The Problem with Judges Acting Like Linguists | Otherwords

In a court of law, your fate can be determined by how a judge interprets a word or sentence... but should judges be acting as armchair linguists? Otherwords is a PBS web series on Storied that digs deep into this quintessential human trait of language and finds the fascinating, thought-provoking, and funny stories behind the words and sounds we take for granted. Incorporating the fields of biology, history, cultural studies, literature, and more, linguistics has something for everyone and offers a unique perspective on what it means to be human. Host: Erica Brozovsky, Ph.D. Creator/Director: Andrew Matthews & Katie Graham Writer: Andrew Matthews Producer: Katie Graham Editor/Animation: Dano Johnson Executive Producer: Amanda Fox Fact Checker: Yvonne McGreevy Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell Stock Images from Shutterstock Music from APM Music Otherwords is a production of Spotzen for PBS Digital Studios. © 2026 PBS. All rights reserved. sources: https://harvardlawreview.org/print/vo... https://www.neh.gov/article/corpus-li... https://taxlawcenter.org/moore-versus... https://www.law.nyu.edu/sites/default... https://reason.com/volokh/2021/10/31/... https://www.law.georgetown.edu/icap/w... https://www.oyez.org/cases/1992/91-8674 https://www.fedbar.org/wp-content/upl... https://www.oyez.org/cases/2015/14-8358 https://ballsandstrikes.org/legal-cul... https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/7/231... https://www.npr.org/2022/04/19/109356...