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 » More vitriolic rhetoric from KCNA

Sunday 8 October 17:51:40 UTC 2017

We've already had a taste of the crass, crude contumely that the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) typically spews forth against the perceived enemies of the North Korean state: "Dotard" (9/22/17) "Of dotards and DOLtards" (10/4/17) KCNA hits a new low with their latest denunciation of the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzō Abe: "North Korea promises to bring 'nuclear clouds' to … [Link]

Language Log » Doubling your chances for a date on Saturday night

Sunday 8 October 9:57:02 UTC 2017

It's one of the most famous jokes from Woody Allen's early career as a standup comedian (though the exact wording and the original source are, as usual with famous quotes, somewhat obscure); as quoted in the New York Times (1 December 1975, cited by Fred Shapiro in The Yale Book of Quotations), bisexuality "immediately doubles your chances for a date … [Link]