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
Found: ‘Cup of Joe’ Origin?
This blogger thinks he may have traced the origin of the phrase right back to 1927.
The place for toilet euphemisms
Entire books have been written about the social history of toilets and our many words for them and for what we do in and around them.
Global English
toilet
Here’s an old post on a similar theme from the separated by a common language blog.
Language teaching and resources
A Beginner’s Guide to Teaching Online
Part two of the series looks at screen sharing.
Books, dictionaries, words and language
The Structure of University Names
You’ve probably never thought about why we say Harvard University but the University of California. Fortunately Geoffrey Pullum has done the thinking for you.
Misused English words and Expressions in EU publications
If you’ve ever had occasion to read a document emanating from the EU, you may have been struck by the oddness of some of the English. Here’s an exhaustive analysis of the subject, with suggested alternatives for misused terms.
Funny
15+ Of The Funniest Menu Translation Fails Ever
A recent trip to Puglia yielded a menu that included delights such as typical auricles and frozen hipocrite to the vanilla. Here are some more amusing menu mistranslations.
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