Swampwise!
Dipthongs turn into monopthongs, and other adventures among the cypress knees.
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Deborah Fallows
157 posts
Deborah Fallows is a writer, linguist and fellow at New America. She has written extensively on language, education, families and work, China, and travel for The Atlantic, National Geographic, Slate, The New York Times, The LA Times, and The Washington Monthly.
The Word Cloud of a Town
How the people of Sioux Falls describe themselves and their hometown
What My School Means to Me: Essays from 3 High Schoolers
How students at an unusual school think—and write—about their experience.
Why We Never Get Over High School
Across the nation, people have different questions they ask when meeting someone new. There are hidden meanings in all of them—including a popular one about schooling.
What We Mean When We Say Hello
The curious geography of American greetings
So, Where Do You Live? What Do You Do?
When we were in Greenville SC recently, I was surprised to learn that a very common follow-up to the greeting of “How do you do?” or “Nice to meet you,”…
Dreaming Big in South Carolina: A Public Boarding School for the Arts
“One half dream; one half plan.” That’s how one student described his life at the Governor’s School for the Arts and Humanities in Greenville, South Carolina. Dreaming big at the…
Dadgum! Katy, Bar the Door!
Speaking Your Mind in South Carolina
America’s Tiniest Engineers: Report From Greenville, South Carolina
It was the monthly “engineering week” when I visited the A.J. Whittenberg Elementary School of Engineering in Greenville, South Carolina, in January. Volunteers from one of the several local big-name companies in…
Ice Cream, Chocolate, Coffee, and Beer
Take ingredients and blend, for small-town synergy.
An American Dream: A YMCA with a Circus
For those of you who have always dreamed of running off to join the circus, here is a close second: move to Redlands, California, and join the YMCA. Not only…
A School With a Sense of Place
We arrived at The Grove School in Redlands, California, just before their winter break, at about noon and right in time for lunch. The Grove School is a public charter…
‘Springbok, Cleared for Landing’: More on the Language of the Skies
[See update* below.] On our recent flight home in our small plane from Eastport ME, to Washington DC, we were listening, as we often do, to the air traffic controllers (ATC). They…
‘Tis the L.L.Bean Season for Pinball Wizards and Wicked Good Wieners
I always associate the word “wicked” with the Maine icon L.L.Bean. For good reason: do you know that if you search on the L.L.Bean website for “wicked” that you will…
Do You Speak Eastport?
A town teaches itself to talk positive.
Report From Rural Maine: What It Takes to Make a School
Shead High School, home of the Tigers, sits on a hill in Eastport, Maine, just a short walk from everything else in town. I went to visit, curious about what…