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

languagehat.com » Changing Languages.

Thursday 11 June 23:08:53 UTC 2015

Aidan Doyle, author of the forthcoming A History of the Irish Language , has a mini-rant at OUPBlog that begins: In the literature on language death and language renewal, two cases come up again and again: Irish and Hebrew. Mention of the former language is usually attended by a whiff of disapproval. It was abandoned relatively recently by a majority of … [Link]

Omniglot blog » In the cold light of day

Thursday 11 June 16:05:54 UTC 2015

An interesting expression I noticed recently is in the cold light of day. It is used to indicate that you are thinking about something calmly and clearly, and you might feel foolish, sorry or ashamed for thinking or doing that something. For example “The next morning, in the cold light of day, Sam realized that his ideas, which seemed so … [Link]

Language Log » Ornette Coleman R.I.P.

Thursday 11 June 14:55:45 UTC 2015

Ornette Coleman died this morning at the age of 85. Here's the start of his composition Peace, from the 1959 album The Shape of Jazz to Come: The other musicians are Don Cherry (cornet), Charlie Haden (bass), and Billy Higgins (drums). In 1959, one of the local delinquents that I hung out with was a jazz enthusiast, who praised Coleman to … [Link]

Language Log » On American r-lessness

Thursday 11 June 13:56:49 UTC 2015

James Fallows has been superintending an interesting discussion at the Atlantic about how strange early twentieth century American announcers sound to us today (There are five articles in the series so far, listed with links here). The comments on his articles suggest that we need make certain distinctions. There seem to be two things that mainly strike Fallows and the … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » fur of the cat that scratched me

Thursday 11 June 8:30:00 UTC 2015

smoking some marijuana to cure the effects of having smoked too much the night before. I feel better now that i have had some fur of the cat that scratched me. [Link]

Language Log » James Fallows' Announcer-Speak series

Thursday 11 June 4:36:31 UTC 2015

At the Atlantic: "Language Mystery Redux: Who Was the Last American to Speak This Way?", 6/6/2015 "That Weirdo Announcer-Voice Accent: Where It Came From and Why It Went Away", 6/7/2015 "The Rise and Fall of Announcer-Speak, Class War Edition", 6/9/2015 "American Announcer-Speak: The Origin Story", 6/9/2015 "Announcer-Speak: The Video Highlights Reel", 6/11/2015 [Link]

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