One of things we should all attempt to do is to read widely – or listen widely if podcasts are your cup of tea. I subscribe to all manner of left-middle-right news and opinion pieces and sort through the flotsam and jetsam to cull out sources that are extreme and simply uninformed. And then there are the folks whose content often comes back to language, etymology, and how this things float in the midst of our culture and life.

One of the folks I read pretty consistently is NY Times columnist Johh McWhorter, an associate professor of linguistics at Columbia University, where he also teaches American studies and music history. In today’s column he writes about the phenomena we have all experienced. Someone near to us on the street, in the mall, and other public forums that is listening to music or other entertainment at a volume that we find inconsiderate at best and rude in the most. I have that reaction whether it is music I enjoy or music which I do not prefer. McWhorter has an interesting insight;