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 » Moth onomastics: Chinese Character (Cilix glaucata)
"Chinese character" is the name for a moth in this Wikipedia article. At first when I read the article, I thought that there must have been an error. But when I started to check around, I discovered that the same English name for Cilix glaucata occurred all over the place. See, for example, Moths and Butterflies of Europe and North … [Link]
Language Log » Look correct
From reddit, a road sign in Leopardstown that translates English "Look right" to something like Irish "Look at correct": 
In the comments, someone linked to a sign near Cork Airport reminding English and German speakers to drive on the left, while advising the French to drive on the right: 
[h/t Shane Roberts] [Link]
Language Log » The humanities in an alternate universe
A couple of months ago, I got a copy of The Chronicle Review with a cover story by Arthur Krystal called "Neuroscience is ruining the humanities". Actually there are two semi-falsehoods in that sentence. In the first place, I actually got the physical publication in the mail about a week ago, even though the issue is dated November 28, and the … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Turdulence
The discomfort that occurs due to an inability to pass flatus on a flight. Just got in from London and man, due I have some turdulence.
[Link]
Omniglot blog » Language quiz
Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? 
Share [Link]
languagehat.com » English Purity, French Corruption.
No, I’m not talking about morals, I’m talking about Latin. Another enlightening passage from Curtius (see this post): The chain of French literature begins only with the eleventh century. Spanish literature begins at the end of the twelfth century; Italian not until about 1220, with St. Francis’ Hymn to the Sun and the Sicilian art lyric. The late start of … [Link]
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