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 » Memories of Japanese Input: Appeal to Readers
I have received the following e-mail from Helen DeWitt, and it would give me the greatest possible pleasure to be able to help her out: I am working on a story in which a character started a project in the 1990s using an Apple Performa, Nisus Writer, and the methods of Japanese input available in Apple OS 7 through 9. … [Link]
Language Log » MT story of the month
Arika Okrent, "Translation Error Announces 'Clitoris Festival' in Spain", Mental Floss 11/2/2015: The town of As Pontes in northwestern Spain has held a festival to celebrate the local leafy green delicacy of grelo, or broccoli rabe, since 1981. This year, visitors who went to the festival website hoping to find useful information were surprised by the announcement of a "Clitoris … [Link]
Language Log » Dzwil
For the last few weeks, as I walk by the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology on my way to work, I've been noticing equipment marked "Dzwil" that belongs to a masonry construction company engaged to firm up the foundations. Naturally, every time I saw that word I said to myself, "I wonder how they pronounce it". This … [Link]
Wordorigins.org » graduand
I learned a new word yesterday, graduand: a candidate for graduation at a school or university; someone who has completed the requirements of a degree, but hasn’t received their diploma yet. The oldest citation in the OED is from the 1882 Imperial Dictionary of the English Language, so the word is bound to be somewhat older than that. The word … [Link]
Language Log » Commentary on "The Mystery of Language Evolution"
This is a guest post by Herbert Terrace and Michael Studdert-Kennedy, in the form of a response to Marc Hauser, Charles Yang, Robert Berwick, Ian Tattersall, Michael Ryan, Jeffrey Watumull, Noam Chomsky, and Richard C. Lewontin, "The Mystery of Language Evolution", Frontiers of Psychology 2014. Herb Terrace explains: At Charles Yang's suggestion, Michael Studdert-Kennedy and I would like to offer … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » misrepresentative
1. A congressmen or representative who say they represent their people but rather pursue self interests 2. An elected official who claims to believe one way but votes the opposite 3. A politician who holds office who lied to his constituents just to get their votes and contributions 4. A congressmen or representative who's campaign is paid for by a … [Link]
languagehat.com » Federman’s Languages.
Another intriguing passage from Alien Tongues 
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