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
languagehat.com » Kzeremetz.
I ran across a piquant footnote on p. 214 of Ancient and Modern Malta, by Louis de Boisgelin (aka Pierre Marie Louis de Boisgelin de Kerdu), Knight of Malta (London, 1805). Boisgelin writes: Sacchitti, the Maltese ambassador at Rome, wrote to his court that a Russian, Boyard, general of the Muscovite army and ambassador from Peter the First, had expressed … [Link]
the world in words » ‘Hello, my name is Yes,’ and other English names in China
Shi Zhi’s English name is Yes, as his T-shirt proclaims (Photo: Ruth Morris) Here’s a guest post from Shanghai-based reporter Ruth Morris. Any foreigner in China has their own list of odd English names they’ve come across. There’s Dell, who fixes computers. Tomorrow was a job applicant. A quick tally by friends also includes Cabbage, Box, DreamJazz, Nothing, Eat and Fancy … [Link]
Language Log » Identify Mystery Text, Win $1000
From the University Chicago Library News: Calling all historians of cryptography and stenography, Sherlockians (see “The Dancing Men”), and other amateur detectives! The collection of Homer editions in the Special Collections Research Center – the Bibliotheca Homerica Langiana(BHL) – includes a copy of the rare 1504 edition of Homer’s Odyssey that contains, in Book 11 (narrating Odysseus’s journey into Hades) … [Link]
Omniglot blog » Babbling
I spent last weekend at my mum’s house, along with my brother, sister-in-law and their one-year old daughter. The last time I saw my niece was at Christmas, when she was making some sounds, but not really babbling much. Now she is babbling away all the time and sometimes says recognisable words, or at least utters sequences of sounds that … [Link]
languagehat.com » Physics and Lexicography.
This announcement provides an example of science making a difference in the real world (which is to say, that of words): QUT Senior Lecturer in Physics, Dr Stephen Hughes, sparked controversy over how a humble siphon worked when he noticed an incorrect definition in the prestigious Oxford English Dictionary. In 2010, eagle-eyed Dr Hughes spotted the mistake, which went unnoticed … [Link]
Language Log » Affirmative action
Yesterday a journalist asked me about the background of the term "affirmative action". I turned up a few things like this, from a (2006 reprint of a) 1954 book French Administrative Law and the Common-Law World: 
Or similarly this passage, where "a request that an allegedly illegal administrative act be annulled" is contrasted with "[a request] that the administration be … [Link]
Language Log » Translate Server Error
This is probably the most egregious of all Chinese-English translation fails: 
We saw the identical mistake on a giant banner outside of a cafeteria half-a-dozen years ago: see "Honest but unhelpful". 
Here we have the same mistranslation: the Chinese characters are CAN1TING1 餐厅 ("dining hall"; 餐廳 in traditional characters). You'd think that a person would want to be really sure … [Link]
Language Log » Agreement
Today's SMBC: 
[Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Fart Lapse
The period of time it takes between the fart and the recognition of the fart, from another person. "Hoorah, today I got a record Fart Lapse of 21.54 seconds!"
[Link]
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