Language and words in the news – 3rd October, 2014

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

War of the words: the global conflict that helped shape our language
The neologisms with which the second world war enriched our language range from the utilitarian to the racy.

Really, so many are more interesting than I am
The dear old subjunctive, once so vigorous in Anglo-Saxon, has experienced a long wasting disease in English.

Global English

‘ISIS’ vs. ‘ISIL’ vs. ‘Islamic State’: The political importance of a much-debated acronym
ISIS was a name that first belonged to a goddess, and then to thousands of women who took said goddess’s name, before a terrorist group claimed it.

Language teaching and resources

London skyline
After a long time without many skyscrapers, now more and more are appearing on the London skyline. Join Rob and Neil to find out more and learn some language related to towns and buildings.

Books, technology, words and language

Words journalists write that no one ever says
There are words that fit comfortably in news reports but feel alien in your mouth. After much discussion we came up with a Top 10 list of words rarely spoken or broadcast.

Famous Novelists on Symbolism in Their Work and Whether It Was Intentional
In 1963, a 16-year-old named Bruce McAllister mailed a crude, four-question survey to 150 novelists, asking if they intentionally planted symbolism in their work. He later became an English professor.

International Translation Day
Tuesday was International Translation Day.  It was also the feast of St. Jerome, the Bible translator who is considered the patron saint of translators. Perhaps we should all translate something, just for fun.

Broadcast

Multilingualism
How is the brain affected by juggling between different languages and how does this affect identity? 28 minutes.

Quiz

Which Punctuation Mark Are You?
Are you a comma or a full stop? Or perhaps a semicolon? Take this quiz and find out.

Fun

How to order the perfect coffee around the world
Where would you order uma bica, and do you know your cortado from your lágrima? Here’s how to ask for a coffee in 10 cities around the world.