John Gordon Ross

A Man for All Reasons

John Gordon Ross header image 3

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 » "Perform a sex act"

Thursday 8 September 17:14:10 UTC 2016

How to be circumspect and explicit at the same time, from the Washington Post, Sept. 5: "Metro Transit Police arrested a man Monday afternoon whom they say exposed himself to a woman on an Orange Line train and tried to force her to perform a sex act." My mind isn't exactly racing: there aren't a whole lot of she-on-he sex … [Link]

Omniglot blog » World Museum

Thursday 8 September 12:26:18 UTC 2016

World Museum in Liverpool Information panel from the World Museum in Liverpool with Inuktitut syllabics Last Sunday I went to Liverpool for a polyglot meet-up. Before the meet-up I went to the World Museum, which is fascinating and well worth a visit. Among the artifacts and exhibits, there are examples of languages and scripts from around the world, including Cuneiform tablets from Sumeria, a Mayan codex and other artifacts with Mayan writing, and a collection … [Link]

Language Log » Paper cut to the heart

Thursday 8 September 8:31:25 UTC 2016

Merriam-Webster's twitter account has been offering good usage advice, for example It's fine to use mad to mean "angry"—even if doing so makes some people mad. https://t.co/Z5ClzvAnaZ — Merriam-Webster (@MerriamWebster) September 7, 2016 This particular tweet led to an exchange that went viral. First, a series of complaints about M-W failing in its parental duties: And then M-W's response: The … [Link]

languagehat.com » Die Relinge.

Thursday 8 September 0:21:03 UTC 2016

My (excellent) local NPR radio station, during their afternoon classical program, announced Telemann’s Violin Concerto in A major, nicknamed “The Frogs”… or “Die Relinge” in the original. Huh? thought I: isn’t the German for ‘frog’ Frosch? So it is, but the Grimm dictionary has an entry describing it as a kind of toad: reling, m. krötenart, sumpf– oder teichfrosch: eine … [Link]

Archive

No Comments

0 responses so far ↓

  • There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.

You must log in to post a comment.