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 » Ord for Ord.
I’ve finally reached January 9 as I work through the stack of old issues of the TLS, and the Freelance column by Lydia Davis (probably subscribers-only) was obvious LH material: These days, I begin my morning happily absorbed in reading a book that would have seemed highly unlikely to me a year ago: it is in Norwegian, a language I … [Link]
Omniglot blog » Typophilia
Whenever I see a well-written text with a good layout, it really appeals to me and I find myself staring at it and admiring it. I also admire particularly well-made fonts, and beautiful handwriting and calligraphy. On the other hand, texts can be marred for me by a poor choice of font and/or layout, and by unattractive handwriting. Errors within … [Link]
Language Log » Derp
The OED has not yet held a Word Induction Ceremony for derp, nor has that word risen above the noise floor in the Google Books ngram viewer. But the current Google News index estimates 36,200 results for derp, and only a few of them are references to the California Independent System Operators' Distributed Energy Resource Provider (DERP) initiative. Paul Krugman … [Link]
Language Log » Cheesy's good
An AP story a few days ago publicized work by Kirk Hazen to document and de-stigmatize Appalachian varieties of English. From the version published on the Fox News web site: In a county beyond the reach of any four-lane highway, a young couple chuckles and swivels in their chairs as they start telling for posterity the story of how they … [Link]
Language Log » A thankless job
Today's Pearls Before Swine: 
[Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Puncher's Chance
It's a boxing term. It means that though you may be outclassed by your opponent, if you land a good punch, you can win. Bob was down in the polls, but if he did well in the debate, he'd have puncher's chance of winning the election.
[Link]
Language Log » China reigns
Headline from the China Daily: "China reigns in brutal police tactics" (9/9/03) This hilarious misspelling causes China's widest circulating English-language newspaper accidentally to have a true headline. I'm not sure what category of error this should be classified under. It's not a malapropism, which results in nonsense. Nor do I think it is an eggcorn, because the writer doesn’t actually … [Link]
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