February News: Hi Linguists! I know you're all busy people, but please take some time to read about the upcoming BULA events. We're looking forward to a great semester! General Group Meeting This will be a great chance for everyone to mingle and discuss ideas for the upcoming months. We'll be discussing T-shirts, movie nights (Fargo, anyone?), and other ideas. WHEN: Tuesday, February 17 @ 7:00 PM (Note: BU Monday Schedule) WHERE: GSU Backcourt (look for our poster!) -Look out for fliers in your classes! February 21 - International Mother Language Day http://tinyurl.com/languageday Yay for linguistic diversity and acceptance! It's kind of short notice, but maybe we can have dinner or some sort of small celebration together. We can discuss this at the meeting too. Linguistics in the News: American Dialect Society 2008 Word of the Year is "Bailout": http://tinyurl.com/adsbailout Most Useful: Barack Obama, Most Creative: recombobulation area, Most Unnecessary: moofing, Most Outrageous: terrorist fist jab, Most Likely to Succeed: shovel-ready, and more! Nominations Open for American Dialect Society's Word of the Decade: http://tinyurl.com/adsdecade Send nominations here: gbarrett@worldnewyork.org Meh, Add it to the Dictionary: http://tinyurl.com/hellomeh An article about language change and how the Internet may be helping to formalize spelling. [Thanks to Tricia K. for putting this newsletter together. This is the first one; others will follow, on occasion, but not so often as to be annoying!]