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 » At the Synoptic Hotel.
It’s a bit unfair of me to publicize one silly, supremely minor error in a book I’m thoroughly enjoying and highly recommend, Kotkin’s Stalin 
Omniglot blog » Retronym
I learnt an interesting word today – retronym – a new name for something that already existings that distinguishes the original from a more recent version. For example, ebooks are becoming increasingly popular, so there’s a need for a new word for non-ebooks. On the program I heard the word retronym, Word of Mouth, they suggested pbooks, paper books or … [Link]
languagehat.com » The Below.
This is quick and simple, but it suddenly piqued my curiosity: e-mails announcing editing jobs from a particular provider routinely begin “The below job has been assigned to you…” That sounds weird to me, although “the above” is perfectly normal. Is it a dialect thing, or is it just my personal quirk? [Link]
Language Log » R.I.P Yogi Berra
Beatrice Santorini's Linguistic Humor page has a good collection of sayings attributed to Yogi Berra (1925-2015). Maybe the most relevant one today is "Always go to other people's funerals, otherwise they won't come to yours". I won't be able to attend Yogi's funeral, but I'll link to his NYT obituary. Update — and to Ben Zimmer at Slate, "Yogi Berra Turned … [Link]
Language Log » Scots words for snow
Several people have sent this in: "Scots 'have 421 words' for snow", BBC News 9/23/2015: Academics have officially logged 421 terms – including "snaw" (snow), "sneesl" (to begin to rain or snow) and "skelf" (a large snowflake). The study by the University of Glasgow is part of a project to compile the first Historical Thesaurus of Scots, which is being … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » More Issues Than Vogue
When you imply that your amount of issues (problems) are greater than the amount of issues (magazine articles) the famous magazine company, Vogue has. Girl: "ugh there's so much homework and errands" Boy: "wow, you must have more issues than vogue" Girl: "I know right!"
[Link]
Language Log » Japanese nuances (nyuansu ニュ アンス) of "nuisance"
From Bruce Balden: The link below (dated 1/29/15) concerns apparently incomprehensible behavior on the part of the father of a young Japanese man taken hostage and killed by ISIS recently. The link contains the key phrase "for lack of a better translation", but I wonder how hard they tried to translate it. I'd be interested to know what exactly Haruna … [Link]
languagehat.com » The Tale of Aramaic.
There’s probably nothing in John McWhorter’s Atlantic piece “Where Do Languages Go to Die?” that will surprise any LH reader familiar at all with Aramaic, but McWhorter is always an enjoyable writer, and he opens with the piquant image of “a Middle Eastern man from 2,500 years ago” visiting our world and being amazed by the dominance of Arabic — … [Link]
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