John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

John Gordon Ross header image 3

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 » Fatter for longer (sigh)

Wednesday 11 June 22:00:13 UTC 2014

Here's a doubly embarrassing confession. First it involves my use of a construction that I love to make fun of. Secondly my spontaneously generated example is unfortunately also a true sentence. I was trying on four dresses that have been stored in the attic for a while to see if I could avoid having to shop for a formal dress … [Link]

languagehat.com » It Ain’t Heavy, It’s My Job.

Wednesday 11 June 16:40:18 UTC 2014

I love reading Gasan Guseinov; among other things, he’s a reliable source of Russian slang and allusions that are often new to me. This column on the verbal formulas we use to help us find our way through life ends with a truck driver contrasting Western Europe with Russia, saying that when he goes west he says to himself “Все … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » Fungry

Wednesday 11 June 7:00:00 UTC 2014

When a person/persons is beyond feeling hungry but they are f**king hungry, like hungry to eat a horse hungry, like damnit I want to kill someone and no a snickers will not satisfy my hunger hungry. Those poor children in Somolia, they look so FUNGRY….. Last night I had the munchies but I just couldnt get enough food, I was … [Link]

Language Log » "Frozen" in Arabic

Wednesday 11 June 2:19:57 UTC 2014

The New Yorker blog has an online article by Elias Muhanna entitled "Translating 'Frozen' Into Arabic". What's noteworthy is that Disney's "Frozen" was translated into Modern Standard Arabic (MSA), while previous Disney releases were translated into Egyptian Arabic. Somewhat oddly, the author compares MSA vis-à-vis colloquial forms of Arabic with both King James Bible English / sportscaster English and Latin … [Link]

Archive

No Comments

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.