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 » Biscriptal juxtaposition in Chinese, part 3
Christopher Alderton saw this flyer on his way to work a few days ago: 
The big, bold characters at the top exhort: Qiǎng fáng la 抢房啦! ("Grab a house!") What's most arresting is this line: nín yǐjīng refinance le ma? 您已经refinance了吗? "Have you already refinanced? Christopher rightly points out that the meaning of the construction "已refinance了" is sufficiently clear, but … [Link]
Language Log » PR push for "Voice Stress Analysis" products?
A Craigslist ad posted 20 days ago — "Seeking a Blog Writer for Voice Stress Analysis Technology": We are looking for someone to ghostwrite blog posts and articles for a large company that specializes in computer-aided voice stress analysis technology or CVSA. We want you to primarily discuss the scientific research backing it up and the psychophysiological processes involved in … [Link]
Language Log » Annals of incompetent spam: the weeding ceremony
A spam email I received this morning (addressed to me and three other addresses, no subject; the sender was "david mark" at davidmark0066@gmail.com) had the following text: Hello this is david i will like to know if you can handle my weeding ceremony and do you own the service ?? I actually never realized people had weeding ceremonies. I thought … [Link]
Urban Word of the Day » chicken sleeping
When you fall asleep in an upright position with your head dangling, most commonly in a car or airplane. The motion makes your head bob up and down like a chicken pecking. In rare cases, you could be fighting falling asleep in class and a moving vehicle is not necessary. Chances of chicken sleeping are increased by 70% after a … [Link]
languagehat.com » Marcia Lynx Qualey on Arabic Literature.
Henry Ace Knight interviews Marcia Lynx Qualey, “a household name among students and aficionados of Arabic and Middle Eastern literature, many of whom avidly read her blog ArabLit.org.” There’s lots of interesting stuff there, for instance: You wrote about the false claim of the emerging Arabic novel, and the distinction of “first Arabic novel” given to Muhammad Husayn Haykal’s Zaynab, … [Link]
Language Log » Sino-Japanese faux ami
Nathan Hopson saw this sign on the ferry from Hong Kong to Macau. 
Jisuberi 地滑り means "landslide" in Japanese. Nathan, a Japanese specialist, had a moment of confusion before he noticed the English. Fortunately, the English on the sign translates the Chinese, xiǎoxīn dì huá 小心地滑, correctly. This four character warning is actually (in)famous for causing a flood of Chinglish … [Link]
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