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 » Chicken Asshole Restaurant
Tim Leonard sent in this photograph of a sign for a Korean restaurant: 
I could scarcely believe my eyes when I beheld the English name against that grandly calligraphic Hangul script. The sign was posted on reddit by user kevingrabb. Comments on reddit claim it’s an infelicitous but accurate translation of gizzard, which in Korean is ttongmun 똥문, literally, "shit … [Link]
Language Log » Outdorking word-dorks
Yesterday's SMBC: 
The aftercomic: 
(And in the other direction, this…) The development of dork is interesting — according to the OED (entry dated 1989), it began (circa 1964) as an American slang term for "penis", and then came to be (circa 1972) "A foolish or stupid person; also a general term of contempt". Then at some point it joined geek … [Link]
languagehat.com » Y Gwyll.
Wikipedia sez: Y Gwyll (English: The Dusk), known in English by the name Hinterland, is a police detective drama series broadcast on S4C in Welsh and later in English on BBC One Wales. When it was aired on the BBC in 2014, it was the first BBC television drama with dialogue in both English and Welsh. I hadn’t heard of … [Link]
Wordorigins.org » merry, God rest you merry
It wasn’t even yet 7 am on New Year’s Day when I debunked my first word myth of the year. A friend sent me a newspaper article in which a university professor claims that the merry in the title of the Christmas carol God Rest You Merry, Gentlemen actually meant mighty or strong. “The word ‘merry’ means strong or mighty, … [Link]
Wordorigins.org » God rest you merry, merry
See merry, God rest you merry [Link]
Language Log » Ups
In his novel Inherent Vice, Thomas Pynchon seems to be advocating a small, specific piece of English spelling reform, exemplified in these quotations: “Center of the cop universe for sure,” Doc nodding sympathetically, “but we can’t all be Bigfoot Bjornsen can we— ups I mean who’d want to be him anyway?” hoping this wasn’t pushing things, given Pat’s mental health, … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » sidedick
Synonym of "sidechick" but for a girl. A guy who a slut is currently being boned by along with a number of other guys, or sidedicks. A guy with whom a girl regularly cheats on her boyfriend with. I've seen that girl talk to seven of her sidedicks tonight.
[Link]
languagehat.com » Chuvash Gaining on Russian.
In a very minor, and possibly misleading, way, but still, Paul Goble passes on some tentative good news: Hector Alos i Font, a Catalonian linguist who has been working in Chuvashia, says that the Chuvash language has improved its position relative to Russian as measured by signs put out for the New Year’s holiday but that the language of the … [Link]
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