Language and words in the news – 9th January, 2015

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

Irish Linguistic Diversity
Why does the small island of Ireland contain so many different varieties of English? Ben Trawick-Smith has some answers.

Why Obama calling David Cameron ‘bro’ isn’t necessarily a compliment
Cameron has exclusively revealed to the Mail on Sunday that sometimes Potus calls him “bro”. This may not be as flattering as it seems.

Global English

Hockey Style in Canada
Only one page of The Canadian Press Stylebook is devoted to hockey. How very un-Canadian.

From a language point of view, what’s happening in Iraq, Syria, and environs has revived words that have not been common for many years. – See more at: http://www.cjr.org/language_corner/language_corner_063014.php?utm_content=buffer811d0&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer#sthash.WQopCEDs.dpufFrom a language point of view, what’s happening in Iraq, Syria, and environs has revived words that have not been common for many years.From a language point of view, what’s happening in Iraq, Syria, and environs has revived words that have not been common for many years..

Improve your English

Prepare to Heat Your Ovens If You Follow AP Style
The AP Stylebook Online sent one of its semiannual emails yesterday giving subscribers a rundown of recent updates. Among the changes: You no longer should preheat your oven.

Books, dictionaries, words and language

Waiting for the Word of 2014
Fashionably late, the American Dialect Society chooses its Word of the Year this week.

Why We Should Declare an Emoticon of the Year
But Word of the Year is so last year. Now it’s all about the Emoticon of the Year. Maybe.

Bill Hicks on Freedom of Speech
The comedian explains freedom of speech to a priest who was offended by his show and wrote to tell him so.

How to answer the phone in different languages
Alexander Graham Bell, who patented his design for the telephone in 1876, expected people to say “Ahoy!” when they picked up the phone.

Video

Radio 4 presenters discuss urban slang
In the course of a follow-up discussion on the Cameron-Obama story, BBC presenter John Humphrys reveals that his youngest son calls him “blud”.