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

Omniglot blog » Poor mean houses

Tuesday 18 August 20:39:08 UTC 2015

On the bus to Conwy today I noticed that the Welsh name of one of the stops included the word teios, which I hadn’t come across before. In English the stop had the word cottages in it. I wrote down what I thought I heard and saw: teilios, but couldn’t find that in any Welsh dictionary. When I looked for … [Link]

languagehat.com » Perlustration.

Tuesday 18 August 13:19:15 UTC 2015

I’m still reading Kotkin’s Stalin (I’ve just gotten to the end of his account of the Civil War and am setting it aside to read Evan Mawdsley’s The Russian Civil War , which has been sitting on my shelf since 2010 and which I am enjoying greatly), and I’ve discovered he’s very fond of an obscure word which I think I … [Link]

Language Log » German crime novels and high blood pressure

Tuesday 18 August 11:56:00 UTC 2015

Don't jump to any conclusions based on the title. This post is not about how reading German crime novels raises blood pressure. Quite the contrary, it is about how reading German crime novels dramatically lowers blood pressure, at least for one of my friends. Most people treat their high blood pressure with one of the following: ACE Inhibitors Beta Blockers … [Link]

Language Log » The scandalous Ms. Jodelka

Tuesday 18 August 11:12:09 UTC 2015

Filipa Jodelka, "The Scandalous Lady W: a disturbing tale of sex and sensibility", The Guardian 8/17/2015: When looking for evidence of the death of love, it’s normal to wheel out divorce stats, but the BBC’s newest period extravaganza tells a different story. A look at the nasty business between Lady Seymour Worsley, her lover George Bisset and her politician husband … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » service a bro

Tuesday 18 August 7:00:00 UTC 2015

The act of performing an oral sexual deed to a male. Where is Brendan? I think he is out on call to service a bro [Link]

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