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 » Beuchelle, Beuschel.
In this Wordorigins.org thread, Syntinen Laulu asked about an obscure French culinary term, beuchelle à la tourangelle, “lamb’s kidneys and sweetbreads in a cream sauce flamed off with cognac”: I couldn’t help being struck by the similarity of the name to the traditional Viennese dish Beuschel. Beuschel isn’t the same of course – it’s made of calf heart and lungs. … [Link]
Language Log » Colloquial contractions in Mandarin
I've mentioned my old friend Liu Yongquan in various posts and comments — see, inter alia, here, here, and here, where I wrote: A colleague, Liu Yongquan 刘永泉, who spent most of his life working in Beijing as an applied linguist (especially concerned with machine translation and computer applications), spoke quite good MSM, referred to people who speak "like that" … [Link]
Language Log » See something, say something
Following up on this story, Matt Blaze makes a key point (and see the whole conversation): (whispers to flight attendant): "I don't want to upset anyone, but I think the man in 15C is modeling credit default swaps". — matt blaze (@mattblaze) May 7, 2016 Also this: I feel like such a badass now. I just hope the authorities aren't … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » AM BM
Morning (AM) bowel movement (BM). The first poop of the day, almost always taken immediately upon awakening in the morning.A "beer dump" is a type of AM BM, but not all AM BMs are beer dumps. "I can't even start my day with some coffee until I've had my AM BM.""I didn't have time for my AM BM this morning … [Link]
languagehat.com » Turmeric.
Time for another LH quiz! I’ve run into a couple of people who say /tɜrˈmɛrɪk/ (“tur-MARE-ik”), with penultimate stress, something not recorded in any of my dictionaries, which have only initial stress — cf. American Heritage, which gives /ˈtɜrmɜrɪk, ˈtuːmɜrɪk/. I’m curious whether this is idiosyncratic or a sign of an alternate pronunciation on the rise, so I put it … [Link]
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