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 » Ironic echoic fragments
There's a hip/ironic rhetorical technique that involves mocking a statement by repeating bits of it as phrasal fragments. I was surprised to see this technique employed extensively in the "Plaintiffs' response in opposition to defendant Donald J. Trump's motion for summary judgment, or in the alternative partial summary judgment": Donald Trump is too busy to be honest. So says Trump … [Link]
Language Log » Britannia waives the rules
"'Britannia waives the rules': The EU Brexit in quotes", BBC News 6/28/2016: Martina Anderson, MEP for Irish republican party Sinn Fein Northern Ireland voted to remain part of the EU. The vote could mean major changes to security on the border between Northern Ireland and Ireland. "If English votes drag us out of the EU that would be like Britannia … [Link]
Language Log » Systematic wanting
Says Bagehot, the pseudonym-cloaked correspondent of The Economist who writes a page of comment on British affairs every week (25 June 2016, p. 27 in Brexit-delayed UK edition; not present in the US edition dated June 25): As early as January a top Brexiteer freely admitted to Bagehot that his campaign planned to turn the public against its leaders; it wanted … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Now watch this drive
Words uttered by President George W. Bush to the media (on a golf course) after announcing his serious stance on global terrorism. Brought to light from Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. Quickly becoming an Internet meme for either Bush's hypocrisy or a segue into a non-sequitor. "I call upon all nations to do everything they can to stop these terrorist killers. … [Link]
languagehat.com » The Universal Gap.
Ed Yong reports for The Atlantic on an interesting finding of research on conversation: When we talk we take turns, where the “right” to speak flips back and forth between partners. This conversational pitter-patter is so familiar and seemingly unremarkable that we rarely remark on it. But consider the timing: On average, each turn lasts for around 2 seconds, and … [Link]
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