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 » Political /t/ lenition
PolitiFact recently took up the case of a Donald Trump campaign video that shows Hillary Clinton apparently announcing her intention to raise middle class taxes (Linda Qiu, "Donald Trump wrongly says Hillary Clinton wants to raise taxes on the middle class", PolitiFact 8/5/2016). The crux of the matter is this passage. Your browser does not support the audio element. I’m … [Link]
Omniglot blog » Phrase finder
There is a now a new way to view the phrases on Omniglot: a Phrase finder. This page enables you to see phrases in any combination of two languages. This is something I’ve been planning to set up for years, and now it’s finally ready. So if your native language isn’t English and you want to see phrases in your … [Link]
Omniglot blog » Language quiz
Here’s a poem in a mystery language. 
Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » where is this coming from
An excuse used by shitty people to deny ownership or knowledge of their bad qualities. Can also be used to devalue and avoid change or responsibility over what the other person said to them. In either case, the speaker feigns surprise at these "new" and "unexpected" things they are being told.Translates directly into "you've taken all my shit before, why … [Link]
Language Log » English "wine", French "vin", Spanish "vino"
Translators of Chinese poetry are tormented by how to render the term jiǔ 酒. The nearly universal English rendering of jiǔ 酒 in Chinese belles lettres is "wine". The problem is that "wine" is fruit based (usually grapes), whereas jiǔ 酒 is grain based. This is a topic that has come up tangentially on Language Log many times in the … [Link]
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