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 » Progress in the war on Chinglish

Sunday 3 December 18:10:14 UTC 2017

If you see the two big letters "GB" in the top right corner of an official publication from the Chinese government, you know it's serious. Those letters stand for Guójiā Biāozhǔn 国家标准 ("National standard"). In the present instance, they have promulgated, as of December 1, 2017, "Guidelines for the use of English in public service areas — Part 9: Accommodation … [Link]

Urban Word of the Day » VOCD

Sunday 3 December 8:30:00 UTC 2017

"Volume Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" Function: Noun A psychoneurotic disorder in which the television viewer is beset with obsessions or compulsions or both to adjust the volume on the television to a "perfect" number, such as 15, 20, 25, etc. and suffers extreme anxiety or depression through failure to adjust the volume or witnessing an "imperfect" number (9, 16, 31). Joe has … [Link]

Omniglot blog » Language quiz

Sunday 3 December 6:00:43 UTC 2017

Here’s a recording in a mystery language. Can you identify the language, and do you know where it’s spoken? [Link]

Language Log » Japanese "Yankee" ("juvenile delinquent")

Sunday 3 December 2:54:18 UTC 2017

"Japanese start-up helping ‘delinquents’ compete against college graduates for city jobs with new internship: The company Hassyadai has so far helped 100 youth from outside Tokyo to land employment", SCMP (12/2/17): Dubbed the “Yankee internship”, the programme, whose participants range in age from 16 to 22, is unique in that it includes the category of Yankee – Japanese slang for … [Link]

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