Good communication can be difficult enough in English. When you complicate it with a cross-cultural divide, the challenges increase immensely—and sometimes hilariously. That’s the premise behind David Henry Hwang’s play Chinglish, which debuted on Broadway on October 27. We geeked … Continue reading →

I spoke in Beijing on Saturday, and worked with an interpreter for the first time. Public speaking is hard enough, and working with an interpreter complicates things… unless you’re prepared. I had two interpreters. One was the primary and the … Continue reading →

The description of the fictitious Turbo Encabulator has long been used by engineers to warn against the use of technobabble. It has a lengthy and fascinating history, which includes this 1977 performance by Bud Haggart. There is most definitely a lesson … Continue reading →

When Helen Fielding used a diary to tell the story of Bridget Jones, this stylistic choice seemed logical: the journal format allowed the reader to see the seemingly small details of Bridget’s everyday life. But what if Bridget had written … Continue reading →

Marshall McLuhan was one of the earliest scholars to discuss the changing nature of media in the electronic age and today would have been his 100th birthday.  Famous for coining the phrase “the medium is the message,” he devoted a great deal of … Continue reading →