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
Language Log » Waste bin misnegation
I saw a sticker on the lid of a pedal-operated hospital waste bin that said this: THIS SACK HOLDER IS SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO BE FOOT OPERATED ONLY. THE LID MUST NOT BE HAND OPERATED AND PUSHED PAST THE POINT WHERE IT WILL NOT AUTOMATICALLY RETURN TO THE CLOSED POSITION. Everyone who uses the bin sees this notice; maybe some even … [Link]
Language Log » Aspects of the Theory of Disney Princesses
At the recent LSA annual meeting in Washington DC, Carmen Fought and Karen Eisenhauer presented a paper with the title "A quantitative analysis of gendered compliments in Disney Princess films". The abstract: Recent studies find that children use animated films in constructing their gender identities (e.g. DoRozario, 2004; Baker-Sperry, 2007). However, little is known about how gendered language is presented … [Link]
Language Log » Geolexicography
From Jack Grieve, a map of the distribution of the word the on Twitter: 
There's lots more geolexicography of common function words on Jack's Twitter feed. Jamie Pennebaker has been telling us for decades that the distribution of such words varies with style, register, personality, and mood. And now Jack Grieve is providing evidence that geography has a surprisingly strong … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » on a serious note
Used in when a speaker is changing the conversation from a humorous note to a serious one. The speaker uses "on a serious" to warn his/her companion that he/she is going to shift the gear of the conversation to a serious note. On a serious note, she is beautiful in her own way.
[Link]
languagehat.com » Australian Dates.
Mark Gwynn at Ozwords takes “a light-hearted look” at Australian words for the backside; the opening paragraph will explain my post title: As a kid I was often told by my dad to ‘get off my date’ when he wanted me to get off the lounge and go outside, or to help with some chore. I was surprised to discover … [Link]
Language Log » The neural basis of Chinese morphological processing
In "Chinese characters and the left-brain vs. right-brain hypothesis " (1/7/16), we read about experimental results debunking " a myth that Chinese languages were predominantly processed by the right hemisphere, compared with alphabetic languages processed by the left hemisphere…." Now, a team of scientists from Zaozhuang University, Beijing Normal University, and the University of Illinois have published the results of … [Link]
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