Geoffrey Nunberg

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Geoffrey Nunberg moderating a panel at the UC Berkeley School of Information on 26 April 2006.

Geoffrey Nunberg is an American linguist and a professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information. As a linguist, he is best known for his work on lexical semantics, in particular on the phenomena of polysemy, deferred reference and indexicality. He has also written extensively about the cultural and social implications of new technologies. Nunberg is currently popularly known for his work with the Becky Awards.

Nunberg has been commenting on language, usage, and society for National Public Radio's Fresh Air program since 1988. His commentaries on language also appear frequently in The New York Times and other publications. He is chair of the American Heritage Dictionary usage panel. His books for general audiences included The Way We Talk Now: Commentaries on Language and Culture from NPR's Fresh Air, Going Nucular: Language, Politics, and Culture in Controversial Times and most recently Talking Right: How Conservatives Turned Liberalism into a Tax-Raising, Latte-Drinking, Sushi-Eating, Volvo-Driving, New York Times-Reading, Body-Piercing, Hollywood-Loving, Left-Wing Freak Show. He discussed the latter book on The Colbert Report.