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Anthony Shore

@operativewords.com

I name things. https://www.operativewords.com

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Latest posts by Anthony Shore @operativewords.com

OMG I want to be there. Where is WIPIP happening? Need to sign up for next year!

27.02.2026 17:21 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Lovely covers!

26.02.2026 18:40 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Contrived pronunciations and spellings of brand names are annoying. Glad to have The New York Times ask me and esteemed colleagues @fritinancy.bsky.social and @lexlanham.bsky.social about them.

23.02.2026 16:50 πŸ‘ 4 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! So very psyched to see you at the UCSC Quarry, such a gorgeous venue. Go Slugs! 🐌

03.02.2026 18:09 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Is it available in albatross shape?

08.01.2026 18:06 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
a black and white photo of a boy with the words " can i have some more " Alt: Hungry boy demands more linguistic puzzles.

Oh wow! Neat, I want another!

30.12.2025 23:20 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Neat! πŸ™ŒπŸΌ

30.12.2025 21:16 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Well, that's quite a clue. I guess you could say the poem is aptophonaesthetic. That is, the words have certain meanings which are reinforced by the sounds in the words which convey those same meanings.

30.12.2025 21:15 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

English words of Germanic origin

30.12.2025 18:52 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 2 πŸ“Œ 0

Dr. Meh

Live and Let Tie Dye

27.12.2025 01:07 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
A Cybertruck, overturned. Caption read: β€œAs Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.”

A Cybertruck, overturned. Caption read: β€œAs Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.”

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He was laying on his hard, as it were armor-plated, back. His numerous legs, which were pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes.

27.12.2025 00:53 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Classic Gary Larson cartoon entitled "How to recognize the moods of an Irish setter" in which six identical images of a chipper Irish Setter are shown, each with a different caption: happy, depressed, angry, pensive, excited, suicidal.

Classic Gary Larson cartoon entitled "How to recognize the moods of an Irish setter" in which six identical images of a chipper Irish Setter are shown, each with a different caption: happy, depressed, angry, pensive, excited, suicidal.

21.11.2025 23:09 πŸ‘ 3 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Dystopias are often presented as future possibilities, but they were realities in our past, too.

19.11.2025 20:12 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What if our alphabet is just the 2D shadow of something bigger? What about the letters in higher dimensions we can't see? Even from Flatland, our letters let us describe so much, but imagine what a language with extra-dimensional symbols could express.

19.11.2025 20:06 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

What did you name them?

12.11.2025 21:36 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Dressing up tonight as spooky action from a distance πŸ‘»

31.10.2025 22:27 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Thanks! πŸ™πŸΌ

27.10.2025 18:01 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
Preview
The 25th-anniversary story of Accenture’s name, from the professional namer who led the project | Fortune An insider’s revealing look into Accenture β€” the wild ride behind history’s most painstaking corporate name change

The wildest #naming project I have ever worked on launched 25 years ago. I told the story behind the name Accenture to @fortune.com. Please read and enjoy!

fortune.com/2025/10/26/t...

27.10.2025 17:21 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 0

My undergrad thesis was titled "Latin and Moraic Theory" so this post stopped me in my tracks

14.10.2025 21:27 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

A circular

14.10.2025 21:21 πŸ‘ 0 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
tweet from childish branzino @absflora:
timothΓ©e chalamet is the new benedict cumberbatch in the sense that you can say ANYTHING and we know who you mean. tiffany chevrolet. timpanogos charlemagne. symphony cabernet. jiminy castaway.

tweet from childish branzino @absflora: timothΓ©e chalamet is the new benedict cumberbatch in the sense that you can say ANYTHING and we know who you mean. tiffany chevrolet. timpanogos charlemagne. symphony cabernet. jiminy castaway.

Higgledy piggledy
TimothΓ©e Chalamet
Has a name meriting
Endless design

Much like his forerunner
Benedict Cumberbatch:
Hexasyllabically,
Easy to rhyme

09.10.2025 18:57 πŸ‘ 2178 πŸ” 645 πŸ’¬ 54 πŸ“Œ 59
Preview
August linkstack Political language, Olympics naming, generational naming, a new word game, and more.

August linkstack: political lingo, AI news, a new word game, a terrific new book, and more. Feat. @grammargirl.bsky.social @cwarzel.bsky.social @operativewords.com @awalkerinla.bsky.social @trufelman.bsky.social @caseynewton.bsky.social et al. fritinancy.substack.com/p/august-lin...

28.08.2025 14:01 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

The assonance helps here, as does the incongruity. "Fridge cig" sounds good which facilitates adoption. Something like "fridge break" would be less likely to get traction.

17.06.2025 16:08 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
The Grateful Dead logo, "Steal Your Face", featuring a skull with a lightning bolt down its center, dividing the center of the skull into red (left) and blue (right) fields, all within a circle of blue (left) and red (right).

The Grateful Dead logo, "Steal Your Face", featuring a skull with a lightning bolt down its center, dividing the center of the skull into red (left) and blue (right) fields, all within a circle of blue (left) and red (right).

22.05.2025 14:24 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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March linkstack A good read, some banned words, Covid nostalgia, New Yorker style, and more.

March links: Banned words, dead names, restored vowels, @newyorker.com style, and a close reading of a 1958 issue of β€œMale” magazine. Feat. @operativewords.com @bcdreyer.social @zinzin.bsky.social @grammargirl.bsky.social @emckean.bsky.social & more. open.substack.com/pub/fritinan...

27.03.2025 14:52 πŸ‘ 7 πŸ” 2 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 2

Solid! πŸ™ŒπŸΌ But I think 'Trump Slump’ are the words you are looking for.
#naming

11.03.2025 17:03 πŸ‘ 2 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

They did that on purpose just to get under our skin. Guaranteed!

26.02.2025 23:25 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0

Um, excuse me, it's Proto-INDO-European, not Proto-European.

26.02.2025 21:39 πŸ‘ 15 πŸ” 1 πŸ’¬ 1 πŸ“Œ 1

Try searching for the file Bobbyfinalfinalfinal2finalreallyfinal3.jpg

Best of luck!

13.02.2025 14:34 πŸ‘ 1 πŸ” 0 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 0
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Word of the week: Forestalgia Once and future coinages.

Word of the week: Forestalgia, with notes on other -stalgias. Don't miss @operativewords.com comment about β€œlostalgia”! fritinancy.substack.com/p/word-of-th...

27.01.2025 15:42 πŸ‘ 8 πŸ” 3 πŸ’¬ 0 πŸ“Œ 1