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 » Choice-type questions

Sunday 12 February 23:39:46 UTC 2017

No, I am not talking about multiple choice questions. I'm talking about the kind of choice questions that language teachers introduce as one of the many ways to ask a question in Chinese. This subject has come up in connection with the following post that went up the day before yesterday: "Yes-no questions in mathematics and in Chinese" (2/10/17) Yes-no … [Link]

Language Log » Thought Leadership

Sunday 12 February 15:17:15 UTC 2017

Theodore Roosevelt "Ted" Malloch, who is reported to be Donald Trump's pick for ambassador to the EU, has been accused of inflating his resumé in various ways (Henry Mance, "Oxford distances itself from Trump favourite Malloch", Financial Times 2/10/2017; Henry Mance, "Academic touted as Trump's EU envoy embellished autobiography", Financial Times 2/9/2017; Daniel Boffey, "Credibility of Trump's EU ambassador pick … [Link]

Language Log » Ask Language Log: -ism exceptionalism

Sunday 12 February 10:42:21 UTC 2017

Jonah Goldberg, "The Trouble with Nationalism", National Review 2/7/20 But I firmly believe that when we call the sacrifices of American patriots no different from the sacrifices of Spartans — ancient or modern — we are giving short shrift to the glory, majesty, and uniqueness of American patriotism and the American experiment. I’m reminded of Martin Diamond’s point that the … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Aha!

Sunday 12 February 10:34:17 UTC 2017

ага (aga) A useful Russian word I learnt recently is ага (aga) [ɐˈɡa/ɐˈɣa], it is an interjection similar to yep, yeah, aha and uh-huh in English. It shows that you’re listening, but don’t necessarily agree with the speaker. Here are some examples of usage: – Окей, ага, круто = Okay. All right. That’s cool. – Ага, я так и думала = Here, … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Language quiz

Sunday 12 February 10:20:10 UTC 2017

Language quiz image 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 » authoritarian

Sunday 12 February 8:30:00 UTC 2017

In a political context – In favor of large, intrusive government that violates or suppresses individual rights; characterized by a "law and order" approach; failing to support civil liberties and/or economic freedom in society; undemocraticIn a non-political context – Bossy, controlling, domineering People with authoritarian views, agendas, or personalities rarely describe themselves as authoritarian, but can often be spotted when … [Link]

Language Log » Writing frustration

Sunday 12 February 1:43:52 UTC 2017

Somebody posted this in a WeChat group: The character they were struggling to write is this: xiāo 宵 ("night; evening; dark") Here it combines with yuán 元 ("first; primary; chief; principal") to form the word yuánxiāo 元宵 ("Lantern Festival", but in this sentence it means a super delicious kind of sweet dumpling made of glutinous rice flour that people eat … [Link]

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