SpecGram Vol CLXXXI, No 1 Contents Letters to the Editor

The SpecGram Pledge Drive

A Letter from the Editor-in-Chief

No one, least of all me, wanted it to come to thisyet here we are. In order to keep SpecGram metaphorically “on the air” we need donations from you, our readers. Oh, we don’t need your moneyheavens, no; we’ve got plenty of that. Our investments in disposable intern futures have been going like gangbusters!

What we need are submissions. In fact, we’re so desperate for material that I’m going to have to quote our Submissions page to meet my word count goal for this editorial:

Satirical Linguistics, the specialty of SpecGram, is a meta-field that covers everything from Abkhasian to Heinrich Zimmer. Everything linguistic is fair gameuh, that isacceptable subject matter.

SpecGram is seeking witty, erudite papers in satirical linguistics that demonstrate a comprehensive knowledge of the field of linguistics as a whole, a subtle wit, and a refined sense of written language. Preference is given to material that rouses the passions (not that kind, you hussy) and evokes the intellectual delight of the editors and publishers.

However, as those kinds of papers are pretty hard to come by, SpecGram is accepting papers that are moderately clever, can be edited into some passable form, and don’t rely too heavily on bodily function humor.

Everyone who has ever been a grad student has written some clever little piece of fluff that made them laugh. Now your own little bit of fluff can pad your CV. On the other hand, if you aren’t sure how your peers and colleagues will react to your flight of linguistic fancy, our Author Protection Program allows you to publish under a well-protected pseudonym.

It is important to remember and respect the history of our field, and remain mindful thatas in many if not most areas of academic concernmuch crucial work has been done by dedicated amateurs and passionate non-academics. SpecGram embraces this tradition to the fullest, and accepts submissions from all comers, which will be judged (let’s be serious here) subjectively, but without regard for the formal academic qualifications of the author.

In simple terms, despite pressures to the contrary, SpecGram does not discriminate against linguists with formal degrees in the field or working in academia. Some people just can’t get a real job, y’know?

Send your contribution to , or we’ll be forced to put out an issue that’s nothing but limericks and puzzles. It’s been almost a decade, but we’ve done it before and we’ll do it again if we have tobut nobody wants that. We deserve better. You deserve better. Contribute to SpecGram today!

Letters to the Editor
SpecGram Vol CLXXXI, No 1 Contents