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.
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Language change and slang
Apothecary
When apothecary entered English in the mid-1300s, it had a more general meaning than “druggist.” Its late-Latin source, apothēcārius, meant “store-keeper”.
Global English
Got ‘Gotten’?
Among the various quirks of The New Yorker’s house style, maybe the quirkiest is the insistence on got as the past participle of get—that is, to write had got instead of had gotten to mean “become” or “obtained” or any of the numerous other senses of get.
Language teaching and resources
Let’s eat Grandma!
How to use, and not use the comma.
Books, science, dictionaries, words and language
Your Brain on Metaphors
Neuroscientists test the theory that your body shapes your ideas.
Our Use Of Little Words Can, Uh, Reveal Hidden Interests
Function words are essentially the filler words. These are the words that we don’t pay attention to, and they’re the ones that are so interesting.
Mirandizing the undergraduates
Writing is difficult. Most people never get good at it. Editing is even harder than writing.
The world’s best writers’ retreats
You know there’s a best-seller in you but you don’t know where to start and your current career just doesn’t give you the time to find it. The good news is it can be done.
Cartoon
Airplane Legroom and Reclining Seats
A humorous comment on the spate of planes forced into emergency landings by passengers fighting over reclining seats.
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