John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

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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 » Cards and Spades.

Wednesday 6 January 23:41:55 UTC 2016

I learned of the expression “give cards and spades” from a comment by John Cowan, and of course I looked it up. It’s not in the OED, so I tried the Historical Dictionary of American Slang, and sure enough: give cards and spades to allow an advantage; to outdo despite an advantage 1888 in F[armer] & H[enley] II 37: Artie … [Link]

Language Log » Linguists strike back…

Wednesday 6 January 21:26:28 UTC 2016

From the Speculative Grammarian: [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » beefy tits

Wednesday 6 January 8:00:00 UTC 2016

Manly tits or saggy man boobs That fat guy over there has some beefy tits [Link]

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