Language Stuff

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 » Swearing: US vs. UK.

Friday 20 November 22:52:56 UTC 2015

This BBC.com piece by Erin Moore is an extract from her new book That’s Not English: Britishisms, Americanisms and What Our English Says About Us; both it and a Wordorigins.org thread suggest that the book is largely ignorant tosh, like most books on language by non-linguists, but I’m posting about it for the following delightful paragraph: Celia Walden, an English … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Word of the Year

Friday 20 November 18:23:39 UTC 2015

According to the Oxford Dictionaries the word of the year for 2015 is not a word at all but an emoji, specifically the ‘Face with Tears of Joy’: Do you use emoji(s)? Is the plural emoji or emojis? Do you think of them as words? What’s your word of the year? [Link]

Language Log » English in Chinese — direct and indirect

Friday 20 November 16:47:47 UTC 2015

Zach Hershey saw the following announcement on WeChat from a Chinese student association at UC Irvine: Yào lǜkǎ? Lái jiǎngzuò ～ Tiānqì lěngle, hái bù gǎnkuài dòng dòng shǒuzhǐ sign up, bùrán jiù yào jiāngle! Xiànzài sign up hái tígōng mǎi yī sòng yī ó, hái bù dài shàng nánnǚ péngyǒu jīyǒu yīqǐlái! 要绿卡? 来讲座～天气冷了, 还不赶快动动手指sign up, 不然就要僵了! … [Link]

Language Log » Tibetan –> Chinese –> Chinglish, ch. 2

Friday 20 November 16:42:34 UTC 2015

This is a sequel to "Tibetan –> Chinese –> Chinglish " (11/11/15). (‘Alone, Popecity’ 独克宗, a street sign on National Highway 214 at the entrance to Shangri-La, 2015. Photo: William Ratz) The above photograph is from Ben Hillman's fascinating "Shangri-la ཞང་རི་ལ་: rebuilding a myth " (11/16/15) in The China Story Journal, from the Australian Centre on China in the World. … [Link]