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 » Evidence of Dependency Length Minimization.
Richard Futrell, Kyle Mahowald, and Edward Gibson have a new paper that looks intriguing: “Large-scale evidence of dependency length minimization in 37 languages” (published online before print PNAS, August 3, 2015, doi: 10.1073/pnas.1502134112); the “Significance” box says: We provide the first large-scale, quantitative, cross-linguistic evidence for a universal syntactic property of languages: that dependency lengths are shorter than chance. Our … [Link]
Language Log » Help wanted in Srinagar
Kongish, Singlish, Chinglish, Engrish, Konglish — none of them can beat Indian English: 
In case you're wondering what "chowkidar" means, it's a Hindi word for "watchman, caretaker, gatekeeper; one who inhabits a 'chowki' ('police station' or 'guard house')", as Wiktionary informs us. It is also sometimes spelled as "chokedar" or "chokidar". What I find most interesting about this help wanted … [Link]
Language Log » Pop Japonesque nonsense?
[This is a guest post by Nathan Hopson] Amazon's App Store for Android features a free daily app. The selection of a few days ago caught my eye not for the content of the app itself, but for the nonsensical (and incorrect) use of Japanese. 
The game title appears to be a slight misnomer; from what I can tell it's … [Link]
Language Log » General Chicken
Jim Millward sent in this photograph of a sign at "one of those Korean-run lunch buffet deli places (this in Bethesda MD)": 
We've had a lot of posts about chicken on Language Log, most notably and pertinently this one: "General Tso's chikin" (6/11/13). I don't know about the general nature of the signage in that Korean buffet deli that Jim … [Link]
Wordorigins.org » banjax
A friend of mine, who is renovating a bathroom in her house, posted the following to Facebook yesterday: The real skylight is one floor above in the bathroom we’re renovating. A water leak during demolition banjaxed my entire kitchen ceiling. To which another friend replied: Outstanding use of “banjaxed.” I’d never noticed the word before, although I should have as … [Link]
Language Log » Did a blind squirrel happen to find a nut?
The right wing of American punditry has been attacking Donald Trump vigorously. Thus Ross Kaminsky, "The Third Obama Term", The American Spectator 7/21/2015: [B]ad policy, bad hair, and a bad attitude aren’t the biggest problem with Donald Trump. Trump’s political differences with the Barack Obama are, in most cases, stark. But I see a troublesome similarity in their personalities, one … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Pouring the milk first
In cereal, there is two different ways to make it. Pouring the cereal, or the milk first in the bowl. People generally pour in the cereal first. "Pouring the milk first" is considered wrong. People who pour the milk first, shouldn't be trusted. I had my friend over, and for breakfast he was "pouring the milk first." I will never … [Link]
Language Log » Brain imaging and spelling champions
Spelling bees have been a staple of discussion at Language Log: "Spelling bees and character amnesia" (8/7/13) "Spelling bee champs" (6/1/14) "Of toads, modernization, and simplified characters" (8/16/13) "Il ne parle pas français" (7/23/15) One of the major subthemes of our debates on this topic has been the dominance of individuals of South Asian (Indian) descent in the spelling bees. … [Link]
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