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 » No Georgia in Georgia.

Thursday 9 July 20:38:05 UTC 2015

Another interesting passage from Kotkin’s Stalin (see this post): In 1879, the year after Jugashvili had been born, two Georgian noblemen writers, Prince Ilya Chavchavadze (b. 1837) and Prince Akaki Tsereteli (b. 1840), had founded the Society for the Spread of Literacy Among Georgians. Georgians comprised many different groups—Kakhetis, Kartlians, Imeretians, Mingrelians—with a shared language, and Chavchavadze and Tsereteli hoped … [Link]

Omniglot blog » What’s in a name?

Thursday 9 July 15:35:16 UTC 2015

The other day I received an email with some corrections to my Scots phrases page. One thing the writer objected strongly to was the use of the name Scots for the language/dialect in question. He believes it should be called Scottish, and that nobody calls it Scots. My understanding is that three main languages are spoken in Scotland: – Scottish … [Link]

Language Log » A movie about a dictionary

Thursday 9 July 13:57:39 UTC 2015

I love dictionaries as much as anyone, but I'm not sure that I'd ever advocate making a film about any of my favorite dictionaries. Yet this has now been suggested for the Xīnhuá zìdiǎn 新华字典 (trad. 新華字典) (New China character dictionary): "Will You Watch a Movie Based on Dictionary?" (Anhui News 7/8/15) At first, one might think this is satire, … [Link]

Language Log » Wendiceratops

Thursday 9 July 11:25:06 UTC 2015

Sasha Harris-Lovett, "Meet Wendiceratops, a horned dinosaur unlike any other", LA Times 7/8/2015: Move over Indominus Rex – scientists have discovered a previously unknown dinosaur in Canada that's cooler than any “Jurassic World” creation. And it’s real. The creature, a member of the family of horned dinosaurs, was an older cousin of Triceratops that lived about 79 million years ago. Like … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » mormon first base

Thursday 9 July 7:00:00 UTC 2015

Engaging in hand to hand contact. In other words, holding hands. I walked in on Doug trying to get to mormon first base with a girl, while viewing a non-rated R movie. [Link]

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