Linguists Are Nihilists | Interview: Colin Gorrie

Read the original at The Dispatch ↗
Cite

Goldberg, J. (2026, August 26). Linguists Are Nihilists | Interview: Colin Gorrie. The Dispatch. https://thedispatch.com/podcast/remnant/linguists-are-nihilists-interview-colin-gorrie/

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

The Dispatch · collected 2026-08-26 · by Jonah Goldberg

Quick Summary

Colin Gorrie, a linguist and author of a Substack newsletter called the Dead Language Society, discusses various topics with host Jonah Goldberg, including language learning, etymology, and prescriptive vs. descriptive grammar. The interview covers over a dozen different subjects in linguistics and language, with no specific focus or angle other than to provide an exchange between two interested individuals. The podcast is part of "The Remnant", a production of digital media company "The Dispatch".
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-08-26, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

Colin Gorrie, a linguist, was interviewed by Jonah Goldberg for The Remnant, a podcast produced by The Dispatch. During the conversation, they covered various topics in linguistics, including Old English dialects, the difference between prescriptive and descriptive grammar, and the impact of Latinization on languages. They also discussed Australian English, Basque, and the most difficult European language to learn. The interview touched on themes such as class, accents, and linguistic hygiene, among others.

Written for “Language and Meaning Debate” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Language and Meaning Debate
Education · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
22
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
14%
3 of 22 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
61/100
The Dispatch's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Education
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-08-26 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Dispatch · 307 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Jonah Goldberg
48 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 On today's roundtable, we'll discuss a large number of Americans who say they want substantial change or complete and total upheaval in these midterm elections, and whether the prevailing anti-incumbent and anti-Trump sentiment will lead to a blue wave, a rogue wave, or something else entirely.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · A Blue Wave or an Anti-Incumbent Wave?
🔮 Ladies and gentlemen, could I please have your attention?
🔮 For reasons that will baffle my many detractors, I am often asked for advice about being an opinion journalist.
2026-10-14 · assertive framing · When Politicians Are Entirely Too Online
🔮 And I figure if it's really important, Steve or Declan or somebody will send it to me, or I'll hear about it or whatever.
2026-10-10 · assertive framing · Modernity’s Big Bang | Ruminant
🔮 Dear Reader (even you Cornhuskers willing to shuck out three grand for one of them used urinal troughs), In 2023 there was that whole thing about how all men—or a lot of men—spend a shocking amount of time thinking about ancient Rome.
2026-10-09 · assertive framing · High-Minded Words for a Low Form of Politics
🔮 Will the redistricting efforts save some Republican seats, or will that backfire?
2026-10-09 · assertive framing · What Midterm Polling May Be Getting Wrong
🔮 Ladies and gentlemen. Could I please have your attention?
🔮 Got to the office extra early this morning so I could get this done and get to work on the G file and get back on the book and do all sorts of other things and make... get home to make the meatballs and do the sauce and pick up the guns from Robert De Niro, but the helicopter keeps following me.
2026-10-03 · assertive framing · Nixon Was Wrong | Ruminant
🔮 Mike Warren is joined by Jonah Goldberg and Kevin Williamson to discuss Missouri Sen. Eric Schmitt’s failed attempt at setting a perjury trap and the Trump administration’s AI luncheon.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Sen. Schmitt’s Failed Attack on Jack Smith
🔮 That’s what it says beneath several ridiculous ads celebrating Donald Trump as a man of strength and will.
2026-09-30 · assertive framing · Because He Can
Also by Jonah Goldberg
A Blue Wave or an Anti-Incumbent Wave?
2026-10-16 · The Dispatch
There Are Limits to Incompetence
2026-10-14 · The Dispatch
When Politicians Are Entirely Too Online
2026-10-14 · The Dispatch
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 48 articles by Jonah Goldberg →

Topics

Australian Dispatch Old English Shakespearean The Remnant

Subjects

Colin PERSON · 4× Dispatch ORG · 3× Colin Gory PERSON · 2× Jonah PERSON · 2× Jonah Goldberg PERSON · 2× The Remnant ORG · 2× Australian NORP · 1× Colin Gorrie PERSON · 1× Old English NORP · 1× Shakespearean NORP · 1×

Narrative

Jonah and Colin cover Old English dialects, prescriptive vs. descriptive, the world’s biggest language, Latinization, early dictionaries, class, accents, linguistic hygiene, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, metaphors, the euphemism treadmill, borrowed words, Shakespearean coinages, Australian English, gender in language, Basque, and the hardest European language to learn.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-08-26
🔮 Ladies and gentlemen, could I please have your attention?
2026-08-26 · The Dispatch
Linguists Are Nihilists | Interview: Colin Gorrie · assertive framing

Claims (22 extracted, 3 hedged)

There’s a certain ache in the bones—no, more like pain behind the eyes brought on by fatigue with the world—that overtakes a man when he’s gone too long without talking about etymology. asserted
he → ’ → etymology
We here at The Remnant have been feeling that deeply, and we know you have too. asserted
you → feel → that
That’s why Jonah Goldberg is sitting down with fellow word nerd Colin Gorrie to talk about everything he’s ever wanted to know about language. asserted
he → ’ → language
Jonah and Colin cover Old English dialects, prescriptive vs. descriptive, the world’s biggest language, Latinization, early dictionaries, class, accents, linguistic hygiene, the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, metaphors, the euphemism treadmill, borrowed words, Shakespearean coinages, Australian English, gender in language, Basque, and the hardest European language to learn. asserted
Jonah → cover → language
The Remnant is a production of The Dispatch, a digital media company covering politics, policy, and culture from a nonpartisan perspective. asserted
Remnant → cover → perspective
Instructions on how to set up your members-only feed can be found here, and if you’d like to remove all ads from your podcast experience, consider becoming a premium Dispatch member by clicking here. asserted
you → set → experience
Ladies and gentlemen, could I please have your attention? uncertain
I → have → attention
Can you dig it? asserted
you → dig → it
This is Jonah Goldberg, host of the Remnant Podcast, brought to you by the Dispatch and Dispatch Media. asserted
This → bring → Dispatch
Extremely excited about today's guest, although it's funny, um, we got this sort of on the calendar a long time ago, and I've been crazy working on my own book and all this other stuff going on in my life with the house and whatever. asserted
I → get → house
And Alex, my RA, texts saying, "Hey, any specific you wanna talk about with the etymology guy?" asserted
you → say → guy
And I read it as entomologist, asserted
I → read → entomologist
and I was, like, thinking, okay, well, I would love to have a bug guy. asserted
I → think → guy
So, and I started thinking about it, and then it turned out I just, uh, my dyslexia or something kicked in, and 'cause I had forgotten that, that we had gotten Colin Gory on the calendar, and I'm very excited about that. asserted
I → start → that
Colin Gory is a-- joins a long list of linguist-- uh, linguists on here. asserted
Gory → join → linguists
We've had John McWhorter on a couple times. asserted
We → have → McWhorter
We've had Steven Pinker, Joshua Katz, and then some other psycholo-- some other folks who are more on the psychology side than the linguistic side, but there's a lot of overlap there, which I'm kinda fascinated by. asserted
I → have → which
Uh, Colin has a fantastic Substack that I've been going through called the Dead Language Society Substack. asserted
I → have → that
He's working on a book, book-length history of the English language. asserted
He → work → language
He's a linguist who claims to be on a mission to bring linguistics out of the ivory tower. uncertain
who → claim → tower
We're gonna ask him how many languages he's, he actually knows or claims to know. uncertain
he → go → him
Colin received his PhD in linguistics from the University of Arizona in 2014, where his studies focused on linguistic typology, methodological foundations of linguistic theory, and Celtic languages. asserted
studies → receive → theory
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