Playing with Language while “Settin’ the Woods on Fire”

Image Credit: iStock | askmenow

A couple of things that happened recently got me cogitating on the idea of language as playground.

First, I had a chance to hear Anne Curzan speak. Curzan is the talented and engaging dean of the College of Literature, Science and the Arts at the University of Michigan (my alma mater), and is also a linguist who studies the history of the English language. Her bio…