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
Omniglot blog » Language quiz
Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? [Link]
languagehat.com » Chremsel.
One of the words in the Scripps National Spelling Bee 2016 (Guardian liveblog) was chremslach, the plural of chremsel; your curiosity about what the word represents can be satisfied by this lively Haaretz column by Liz Steinberg (thanks, Paul!): “Admittedly not the most common of Jewish foods, chremslach are flat, fried fritters made by some Ashkenazi Jews for Passover or … [Link]
Wordorigins.org » hook or by crook
The phrase by hook or by crook means by any means, fair or foul. Its origin, however, is not known. Over the years it has accumulated a number of alleged etymologies, most of which can be readily dismissed as implausible, if not downright impossible. There is one, however, that seems more likely than the others. But before we start examining … [Link]
World Wide Words: Updates » New online: By hook or by crook
'By hook or by crook' probably comes from a medieval peasant's right to collect firewood. [Link]
World Wide Words: Updates » New online: Loggerhead
Why are persons in dispute said to be 'at loggerheads'? [Link]
World Wide Words: Updates » New online: Polish off
Why and when might a person be said to 'polish off' a meal? [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Comfort Tub
1 : For most girls, this is either a tub of any type of food (most of the time, ice cream) while she cries her heart out while watching romantic movies. 2 : A bath tub with scattered rose petals and an aromatic smell, scented candles lit everywhere, so the broken-hearted girl can take a comforting wash. Girl 1: Boo.. … [Link]
Language Log » Surfer-inflected official Chinese Twitter talk
Emily Rauhala has an entertaining, enlightening article about a startlingly improbable new kind of PRC officialese: "‘Ever been to Tibet bro?’ A nationalistic Chinese Twitter account goes rogue" (WP, 6/1/16) The article is so well written that I wouldn't want to try to steal Rauhala's thunder, so I will just quote the first part, and encourage you to read the … [Link]
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