This post contains a 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, language change, education in general, and language learning and teaching in particular.
Feel free to contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to include, or just add a comment to the post, with the link(s) you’d like to share.
Global English
Word of the week: Nasty
Nasty was all over the news last week after Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump interrupted his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton, during their third debate on October 19, leaning into the microphone and saying she was “such a nasty woman.”
Language change and slang
Wackaging
Chiming with marketing’s turn towards storytelling and narrative, and the ‘brands are people’ mantra, packaging has gone wacky.
Words, technology and language
The Diacritics Affair
Can a few simple accents become the center of a controversy that occupies headlines? In Catalonia, yes.
Google’s Neural Network for Language Translation Narrows Gap Between Machines & Humans
Here’s another piece about Google’s new translation system. Would any Chinese speakers care to confirm the results? (BTW I’m still trying to work out what ‘can lower translation errors by more than 55 to 85 percent’ means.)
Humour
15 Images That Prove Librarians Are the Cleverest People Ever
A slightly hyperbolic title, but proof if you needed it that librarians do have a sense of humour.
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