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.
Language change and slang
Say One Thing and Mean Your Mother: The Lasting Legacy of Freud
It’s interesting to note how Freudian terminology became part of everyday vocabulary, at least for a period.
Global English
What Does “She” in Science Fiction Tell Us About Language on Earth?
Quite a bit, according to Gretchen McCulloch.
Language teaching and resources
The Mockingbirdgate drama
A Twitter storm blew up last week over news that England’s Education Secretary Michael Gove had banned the teaching of certain beloved American literary texts. Except that he hadn’t.
Books, science, dictionaries, words and language
The twenty least known words in English
A Belgian university has come up with a list of words that are unknown to practically everyone. How many do you know? You can also do a vocabulary test to see what percentage of English vocabulary you know.
Are You Cultured Enough To Master This Language Quiz?
Can you decipher certain Asian scripts from one another by simply looking at them? And is Farsi read from left to right or right to left? Here’s a quiz to help you find out.
National Spelling Bee: how would you fare?
Every year children in the US aged 8 to 15 compete to find out who is the best speller. Can you match up?
Fun
Paul is dead
What they meant to say was “meatball”. An insight into how language bloopers can happen.
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