/17/15)
"Asses and asterisks" (8/14/17)

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69910&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=asterisk-the-gaul

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69910

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/sbtb-bestsellers-june-28-july-11/

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=148032

The latest bestseller list is brought to you by warm cookies, ice cream, and our affiliate sales data.bestse

Not in Love by Ali Hazelwood Amazon | B&N | Kobo
A Bride for the Prizefighter by Alice Coldbreath Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Hell for Hire by Rachel Aaron Amazon | B&N
Temple of Swoon by Jo Segura Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Change of Heart by Kate Canterbary Amazon | B&N
A Rivalry of Hearts by Tessonja Odette Amazon | B&N
The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Servant of Earth by Sarah Hawley Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Molly Molloy & the Angel of Death by Maria Vale Amazon | B&N | Kobo
Give Me Butterflies by Jillian Meadows Amazon | B&N | Kobo

I hope your weekend reading was scrumptious!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/sbtb-bestsellers-june-28-july-11/

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https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/sunday-sale-digest-39/

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=147999

This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you!

Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun!

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2025/07/sunday-sale-digest-39/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=147999

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69963&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=steele-v-monboddo

Posted by Mark Liberman

https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69963

In "AI win of the week" I explored the inter-personal dimensions of Rousseau's 1754 contention that "there is neither rhythm nor melody in French music, because the language is not capable of them". In the comments, AntC objected that "But, but. Rousseau wrote an opera, in French, to his own Libretto. audio + full score available on Youtube".

For now, I have only two comments on this. First, trolls are often happy to abandon consistency in the service of pwning their audience. And second, the 1754 edition of Rousseau's screed, published two years after the debut of his opera, goes into considerable detail about how he painfully transferred the musicality of Italian prosody to the composition and performance of a work with French lyrics.

But rather than diving further into Rousseau's argument about the relative musicality of different languages' prosody, the point of today's post is to note its resonance with another mid-18th century prosodic dispute, namely Joshua Steele's refutation of James Burnett's claim that English prosody gives its syllables "nothing better than the music of a drum, in which we perceive no difference except that of louder or softer, according as the instrument is more or less forcibly struck".

My connection with this argument began in 1973, when I was trying to learn something about English intonation. The (very small) relevant section of the stacks in MIT's library happened to have (a facsimile edition of) Steele's 1775 work, An Essay Towards Establishing the Melody and Measure of Speech to be Expressed and Perpetuated by Peculiar Symbols. I read it carefully and learned a lot.

One of the first things I learned was Steele's motivation for the enterprise. His description starts this way:

[M]y learned and honoured friend Sir John Pringle, President of the Royal Society, desired me to give him, in writing, my opinion on the musical part of a very curious and ingenious work lately published at Edinburgh, on The Origin and Progress of Language, which I should find principally in part II. book ii, chap. 4. and 5. wherein several propositions, denying that our language has either the melody of modulation, or the rhythmus of quantity, gave occasion to the following systematic attempt to prove the contrary.

At that point I paid no further attention to Monboddo's "very curious and ingenious work", partly because I was convinced by Steele's arguments against it, and partly because the library didn't have a copy of (any of the six volumes) of the work in question. But digital facsimiles are now easy to come by, and so I've taken a look at the stuff that led Pringle to question Steele, and led Steele to write his essay.

The author was James Burnett, Lord Monboddo (see Language Hat's post on the interpretation of the name), and the six volumes of The Origin and Progress of Language were published between 1774 and 1792. Volume II was part of the initial 1774 publication, giving Steele only a year to prepare and publish his response a year later.

The relevant pages of Monboddo's work are here, if you really want to slog through them. The critical passage comes at the end:

But what do we mean then when we speak so much of accent in English, and dispute whether a word is right or wrong accented? My answer is, That we have, no doubt, accents in English, and syllabical accents too: but they are of a quite different kind from the antient accents ; for there is no change of the tone in them; but the voice is only raised more, so as to be louder upon one syllable than another. Our accents therefore fall under the first member of the division of sound, which I made in the beginning of this chapter, namely, the distinction of louder, and softer, or lower.

That there is truly no other difference, is a matter of fact, that must be determined by musicians. Now I appeal to them, whether they can perceive any difference of tone betwixt the accented and unaccented syllables of any word; and if there be none, then is the music of our language in this respect nothing better than the music of a drum, in which we perceive no difference except that of louder or softer, according as the instrument is more or less forcibly struck.

Of course Monboddo is also wrong that drum sounds can differ only in loudness and not in frequency content — watch and listen here for a refutation, or here for another (and more linguistically relevant) one.

But in fairness to Lord Monboddo, his "English accents are like drum beats" claim is not quite so idiotically tone-deaf as it seems, since he makes two other claims earlier that fuzzify it somewhat. One is the idea that English pitch changes exist, but only as "the tones of passion or sentiment":

As to accents in English, Mr Foster, from a partiality, very excusable, to his country, and its language, would fain persuade us, that in English there are accents such as in Greek and Latin. But to me it is evident that there are none such; by which I mean that we have no accents upon syllables, which are musical tones, differing in acuteness or gravity. For though, no doubt, there are changes of voice in our speaking from acute to grave, and vice versa, of which a musician could mark the intervals, these changes are not upon syllables, but upon words or sentences. And they are the tones of passion or sentiment, which, as I observed, are to be distinguished from the accents we are speaking of.

And he adds

[T]here is another difference betwixt our accents and the antient, that ours neither are, nor can, by their nature, be subjected to any rule ; whereas the antient, as we have seen, are governed by rules, and make part of their grammatical art.

Anyhow, Steele took it on himself not only to show that English had "melody and measure", but also to provide "peculiar symbols" for expressing it. The pages where he introduces his notation are here. His instrumental analysis method — using a bass viol — is better than any other one that would be available for the following couple of hundred years:

Along with some other notational inventions, the result is transcriptions like this:

And his conclusions:

1st, That the sound or melody of speecb is not monotonous, or confined like the found of a drum, to exhibit no other changes than those of loud or soft.

2dly, That the changes of voice from acute to grave, and vice versa, do not proceed by pointed degrees coinciding with
the divisions of the chromatico-diatonic scale; but by gradations that seem infinitely smaller (which we call slides); and though altogether of a great extent, are yet too rapid (for inexperienced ears) to be distinctly sub-divided; consequently they must be submitted to some other genus of music than either the diatonic or chromatic.

3dly, That these changes are made, not only upon words and upon sentences, but upon syllables and monosyllables. Also,

4thly, and lastly, That in our changes on syllables or monofyllables, the voice slides, at least, through as great an extent as the Greeks allowed to their accents; that is, through a fifth, more or less.

Not having access to a bass viol, I followed Steele's example using a computer program for a PDP-9, allowing figures like this one from my 1975 dissertation:

Though for presentational purposes, Ivan Sag used a kazoo in presentations like this one:

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