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 » Musee & Peace

Friday 29 August 21:22:31 UTC 2014

This sign from a Nagoya subway is for waxing and other hair removal. Photograph courtesy of Nathan Hopson. The three big kanji read: natsukoi hada 夏恋 肌 ("summer love skin") But I'm more interested in the words written in Roman letters above the kanji. The combination of the French word "MUSEE" (i.e., musée ["museum"]) and the English word "PEACE" strikes … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Churches and Cells

Friday 29 August 17:18:27 UTC 2014

Today I discovered that the Welsh word llan (church, parish), which is used mainly in place names, such as Llanfairpwllgwyngyll, has cognates in the other Celtic languages: lann in Irish, Scottish Gaelic, Cornish and Manx, and lan in Breton. These words all come from the Proto-Indo-European root *lendʰ- (land, heath) [source]. Another word church-related word that is used mainly in … [Link]

Language Log » Technology is probably isn't destroying our humanity

Friday 29 August 16:51:37 UTC 2014

The "technology is destroying our humanity" trope has been around for thousands of years, certainly since the invention of writing devalued textual memorization. I wouldn't be surprised if there were analogous complaints about the invention of the spear. The most overhyped version of this trope that I've ever seen was the 2009 "Twitter numbs our sense of morality and makes … [Link]

Language Log » Needs more sexting

Friday 29 August 10:51:47 UTC 2014

Today's xkcd: I'm not sure what "another study" refers to in this case. The mouseover title suggests a future research program in computational humanistic educational psychology: I'd like to find a corpus of writing writing from children in a non-self-selected sample (e.g. handwritten letters to the president from everyone in the same teacher's 7th grade class every year)–and score the … [Link]

Language Log » Unbecoming

Friday 29 August 10:12:30 UTC 2014

Matt Murphy, "Is 'unbecoming' becoming a sexist word? Warren Tolman apologizes after calling opponent Maura Healey unbecoming during debate", State House News Service 8/27/2014: BOSTON — Democratic attorney general candidate Warren Tolman apologized on Wednesday if anyone was offended by his use of the word "unbecoming" to describe his opponent Maura Healey's criticism of his private sector record, as female … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » Tinder Bombing

Friday 29 August 7:30:00 UTC 2014

Rolling into a new area and going on a Tinder binge to meet the locals. To start off the trip to Altanta right, Kaz went Tinder bombing. No women went without being aware of his presence. [Link]

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