John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

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Language Stuff

Almost everyone uses language, so inevitably almost everyone thinks they are an expert in it. I don’t consider myself an expert, though most of my work requires at least language competence and sometimes actual skill, but I do follow the blogs featured on this feeds page.

(If you are wondering where the translation-related feeds have all gone, I have put them on their own page.)

Most of the blogs represented here are in English, most of the time, but don’t be surprised to find other languages used. Go with the flow – I occasionally find myself pleasantly surprised at how much I can grasp in languages I have never seen before.

Language On the Net

Language Log » The sustainability bubble

Monday 23 January 12:32:34 UTC 2012

Today's xkcd: The actual numbers from Google Books suggest a sigmoidal pattern with an upper asympote substantially below 100%: And similarly for sustainability: As Someone's Law (whose?) says, "Exponential growth can't go on forever". But the small amount of attention that I've given to official corporate and academic communications over the past few years leaves me with the impression that … [Link]

Language Log » Puzzled in Tarragona

Monday 23 January 8:36:05 UTC 2012

In the Hotel Ciutat de Tarragona, the beautiful modern hotel in Tarragona where I am currently staying, I ate breakfast in the 1st-floor restaurant (Americans: that would be the 2nd floor), and then came out to take the elevator back up to my 5th-floor room (Americans: 6 floors up). But I was baffled: there was no button to call the … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » fartriloquism

Monday 23 January 8:30:00 UTC 2012

Art of “throwing” one's farts in such a way that the sound and/or smell seems to come from a source other than the farter. A person who practices the art is called an ventriloquist. "Trey,I was in the middle of the room when all of a sudeen I smelled a nasty fart" "Dude, sorry, was doing my fartriloquism act, I … [Link]

Language Log » Puzzled in Barcelona

Monday 23 January 8:26:39 UTC 2012

At the Barcelona airport, near the parking structure where I was waiting for a Plana bus to Tarragona yesterday (two hours on the flight; two hours waiting for a bus: sigh), is a large and prominent box of what is obviously important equipment of some kind; and it is clearly labeled as being exclusively for the use of bombers. For … [Link]

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