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 » Mr. Mbah

Thursday 1 September 19:09:42 UTC 2016

The following article on an Australian website has a slip-up in the handling of an honorific in Indonesian / Javanese: "Official Indonesian documentation has verified Mbah Gotho was born in 1870, making him the oldest person in the world" (SBS News, 8/31/16) —– At the reported age of 145, Mbah Gotho from the Indonesian island of Java could be the … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » Mitt Romney Money

Thursday 1 September 12:07:26 UTC 2016

One that has money beyond that of a normal baller yet pays less taxes than a street pharmaceutical rep or an illegal immigrant. Look dat new lex he be drivin. He must got dat Mitt Romney Money. [Link]

Omniglot blog » Bow, shake hands or kiss?

Thursday 1 September 11:08:20 UTC 2016

When visiting a foreign country, or even of different region of your own country, you may notice that people greet each other in different ways. For example, in the UK we generally shake hands when meeting people for the first time, especially in formal situations, but in informal situations, and with friends and acquaintances, there’s quite a bit of variation. … [Link]

Language Log » Trump translated

Thursday 1 September 4:41:30 UTC 2016

In "Trump’s Tower of Babble: How the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis explains Donald Trump’s rantings — and why the rest of the world is so confused" (Foreign Policy, 8/30/16), Christopher M. Livaccari and Jeff Wang allege: Questions about the meaning of Trump’s words… may be a type of category mistake. Trump and his supporters seem to be adherents to a strong version … [Link]

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