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 » Chinese Trumpistas
Their legions grow with each passing day. This post is about what they are called in Chinese (see below). The Chinese people were fascinated with Trump even before he was sworn in as POTUS: “Year of the cock” (1/4/17) See also the references in the second half of the third post cited below. Now that Trump has been President for … [Link]
Omniglot blog » Calabooses, digging and beds
I came across the word calaboose in a book I read recently and as I couldn’t work out its meaning from the context I had to look it up. I also like the sound of it, so thought I’d write about it. A calaboose is an informal American term for a prison or jail. It comes from the Spanish calabozo … [Link]
Language Log » Ask Language Log: cow evolution in Hong Kong
From Hwa Shi-Hsia: I have a question for Language Log. My sister in Malaysia recently bought an MP3 player with a feature listed as “The fire cow charging”. My father figured out that it meant a transformer or power adapter, but he couldn’t come up with a plausible explanation. An acquaintance from Hong Kong responded that: “It’s actually a transformer. … [Link]
Wordorigins.org » akimbo
To stand akimbo is to have one’s hands on one’s hips with the elbows turned outward. The word dates to the fifteenth century, but its origin is unknown. There are, however, a number of competing hypotheses. [Link]
0 responses so far ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
You must log in to post a comment.