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
languagehat.com » Namus.
I was reading Victoria Lomasko’s “In Tbilisi,” an excerpt from her new book Other Russias (out March 7 from n+1), which I’m very much looking forward to, and was struck by this passage: In the Caucasus, there is a term for correct behavior on the part of the individual in society: namus, in Azerbaijani and Armenian, and namusi in Georgian. … [Link]
Language Log » Quantifying Donald Trump's rhetoric
David Beaver & Jason Stanley, "Unlike all previous U.S. presidents, Trump almost never mentions democratic ideals", Washington Post 2/7/2017: The central norms of liberal democratic societies are liberty, justice, truth, public goods and tolerance. To our knowledge, no one has proposed a metric by which to judge a politician’s commitment to these democratic ideals. A direct way suggested itself to … [Link]
Language Log » Gavagai and TZQQA
Over at Existential Comics, WV Quine discovers the indeterminacy of cross-generational translation: 
After characteristic (but in this context uninsightful) interventions by JL Austin and Sigmund Freud, the text's meaning is eventually delimited by direct action, consistent with Quine's behaviorism. As he wrote in "Indeterminacy of Translation Again", The Journal of Philosophy 1987: In psychology one may or may not be … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » bitch chin
A person's chin which lacks definition or strength of character. Guy: Hey Donald Trump, all of your children have bitch chins Donald: Ya they do, and my son is a total pussy too
[Link]
languagehat.com » Language and Identity II.
Adam Taylor reports for the Washington Post on an interesting study: On Wednesday afternoon, Pew Research Center released a study that looked at how national identity is defined across 14 different countries using survey data taken at the start of last year. In light of the ongoing debate about immigration in pretty much every part of the world, it makes … [Link]
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