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 » Apologetic rat

Friday 27 January 22:26:16 UTC 2017

The following ghastly photographs of a rat that was caught stealing from a convenience store in Heyuan, Guangdong province have gone viral on Chinese social media. ===================================~ WARNING: viewer discretion advised. The photographs following the page break may be upsetting to some readers. ===================================~ The sign on the left, which appeared first, reads: Ā, xiǎozi. Jiù zhè diǎn néngnài ma? … [Link]

Language Log » In a swirl of synonyms and grammar terms, calling a noun a noun

Friday 27 January 16:54:00 UTC 2017

Dan Barry's recent article in The New York Times is headed: "In a Swirl of ‘Untruths’ and ‘Falsehoods,’ Calling a Lie a Lie." And pretty soon, he is of course reaching for the dread allegation of writing in the "passive". Does he know what that charge means? No. Like almost everybody who has been to college in America, he vaguely … [Link]

Language Log » The temperature is struggling

Friday 27 January 12:34:14 UTC 2017

I commented back in 2008 on the ridiculous vagueness of some of the brief weather forecast summaries on BBC radio ("pretty miserable by and large," and so on). I do sometimes miss the calm, scientific character of American weather forecasts, with their precise temperature range predictions and exact precipitation probabilities. In recent days, on BBC Radio 4's morning news magazine … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Wheels with teeth

Friday 27 January 11:43:27 UTC 2017

An illustration of cog(wheels) I discovered last night that in French a cog is a une dent, which also means a tooth, or une dent d’engrenage (“tooth gear”), and a cog wheel is une roue dentée (a toothed wheel), which is kind of a cog looks like. The English word cog, meaning a tooth on a gear, or a gear or a cogwheel, comes … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » Donald Lump

Friday 27 January 8:00:00 UTC 2017

basically donald trump, bc he's a big 'ol white lump of overcomb + cheeto dust skin dang, did you see donald lump in the news today? he was looking extra orange and lumpy. [Link]

languagehat.com » What’s a Woggin?

Friday 27 January 4:43:00 UTC 2017

Cara Giaimo has a fascinating investigation of a whaling mystery in Atlas Obscura: On December 20, 1792, the whaling ship Asia was making its way through the Desolation Islands, in the Indian Ocean, when the crew decided to stop for lunch. According to the log keeper, the meal was a great success: “At 1 PM Sent our Boat on Shore … [Link]

Language Log » Partial negative concord

Friday 27 January 1:47:39 UTC 2017

Steven Hsieh, "Joking Around: We spoke with that Carlsbad city councilor with the sexist Facebook post", SF Reporter 1/24/2017 [emphasis added]: Carlsbad City Councilor JR Doporto drew widespread criticism today after KOB 4 highlighted a Facebook post he wrote mocking women who participated in Saturday's nationwide demonstrations against President Donald Trump. […] After angry comments rained down on his Facebook … [Link]

Language Log » Caucasian words for tea

Friday 27 January 0:35:21 UTC 2017

In Appendix C of The True History of Tea, a book that I wrote with Erling Hoh, I showed how all the words for "tea" in the world except two little-known Austro-Asiatic terms can be traced back to Sinitic. The three main types of words for tea (infusion of Camellia sinensis leaves) may be characterized as te, cha, and chai. … [Link]

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