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 » Big-league metaphors: the role of sports language in American politics
Yesterday I had the pleasure of joining fellow Language Logger Barbara Partee on Josh Chetwynd's KGNU radio show, "The Real Deal in Sports." Josh is the author of The Field Guide to Sports Metaphors, and he spoke to Barbara and me about how the metaphorical language of sports pervades American politics (especially in the latest presidential campaign). We mulled over … [Link]
Language Log » Hokkien-Tagalog-English-Spanish phrasebook
Page of a phrasebook published in 1941 (click to embiggen): 
[N.B.: Even with the embiggen feature deployed, you might need the assistance of a good magnifying glass, such as the one I keep handy next to my computer.] The title is: "Chinese – English – Tagalog – Spanish Business Conversation and Social Contact with Amoy Pronunciation" (Huá-Yīng-Fēi-Xī shāngyè shèjiāo huìhuà … [Link]
Language Log » 2016 Oxford Dictionaries WOTY: Post-Truth
The Oxford Dictionaries 2016 Word Of The Year is post-truth, which they define as "relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief". Here's their graph of its recent rise in frequency over the past seven months: 
They offer this history: The compound word post-truth exemplifies … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » Emperor's Hand
A person who performs "special tasks" for Emperor Palpatine of the Galactic Empire. Mara Jade was a known Hand. "Palpatine is an unmarried man, right?" "Yeah, I'd hate to be one of the Emperor's Hands on a lonely night."
[Link]
Language Log » Apostrophe in Hangul
Google Street View in Pittsburgh at 5809 Forward Ave. shows a Young's Oriental Grocery. The corresponding Hangul transliteration of "Young's" gives "Young 'seu 영 '스". I wonder whether this is a common practice in Korea, or whether it only exists among émigré communities abroad. [h.t. Charles Belov] [Link]
Language Log » "Comrade" between communism and gaydom
In "Call me comrade … party requires members to resurrect Maoist term to signal equality: Outdated greeting seen by analysts as a distraction and unworkable in today’s world" (SCMP, 11/13/16), Sidney Leng writes: A written guideline requiring Communist Party members to once again address each other as “comrade” is an outdated resurrection of Maoist rhetoric and unworkable in today’s world, … [Link]
Language Log » "Fatso Kim the Third" blocked in China
On microblogs and on social media in China, it was well nigh universal to call the ruler of North Korea Jīn sān pàng 金三胖 ("Kim Third Fat" [referring to Kim Jung-un, third in the line of Kims following his father Kim Jung-il and his grandfather Kim Il-sung]) — until the North Korean government caught wind of it and complained to … [Link]
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