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
the world in words » Is there such thing as an untranslatable word?
Photo illustration by Augie Schwer/Flickr Here’s a post from Nina Porzucki. Quick — what does the French word “chouette” mean? If you flipped open the dictionary and took a look, you’d say it means a type of owl, and it literally does. But the French use it much more frequently to describe something that is cute, neat, nice or friendly — … [Link]
Language Log » Biscriptal juxtaposition in Chinese, part 2
When Tom Mazanec came home from Fudan University in Shanghai a few nights ago, he found this leaflet in a baggie hanging on his door: 
It advertises a food delivery service called Líng hào xiàn 零号线 ("Line 0"), with a series of cartoons on the inside illustrating how speedy food delivery can solve all of one's problems. Only the cover … [Link]
languagehat.com » The History of Font Names.
Tobias Frere-Jones, a type designer (creator of the Gotham typeface) who teaches at Yale, has posted on his blog about how the names of typefaces developed: For centuries, punchcutters would develop their style within a narrow group of genres. There would be only one style of roman or italic, even if that style had been refined and focused over a … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » poophole loophole
The logic that allows girls who are saving their virginity for marriage to instead have premarital anal intercourse. Typically the boyfriends of such girls will convince them that, if they take it in the ass and don't pop the cherry, they're still pure and virginal. Guy 1: "I'm bummed because this hot chick I dated is saving herself for marriage." … [Link]
languagehat.com » Afanasy Nikitin’s Languages.
Intrigued by a mention in The Cambridge History of Russian Literature 
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