Brian Dillon will be presenting “I Know You Didn’t Mean That: How Your Beliefs Guide Language Comprehension” at Nerd Nite, which will be held September 12th at the World War II club in Northampton from 7-10.

From the Facebook event page:
“UMass Linguist Brian Dillon will talk about how we as listeners understand sentences in the course of normal conversations, and the various ways in which we sometimes ignore what is actually said, and instead, seem to hear what we want to hear.”

From nerdnite.com:

“We all know that learning is more fun when you’re drinking with friends and colleagues. Thus, Nerd Nite is a monthly event held in more than 90 cities across the globe during which several folks give 18-21-minute fun-yet-informative presentations across all disciplines – while the audience drinks along.”