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 » bibbity ~ bibbidi, bobbity ~ bobbidi
Manohla Dargis, "In ‘Cinderella,’ Disney Polishes Its Glass Slippers", NYT: You know the rest, bibbidi-bobbidi-boo and all that jazz. My reaction when I read that was, Gee, interesting re-spelling of Bibbity Bobbity Boo, in line with the standard American flapping and voicing of non-syllable-initial /t/. But it turns out that I'm about 66 years too late. The Wikipedia entry assumes … [Link]
languagehat.com » Yemen’s Socotra Language.
An interesting article by Mansur Mirovalev: Socotri is the most archaic and isolated of several archaic and isolated tongues spoken in Yemen and Oman known as “modern South Arabian languages”. Its vocabulary is immensely rich – for example, there are distinct verbs for “to go” according to the time of the day, or for “to give birth” depending on the … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Fap Farmer
Equivalent to a jackoff or a wanker. Also a term for masturbating excessively. That dude is a total fap farmer.
[Link]
Language Log » Verschlimmbessert
In an e-mail to some friends, I went on a rant about how many "improvements" of our favorite products make them worse. I was speaking specifically about the addition of sugar to their wheat germ by Kretschmer, which — after half a century of dedication to this wonderful food — has left me devastated. It was in this context that … [Link]
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