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

Language Log » Not the America I know

Thursday 28 July 20:57:26 UTC 2016

"Trump Jr. Says Obama Lifted Phrase From His RNC Speech", NBC News 7/28/2016: Donald Trump Jr. suggested Thursday that Barack Obama's speech in Philadelphia Wednesday night lifted a line from his Republican National Convention remarks, pointing out that both addresses contained the line "That's not the America I know." I'm honored that POTUS would plagiarize a line from my speech … [Link]

Language Log » Malarkey

Thursday 28 July 20:40:26 UTC 2016

Ben Mathis-Lilley, "Joe Biden Brings House Down at DNC With Raging Fireball of a Speech Highlighted by Use of Word 'Malarkey'", Slate 7/27/2016. Here's the passage: Your browser does not support the audio element. According to Merriam-Webster's Trend Watch, Malarkey rose to the top of our look-ups on the evening of July 27th, 2016, after Vice-President Joseph Biden used the … [Link]

languagehat.com » A Maatschappij of Mates.

Thursday 28 July 15:18:51 UTC 2016

I knew the Dutch word maatschappij ‘society, company’ from a former life as a member of the editorial staff of an accounting firm, and I would have guessed that the maat part was a cognate of English mate, but the details, as presented by this entry from N. van der Sijs’s Klein uitleenwoordenboek [Little loan-word dictionary], are quite interesting (thanks … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Les chuchoteuses

Thursday 28 July 14:59:59 UTC 2016

Lindsay et les chuchoteuses On Rue Staint-Paul in Vieux Montréal there’s a statue of three women having a gossip. It’s known as ‘Les chuchoteuses‘ or ‘The whisperers’. It’s also known as the “fat ladies talking statue”. It’s by Rose-Aimée Bélanger, a sculptor from Ontario, and was installed as part of a 2006 initiative to highlight some of Old Montreal’s forgotten spaces. The word chuchoteuses … [Link]

Language Log » "Believe me": Prosodic differences

Thursday 28 July 14:47:50 UTC 2016

Following up on Tim Kaine's mocking imitation of Donald Trump's phrase "believe me", CNN put up a comparison: "Believe me." Tim Kaine's impression of Donald Trump vs. the mogul himself https://t.co/WpV3EgxtQz #DemsInPhilly https://t.co/q9ar1abkZW — CNN (@CNN) July 28, 2016 One striking thing about the juxtaposed performances is a difference in stress and intonation. Trump puts the stress on "believe", and … [Link]

Language Log » TCM approach to women's wellness

Thursday 28 July 13:42:48 UTC 2016

[N.B.: TCM stands for "Traditional Chinese medicine"] Geok Hoon (Janet) Williams found these posters this morning at Clementi, Singapore: There is much that could be said about the wording on the first poster, but I shall concentrate only on one term that stands out: "Flow". No, that is not a reference to a regular commenter on Language Log. It is … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » flat earther

Thursday 28 July 7:00:00 UTC 2016

a person who does not accept or is out of touch with the realities/ beliefs of modern times;one who blatantly dismisses/ disagrees with common knowledge or scientific findings. Joe doesn't even believe the planet is round, or that we landed on the moon… he's a flat earther. [Link]

Language Log » Trump's most mockable phrase: "believe me"

Thursday 28 July 5:18:07 UTC 2016

In his Democratic National Convention speech, vice-presidential nominee Tim Kaine broke out a Donald Trump impression that focused on a signature phrase: "believe me." While it might not have been the most accurate impersonation, Kaine did latch on to one of Trump's most salient bigrams (i.e., two-word phrases). As Mark Liberman noted back in April (accompanying a video compilation of … [Link]

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