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 » The Argot of Albanian Bazaars.
More synchronicity: in a nice follow-up to my Lake Talk post, here’s Marjola Rukaj’s “The secret languages of the Bazaars“: When the čaršijas* [*To make reading easier the 'bchs' version of the word (čaršija) is used in the texts on Bosnia Herzegovina and Serbia; in those on Albania, the Albanian spelling (çarshija); whereas for the bazaars in Kosovo and Macedonia … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » trifling bitch
A backdoor girl. One who can't be trusted. A girl who is all about opportunity and doesn't care who gets hurt. Her feelings are never real and turned on and off based on "what's in it for her". As a friend, you can never confide in them, because if it suits them, they will betray you without a second thought. … [Link]
Language Log » Devin, a newly discovered language
Jenny Chu sent me this photo of a simultaneous interpretation device she came across at an event in Shanghai today: 
Look closely at language #7. In Chinese it is Déwén 德文 (i.e., "Deutsch language", where they lop off the latter part of the native name and replace it with wén 文 ("language") — Déwén 德文 is the usual Mandarin name … [Link]
Language Log » Ma-Xi –> MaXi
What is the message conveyed by this strange photograph and the unusual writing on it? 
Source This is actually a very clever, satirical commentary on the recently concluded meeting between Ma Ying-jeou, President of the Republic of China (ROC, on Taiwan), and Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China (PRC, on the Mainland), in Singapore. Many people in … [Link]
Language Log » Chinese "No Smoking" sign in Central Park
Zach Hershey sent in this photograph of a sign in Central Park NYC: 
Zach remarks: While I was in New York this weekend to see the Chinese Art Exhibition at the Met, I took a walk through Central Park and made a curious observation. Of the many regulatory signs that I saw in the park, the only one that I … [Link]
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