John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

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Language Stuff

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

Omniglot blog » Polyglot Gathering Berlin 2015

Tuesday 5 May 21:47:06 UTC 2015

I got back from the Polyglot Gathering in Berlin about an hour ago. I took the train all the way from Berlin to Bangor, via Cologne, Brussels, London, Crewe and Chester, leaving Berlin just before 7am this morning, and arriving in Bangor just after 9pm this evening. On the way there I also travelled by train, though I had to … [Link]

languagehat.com » Obnoxious.

Tuesday 5 May 14:44:58 UTC 2015

A John Cowan comment reminded me I wanted to post about the word obnoxious, which must surely be one of the most difficult words to deal with in reading old documents, since its meaning has changed so confusingly. I discovered this while reading Peter Brown’s Through the Eye of a Needle ; in the course of describing how Pope Gelasius helped … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » Service the Account

Tuesday 5 May 7:00:00 UTC 2015

A euphemism for masturbating, especially at work. Hey Chris, it's a slow day here at work. I need to find something to concentrate my efforts on. Maybe it's a good day to service the account! [Link]

Language Log » "There's not a player who doesn't deserve it less"

Tuesday 5 May 5:44:31 UTC 2015

Cited by Nick Miller, "Stuart Bingham shocks Shaun Murphy in World Snooker Championship final", The Guardian 5/5/2015: "There's not a player who doesn't deserve it less." I'm too tired to work that out but think I agree with Murphy on Bingham — Paul Campbell (@campbellwpaul) May 4, 2015 Misnegation or (un-)compliment? [h/t Paweł Nowak] Update: Ian Preston provides a link … [Link]

Language Log » Words

Tuesday 5 May 2:37:13 UTC 2015

The 4/30/2015 Pie Comic: [h/t George Kesteven] The end of Borges' essay "El Idioma Analítico de John Wilkins": Esperanzas y utopías aparte, acaso lo más lúcido que sobre el lenguaje se ha escrito son estas palabras de Chesterton: "El hombre sabe que hay en el alma tintes más desconcertantes, más innumerables y más anónimos que los colores de una selva … [Link]

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