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 » Attachment ambiguity of the week

Sunday 9 October 16:38:26 UTC 2016

Oliver Darcy, "REBELLION: RNC staffers 'defying orders' to keep working for Trump, source says", Business Insider 10/8/2016. So how are those staffers defying orders? Are they ceasing to work for Trump despite orders to continue? In that case, it's "orders to keep working for Trump" that they're defying. Or are they defying instructions (to stop), (in order) to keep working … [Link]

Language Log » Trump's vulgarities rendered into Chinese

Sunday 9 October 15:40:17 UTC 2016

Judging from these recent Language Log posts and the comments thereto, it is not always easy for native speakers of English to understand what Donald Trump says, especially when he is making lewd remarks: "A non-apology for the ages" (10/7/16) "'Like a bitch'?" (10/8/16) "Trump translated" (9/31/16) "Trump's aphasia" (9/5/15) There have been many other attempts on Language Log to … [Link]

Language Log » A Trumpling situation

Sunday 9 October 11:14:19 UTC 2016

"Paul Ryan Refers to Furor Over Trump as Elephant in the Room", Bloomberg News 10/8/2016: Speaker of the House Paul Ryan spoke at the GOP “Fall Fest” unity event in his home district in Wisconsin. While he did not directly address Donald Trump’s crude and sexually aggressive remarks about women in a 2005 recording, he did refer to the furor … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Language quiz

Sunday 9 October 10:22:47 UTC 2016

Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » grab them by the pussy

Sunday 9 October 7:30:00 UTC 2016

Something that Donald Trump enjoys doing. “I moved on her like a bitch, but I couldn’t get there. And she was married.”“I did try and fuck her. She was married.”“Just kiss. I don’t even wait. And when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything.”“Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” [Link]

languagehat.com » Meddling with English.

Sunday 9 October 0:05:24 UTC 2016

A Guardian piece by Nancy Groves focuses on Caroline Bergvall’s multilingual performance Raga Dawn, a part of Estuary, “a 16-day festival celebrating the distinct character of the Essex ‘edgelands’ between Tilbury and Southend”: Not only is Bergvall duetting her poetry with classical singer Peyee Chen, to a score by Gavin Bryars, the pair are accompanied by the recorded voices of … [Link]

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