Recent Comments
Colleen on Are we trivializing the langua… Jude on Are we trivializing the langua… Colleen Ross on The slinky, seductive sound of… Art on The slinky, seductive sound of… Colleen on The slinky, seductive sound of…
Tag Archives: language
A Prepositional Tale
December 16, 2012 Once upon a time, we used the preposition “upon”. Alas, its days are numbered. It’s the 200th anniversary of the publication of the Grimm’s Fairy Tales this month, which is inspiration enough to look at the changing nature of pre… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Colleen Ross, end a sentence with a preposition, English, language, out of, post, prepositions, Robert Lane Greene
Leave a comment
The Winning Words of Candidates
November 2, 2012 Barack Obama and Mitt Romney have been posturing and pontificating for what feels like forever; not even superstorm Sandy could slow them much. Their speeches are wildly applauded (by supporters, at least), closely analyzed and as… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged campaign, Chatain Narain, election, language, mathematics, Obama, party, personality, president, Romney, speech, vote, winning, words
Leave a comment
The Desperate Synonyms of Fashionspeak
I took a break to create/produce Babel, a CBC Radio program about the changing English language. Check it out at: cbc.ca/babel. May 18, 2012 Prowling down the catwalk this season is something called “tribal chic” with its khaki jackets, wooden ban… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged arm party, blog, Erin McKean, fashion, fashionspeak, language, LBD, LSD, tribal chic, tribe, yet-but
Leave a comment
The Secret to Learning Languages
Jan. 3, 2012 On a trip to Costa Rica, I marvelled at how a fellow traveller could flip so easily between languages. She would go from English to Italian with her friend, to French with someone else. And then she picked up Spanish. Just picked it u… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Babel No More, hyperpolyglot, Joseph Mezzofanti, language, language learning, memory, Michael Erard, neurology, polyglot, shadowing
Leave a comment
The slinky, seductive sound of brand names
Dec.2, 2011 The name Mazda zips off the tongue, especially if you add that zoom zoom bit. Rolex rolls. Ferrero Rocher melts. Nokia clicks. And L’Oreal somehow makes you feel that you’re worth it. Let’s face it: some names just work. And companies … Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged brands, Burberry, Dasani, language, Lexicon, linguistics, marketing, Mazda, naming, sound, sound symbolism, Sunny, Will Leben
4 Comments
Technology is turning us into fast talkers
Oct. 31, 2011 Hello-everybody-welcome-to-the-program-it’s-nice-to-see-you-today-I’m-your-boyfriend-George-Stroumboulopoulos-it’s-going-to-be-a-hell-of-a-program-I’m-excited! From Strombo to Jon Stewart, let’s agree that some broadcast hosts can ta… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged brain, fast, fast talker, language, media, Mr. Rogers, Ray Hull, slow, Stewart, Strombo, teachers, technology, wpm
1 Comment
Java jargon: Coffee lovers take lessons from wine snobs
Sept. 15, 2011 You’ve been there, sitting in a restaurant beside some tweed jacket type who swills his glass of red through tobacco-stained teeth and expounds on the delicate notes of currants and figs, the slight eucalyptus aftertaste. Or perhaps… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged chocolate, jargon, java, language, pure coffee, qahwah, salt, vocabulary, wine, wine snob
Leave a comment
Are we trivializing the language of death?
May 19, 2011 I recently discovered that an old friend, whom I hadn’t seen for several years, had passed away. It came as a shock. I didn’t know how to reach her family, so I did the only thing I could think of to connect: I looked her up on Facebo… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged communication, condolence, dead, death, Facebook, language, Marshall McLuhan, mourn, protocol, social media, technology, Twitter
2 Comments
Lost in simultaneous translation
Feb. 25, 2011 If you’ve been watching or listening to the uprisings in Egypt, Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, you’ve likely heard an Arabic interpreter. They’re everywhere. And they can have different takes on the same message. Libyan Leader Moammar Gad… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged Arabic, English, Gadhafi, interpretation, interpreter, language, syntax, translation, United Nations
Leave a comment
A better way to say hello
Nov.9, 2010 It’s high time to do away with the mechanical greeting we North Americans employ. You know, the garden variety Hihowareyou/Good exchange that doesn’t really expect a serious answer. In fact, when it comes to saluting our fellows, we co… Continue reading
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged acknowledge, conversation, Dogon, exchange, greeting, how are you, language, relationship, salutation
Leave a comment
