What's your English, USA?

  • Language and words in the news – 30th July, 2010

    Kati Sule, July 30, 2010

    This post contains a weekly selection of links related to language and words in the news. These can be items from the latest news, blog posts or interesting websites related to global English and language change, and language education too.

    Do contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to include. We’d love to hear from you.

    Global English

    Pretty girls make men dumb
    Inspired by Evan Frendo’s really interesting post on impression management (IM), I went hunting for research papers in the University of Pennsylvania’s online libraries.

    Study of Oregon Latinos Finds Language Gap
    A new OSU study of Oregon’s Latino residents shows that while first- and second-generation immigrants from Mexico or other Spanish-speaking countries maintain a Spanish-speaking dominance, English is dominant by the third generation. By the fourth generation, the study shows, any traces of Spanish language are almost completely minimized.

    Losing campaign to fend off English
    I rather sympathise with the French, who object to the fashionable embrace of English. It’s not new, of course. The Parisien beau monde adopted anglicisms like le gentleman, le redingote (riding coat), le snob and le fair play in the 19th century. In the 1950s dawn of le rock’n roll, people caught up on le hit parade during le weekend.

    English-language skills taking off among pilots
    Aviation leaders are reporting success with a decade-long push to make sure pilots and air traffic controllers around the globe are proficient in English – the official language of aviation worldwide.

    Language change and slang

    Q is for Quote marks
    Quote marks, after all, are not innocent bystanders in the processes of text creation and interpretation. Traditionally, of course, they separated quoted matter from the writer’s own words. Hence, they’re called (variously) quote marks, quotation marks, speech marks and so on. But they’ve come to fulfill a number of other functions too.

    Verbed!
    The history of English, however, suggests that the language is remarkably flexible in terms of what can be verbed. Almost any word can be drafted to serve as a verb, even words we think of as eternal and unchanging, stuck in their more traditional roles. It’s easy to think of scenarios where “She me’d him too much and they broke up” and “My boss tomorrowed the meeting again” make sense.

    Indian words in literary English
    Tracking Indian words in English has been a favourite topic with columnists in the Indian media. This decade has seen the publication of new editions of dictionaries, and each one has added new words from Indian sources, borrowed either in India or in England.

    Improve your English

    Cartoon: Leaks
    For weeks, we’ve been hearing about the  BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. […] Yesterday, however, a different sort of leak hit the headlines, when whistleblower website WikiLeaks published more than 90,000 classified war documents, painting a largely bleak picture of the war in Afghanistan.

    Vocab Builder: A Way With Words
    One of my favorite podcasts is “A Way With Words.” Martha and Grant are entertaining at answering callers questions about language, and AWWW is a great source of words. Here are a few I’ve picked up recently.

    Books, words, science and the history of language

    Wanting your life back
    I want my life back feels to me like a recent coinage by somebody. (Of course, I could be wrong; I am reporting a mere intuition, which could be solely due to the recency illusion.) It is not a normal sort of phrase.

    Negative stereotypes may affect both learning and performance
    Negative stereotypes not only jeopardize how members of stigmatized groups might perform on tests and in other skill-based acts, such as driving and golf putting, but they also can inhibit actual learning, according to a new study by Indiana University researchers.

    Video

    Professor David Crystal discusses Global English (5:12):
    Is control of English shifting away from British and American native speakers?

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Latest BuzzWord | cyber Cyrano noun a person paid to write someone's online dating profile in order to make their search for a partner more successful

Recent Comments

  • Posted by Denise Cuevas to The new F word on July 29, 2010 I think, what is most interesting about many of these words, is that to achieve certain meanings, the tone of your voice must be adjusted. I tell my students and my teen daughter, it isn't what you say, it's how your say it! So perhaps it's really, "Watch your tone!"
  • Posted by Tweets that mention American English? What’s that? | Macmillan -- Topsy.com to American English? What's that? on July 29, 2010 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Francis van Stokkom, ThijssenTranslations. ThijssenTranslations said: American English? What’s that? http://bit.ly/b07odv [...]
  • Posted by Denise to You say 'soda', I say 'pop': a Midwestern observation of language on July 28, 2010 In defense of Duck, Duck, Gray Duck, I have to say that Duck, Duck, Goose is pointless. Granted, neither game is particularly intellectually stimulating, but at least with Duck, Duck, Gray Duck, kids get to be creative and select interesting colors for their ducks. I would say things like "tangerine duck, aquamarine duck, chartreuse duck . . "
  • Posted by Valeria to In the news – a new wiki on July 28, 2010 This article has been really useful and clear. Thank you very much. I´ve been wondering what allthese wiki expressions referred to and this article has oriented me pretty much. Thanks again.
  • Posted by Tweets that mention In the news – a new wiki | Macmillan -- Topsy.com to In the news – a new wiki on July 28, 2010 [...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Macmillan Dictionary, ThijssenTranslations. ThijssenTranslations said: In the news – a new wiki http://bit.ly/coBSiV [...]
Open Dictionary | romance fraud noun conning money out of someone you are online dating

  • American English? What’s that?

    Our American English month is shortly coming to its end. Perhaps this is a good point to stop and ask this question again: What is American English? This time the answer comes from Robert Lane Greene, journalist, blogger and author of a soon to be published (and now thoroughly copy-edited) book, You Are What You [...]

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  • In the news – a new wiki

    It seems there’s a new, and somewhat disturbing, wiki on the block – wikileaks.
    Apparently a whistle-blowing website where sensitive material can be posted online in such a way as it to be untraceable, wikileaks has come to the nation’s interest amidst news of leaked details about the US military campaign in Afghanistan. (I say ‘apparently’, [...]

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  • You say ’soda’, I say ‘pop’: a Midwestern observation of language

    We continue American English month with another guest post from Denise Du Vernay. Denise earned her master’s degree in English from Florida State University. She is co-author of The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield. Her favorite pop is Diet Coke.
    __________
    As a child growing up in Minnesota, I [...]

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  • The new F word

    So, somebody please tell me when the word fine stopped being fine?
    When exchanging greetings with friends, I used to reply to any enquiry as to my health as ‘Fine, thanks’. When I still lived up North, a wry ‘Mustn’t grumble’ would usually suffice. This does not seem to be adequate any longer. People have begun [...]

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  • Language and words in the news – 23rd July, 2010

    This post contains a weekly selection of links related to language and words in the news. These can be items from the latest news, blog posts or interesting websites related to global English and language change, and language education too.
    Do contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to [...]

    Read the full article

  • “D’oh!” and more: The Simpsons and its effects on American English

    American English month continues with a guest post by Denise Du Vernay. Denise has been teaching composition, literature, humanities, speech, and courses on The Simpsons for over ten years. She is co-author of The Simpsons in the Classroom: Embiggening the Learning Experience with the Wisdom of Springfield (www.simpsonology.com). Denise lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
    __________
    On the eve [...]

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  • Guide to buying an ‘old banger’

    I recently bought a used car from auction and I have become enamoured of the specific vocabulary and euphemisms used when describing and discussing used cars. Buyers who are not au fait with this arcane language should beware, however, and I feel it my duty to publish this very necessary ‘guide’.
    Type / condition of car:
    My [...]

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  • What’s in a name?

    I feel I must begin this post by clarifying a couple of things. No, I don’t have a best mate called Tracey, and no, I’ve never in my life danced around my handbag in white stilettos in a nightclub. OK, glad we got that cleared up.
    Non-native English speakers may be wondering what on earth I’m [...]

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  • A Brit’s take on American English

    As part of American English month, we return to Philadephia, where blogger and EFL teacher & author Vicki Hollett discusses the hazards of a Brit speaking ‘merican. Thank you to Vicki for another great guest post!
    _________

    The US is a hazardous place for Brits. Since moving to Philadelphia, I’ve inadvertently commented on my hostess’s homely (=ugly) [...]

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  • Language and words in the news – 16th July, 2010

    This post contains a weekly selection of links related to language and words in the news. These can be items from the latest news, blog posts or interesting websites related to global English and language change, and language education too.
    Do contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to [...]

    Read the full article

  • Mavens and memes – the answers

    Did you understand the words and phrases at the end of yesterday’s post? They are a little tricky because they need a little cultural background:
    Blogosphere refers to all blogs and their interconnections. The idea is that all blogs form a social network.
    Maven comes from the Yiddish word meaning ‘expert’ or ’someone knowledgeable in a particular [...]

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  • Are you a maven of the blogosphere?

    New technical terms are a source of great irritation to the casual reader. They are a way of creating an exclusive club of those ‘in the know’, what George Bernard Shaw called a ‘conspiracy against the public’. Nonetheless, new processes and ideas create the need for a new vocabulary to describe them.
    Most online linguistic innovation [...]

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