John Gordon Ross

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 » Into titties like right here in Detroit?

Monday 8 August 21:55:03 UTC 2016

Matthew Cooper, "Full text of Donald Trump's prepared remarks to the Detroit Economic Club", Newsweek 8/8/2016: Addressing the Detroit Economic Club is a mainstay for presidential candidates, and Donald Trump put a unique stamp on the event Monday. No Republican nominee in decades has given such a blistering critique of free trade and none has been met by so many … [Link]

Language Log » Mildew Country

Monday 8 August 19:09:57 UTC 2016

Here is a photograph of some Chinese anti-American protesters from "The complete guide to China’s propaganda videos blaming the West for almost everything", by Zheping Huang, Quartz (8/8/16): What's going on with that transcription of the name for America? Měi(méi)guó 美(霉)國 Anybody who has taken first-year Mandarin will know that the Chinese name for America is Měiguó 美國 and that … [Link]

Language Log » Trump's prosody

Monday 8 August 15:38:54 UTC 2016

Yesterday I showed a pitch contour from one of Hillary Clinton's speeches ("Political /t/ lenition", 8/7/2016), and promised to take a broader look at her characteristic prosodic styles. But today I'm going to feature one of Donald's prosodic stylings. From the Trump/Pence rally in Des Moines, Iowa, 8/5/2016: We're gonna use great business leaders ___to work with our generals — … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » paratext

Monday 8 August 7:00:00 UTC 2016

When you send or receive a text that is so long that you need to scroll down. Jane: "So… Did you hear from that sexy fireman from the bar?" Jill: "Yeah, but no dice. He paratexted me. What a weirdo." [Link]

languagehat.com » Johan David Åkerblad.

Monday 8 August 0:29:36 UTC 2016

J. D. Åkerblad was one of those multilingual, multifaceted travelers I occasionally encounter and can’t resist posting about. “Johan David Åkerblad: Orientalist, Traveller, and Manuscript Collector,” by Fredrik Thomasson, a chapter from Travelling through Time: Essays in honour of Kaj Öhrnberg, ed. Sylvia Akar, Jaakko Hämeen-Anttila, and Inka Nokso-Koivisto (Studia Orientalia, vol. 114, 2013), is available as a pdf online, … [Link]

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