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 » Teenager found bed
Stan Carey writes "Here's a headline for you!": "Mentally ill teenager held in police cell is found bed", BBC News Devon, 11/29/2014. I puzzled over this for several re-readings, until I looked at the lead paragraph: A teenage girl with mental health problems who was kept in police cells for two days because of a lack of care beds has … [Link]
languagehat.com » Israeli Hebrew Imperatives.
Mark Liberman has a post at the Log quoting Tal Linzen reporting that Google Translate renders Hebrew “Please return to me” as “Please me like an alien creature”: The first word אנא ['ana] means ‘please’ (though only in the request sense) and the last word אלי [e'laj] means ‘to me’. The source of the mistranslation is the second word חיזרי, … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Revenge is a dish best served cold
Historians are not sure where the saying originated, but it means that revenge is best served not fresh after the insult occurred, but after enough time has passed so that the target won't see it coming. Victim: "Why did you destroy my marriage? I thought we were BFFs." Vindicator: "Because you stole my boyfriend back in the 6th grade." Victim: … [Link]
Language Log » Punning banned in China
When the first headline arrived stating that China was going to ban punning, I thought that it must be something from The Onion. But when more and more reports came pouring in, I said to myself, "No, this is China. They're really going to do it." Indeed, the latest directive from the Ministry of Truth (State Administration of Press, Publication, … [Link]
languagehat.com » Odradek.
I recently came across a reference to “Odradek,” which sounded vaguely West Slavic but otherwise meant nothing to me; Google told me it was from a very short story by Kafka called “Die Sorge des Hausvaters” (“The Cares of a Family Man”), which turns out to be one of the few works of literature I know that puts etymology front … [Link]
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