John Gordon Ross

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

languagehat.com » Erich Auerbach Doesn’t Get It.

Sunday 4 January 23:00:17 UTC 2015

I keep a copy of Erich Auerbach‘s Mimesis (see this post) beside my bed; it makes perfect nighttime reading, since it consists largely of bite-sized excerpts of various works in the original and in translation with shortish discussions of each. I am in awe of Auerbach, but one doesn’t like to be too intimidated, so I hugely enjoyed discovering a … [Link]

Language Log » Legal lexicography

Sunday 4 January 18:43:46 UTC 2015

Eugene Volokh ("What does 'exposes' in '[a]ny person who abuses, exposes, tortures, torments, or cruelly punishes a minor' mean to you?", Washington Post 1/2/2015) considers the case of Douglas James Myers, who was clocked driving at 112 mph, "weaving all over the road and going into the ditch or median with all four tires", with a blood alcohol level of … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Language quiz

Sunday 4 January 12:16:25 UTC 2015

Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? Share [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » Slow as bread

Sunday 4 January 9:00:00 UTC 2015

Expression used when something is taking a long time. Actually goes back to Biblical times when Jesus was handing out bread but he kept talking and talking and finally when everyone had their bread everyone was like "Jesus is slow as bread" and Judas was like "Let's kill this guy" Apollo though Jesus was slow as bread [Link]

languagehat.com » Barwick or Barrick?

Sunday 4 January 0:53:00 UTC 2015

A nice bit of LH-relevant dialogue from Alan Hollinghurst’s The Line of Beauty , which is every bit as good as jamessal said: “So where’s your father’s shop, Nick?” said Pete. “Oh, it’s in Barwick—in Northamptonshire?” “Don’t they pronounce that Barrick?” “Only frightfully grand people.” Pete lit a cigarette, drew on it deeply, and then coughed and looked almost sick. “Ah, … [Link]

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