Aviya Kushner is the Forward’s language columnist and the author of Wolf Lamb Bomb and The Grammar of God. Follow her on Twitter @AviyaKushner.
Aviya Kushner
By Aviya Kushner
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Culture Why TREASON Is More Popular Than Ever
Something unexpected happened to treason over the past two hundred years — the word nearly disappeared from use. As this handy chart reveals, treason was a much larger part of vocabulary in 1810 than it was in 2010. And maybe because the word left conversation, it also left our consciousness. We forgot about it. Until…
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Culture GHETTO: Why Denmark’s Use Of That Noun Should Frighten Us All
Denmark, once home to a king who famously objected to Nazi deportation plans, recently horrified the world by publicizing a “ghetto list” and enacting new laws pertaining to those who live in what the government classified as a ghetto. What does that mean, exactly? “Starting at the age of 1, ‘ghetto children’ must be separated…
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Culture How David Avidan Became Hebrew’s Most Experimental Poet
A new and important translation aims to introduce readers to David Avidan, the most experimental poet in the history of Hebrew poetry, and a poet unjustly unknown to nearly all English-language readers. Avidan was also a filmmaker, a conceptual artist, and a television and radio host. In all his pursuits, he was obsessed with the…
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Culture Are ‘14’ And ‘88’ Nazi Dog Whistles In Border Security Document — Or Just Numbers?
Sometimes a dog whistle can be a number, not a word. The number “88” appeared in a strange context in a press release from Homeland Security calling for building a border wall, along with a headline that had a total of fourteen words — but until today, no one seems to have noticed. Today, the…
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Culture Why A Hebrew Phrase Is Causing A Hullabaloo In Austria
Over beers in Jerusalem, a writer I know shared a fascinating linguistic tidbit from his recent research trip to Austria. He said he had heard the Hebrew phrase tohu va’vohu, from Genesis 1:2, memorably translated by Everett Fox as “wild and waste,” used in Vienna. As slang, he thought. In any case, tohu va’vohu seemed…
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Culture CIVILITY — Why Donald Trump Has Never Used That Word
As the language of public life has declined from dinner-table English to something previously considered unprintable, the word “civility” is suddenly everywhere — except Donald Trump’s lips. While Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders claimed that she has the right to be served dinner at any restaurant, no matter what she says or does, her father,…
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Culture Could ‘Bubbes For Babies’ Change The Immigration Debate?
A group of passionate senior citizens in their eighties and nineties is organizing to protest the separation of children from their parents at the border, hoping that their age will “shine a spotlight” on the pain being inflicted on children. The effort is being spearheaded by 89-year-old Debbie Sherman and 82-year-old Susan Milliken, according to…
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Culture ‘INFEST’ — The Ugly Nazi History of Trump’s Chosen Verb About Immigrants
When President Trump characterized immigrants as “animals,” some people waved it away, claiming he was only referring to gang members. But his use of “infest” in connection to human beings is impossible to ignore. The president’s tweet that immigrants will “infest our Country” includes an alarming verb choice for anyone with knowledge of history. Characterizing…
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Culture Why saying ‘L’shana Tova’ on Rosh Hashanah may not be the correct phrase
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Opinion This is the most disorienting Rosh Hashanah in memory
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