[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-116754-en":3,"doc-seo-116754-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":90},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":4,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":20,"is_downloadable":20,"audit_status":20,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},116754,1374391974585,"Genevieve","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c",2,"Literature","Silly Linguistics - Issue #97 - June 2026","Silly Linguistics Issue #97 (June 2026) explores how unfamiliar or “ghost” words enter usage and persist despite lacking stable definitions or clear etymology. It highlights examples such as ghost words arising from transcription mistakes, misread abbreviations, copyright traps, and even AI-generated nonsense presented as facts. The issue also frames its research approach: playful curiosity paired with serious linguistic investigation, emphasizing exceptions, wordplay, and human attention to language change.","THE MAGAZINE FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS  \nTHE MAGAZINE FOR LANGUAGE LOVERS : ISSUE \\#97 : JUNE 2026  \nTable of Contents  \n03  \n06  \n10  \n13  \n17  \n19  \n25  \nGood Gravy! You’ve Been Ghosted  \nBy Patricia Syner  \nSilly scientific linguistic research By Neda Stefanović  \nTHE LANGUAGE OF WANDERING  \nBy Joana Atanasova  \nJapanese Gender & Pronouns V: The Not-So-Atypic Feminine  \nBy Caboshone  \nThe history of the English language-Part 2 By Steve the vagabond  \nDOCH.  \nThe word that won’t shut up  \nBy Laura Rikono  \nMore on the unique Gaelic dialects of Mull -and on the origins of Gaelic in the Hebrides, & the witches of Mull  \nBy Linden Alexander Pentecost  \nCover and content page photo by Ajmal K P on Unsplash  \nThis week's page numbers are in Romani!  \nJune 2026 , Issue \\#97 Silly Linguistics: The Magazine for Language Lovers  \n3 \\ trin  \nYou’ve Been Ghosted  \nBy Patricia Syner  \nJune 2026, Issue \\#97 Silly Linguistics: The Magazine for Language Lovers  \n4 \\ shtar  \nSo, you are reading along and you  \ndiscover a word you do not recognize. You take a minute to look it up. No definition appears on any search engine that you try. What could it possibly mean? Did it slide under the spellcheck radar or was it written on purpose? How very odd.  \nImagine you are given a bunch of Grandma’s old recipes, dog-eared and frayed. The ink is now faded and barely legible. Your task is to transcribe them for posterity. If her handwriting is difficult to decipher, you might end up with something entirely different. The word“gravy” is a classic example of a ghost word. Etymologists believe the word was originally “grane” or maybe “grain,” but was misinterpreted from an Old French Cookbook, and was written as gravy. While it was a mistake, it soon became the gravy we know today.  \nGhost words have impact on today’s society even today. Everyone lovesmashed potatoes and gravy, but would it still be delicious if we called it mashed potatoes and grain? Some ghost words are formed on purpose and others, like gravy, are results of transcription errors or misinterpreted in other ways. These words can have lasting marks on the language we use every day.  \nThe next time your professor gives you a copy of the class syllabus, and you are very brave, you can relate to him that it is actually a sittybos, but due to a transcription error, it is indeed now known as a syllabus. The most well-known ghost  \nword presented itself in 1939. The imposter word “Dord” was able to hang around for ten long years. The non-word was recognized sometime thereafter as simply the error of misreading “D or d,”the abbreviation of density, but it was not removed from the Webster’s Dictionary until 1949.  \nIn 1886, a lexicographer named Walter Skeat recognized the fallibility of human error and declared that some words simply were imposters. Created by error or even on purpose as an aid against copywriting, he labeled these ersatz words “Ghost Words.” He acknowledged that even though some may appear in dictionaries or other similar reference works, that alone did not make them legitimate words, often lacking any proper etymology.  \nSome ghost words persist and some fall by the wayside. Take for instance your new tweed coat. A merchant once misread the word “tweel” and the new word caught on. Not all ghost words are created by error, either. The New Oxford American Dictionary once included the bogus word Esquivalience as a copyright trap.  \nFinally, some ghost words are created not by human error, but by AI. Artificial Intelligence has been known to create some nonsense words and present them as facts resulting in legal ramifications. Air Cananda was legally forced to honor a “Bereavement Fare” discount created solely by their own chatbot which gave  \nJune 2026, Issue \\#97 Silly Linguistics: The Magazine for Language Lovers  \n5 \\ panj  \nthe wrong information which was clearly  \nagainst airline policy.  \nThe next time you run across a word that  \ndoes not appear legitimate, consider  \nwhether i","cbCaifGCiZOVSUbd","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaifGCiZOVSUbd","pdf",12957304,1,36,"English","en",105,"# Good Gravy! You’ve Been Ghosted\n## Ghost words and etymology\n# Silly scientific linguistic research\n## Love, curiosity, and approachable inquiry\n# THE LANGUAGE OF WANDERING\n## Language exploration theme\n# Japanese Gender & Pronouns V: The Not-So-Atypic Feminine\n## Gender and pronoun usage\n# The history of the English language - Part 2\n## Historical development\n# DOCH.\n## The word that won’t shut up\n# More on the unique Gaelic dialects of Mull and the origins of Gaelic in the Hebrides\n## Gaelic dialects, origins, and cultural lore\n# This week's page numbers are in Romani!","[{\"question\":\"什么是“ghost words”，它们如何进入语言使用？\",\"answer\":\"“Ghost words”指没有可靠定义或来源、却被误读、誊写错误、或因陷阱机制而被写入并流传的“冒牌词”。例如将旧食谱中误写的词当作正确拼写，或因误读缩写而被收录。\"},{\"question\":\"本期如何同时看待轻松的语言故事与严谨的语言研究？\",\"answer\":\"本期强调两种取向互相交织：既用好奇与趣味去发现语言现象，也依托更严肃的科学研究思路来支撑讨论。\"},{\"question\":\"AI 会怎样制造或传播虚构词，并带来什么后果？\",\"answer\":\"文中指出，AI 可能生成无意义词并以“事实”形式呈现，导致现实中的误用与法律后果。例如有航空公司因聊天机器人给出的错误折扣信息而被迫执行。\"}]","Silly Linguistics - Issue #97 - June 2026 | PDF",1785666429,55,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":85,"head_meta":87,"extra_data":89,"updated_unix":28},"silly-linguistics-issue-97-june-2026","",{"@graph":36,"@context":84},[37,53,67],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/literature/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/silly-linguistics-issue-97-june-2026/116754/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":61,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":62,"interactionStatistic":63},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-02",true,{"@type":64,"interactionType":65,"userInteractionCount":4},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":66},"ViewAction",{"@type":68,"mainEntity":69},"FAQPage",[70,76,80],{"name":71,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":73},"什么是“ghost words”，它们如何进入语言使用？","Question",{"text":74,"@type":75},"“Ghost words”指没有可靠定义或来源、却被误读、誊写错误、或因陷阱机制而被写入并流传的“冒牌词”。例如将旧食谱中误写的词当作正确拼写，或因误读缩写而被收录。","Answer",{"name":77,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":78},"本期如何同时看待轻松的语言故事与严谨的语言研究？",{"text":79,"@type":75},"本期强调两种取向互相交织：既用好奇与趣味去发现语言现象，也依托更严肃的科学研究思路来支撑讨论。",{"name":81,"@type":72,"acceptedAnswer":82},"AI 会怎样制造或传播虚构词，并带来什么后果？",{"text":83,"@type":75},"文中指出，AI 可能生成无意义词并以“事实”形式呈现，导致现实中的误用与法律后果。例如有航空公司因聊天机器人给出的错误折扣信息而被迫执行。","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":86,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":88,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":91},[92,96,99,103,108,113,118,123,128,131,135],{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":98},80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":100,"show_sort_weight":101,"slug":102},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":104,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":105,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":107},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":109,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":110,"show_sort_weight":111,"slug":112},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":114,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":115,"show_sort_weight":116,"slug":117},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":119,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":121,"slug":122},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":124,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":125,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]