Language and words in the news – 27th September, 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

Guardians, Wardens and Gages
I don’t know if you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between a guarantee and a warranty, but really there isn’t one. It’s the same word one via Southern French and one via the Northern.

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..

Global English

Percentage of population able to hold a conversation in English in the EU by country
Apart from the UK and Ireland, the Dutch come out top. No surprises there. But can you guess who’s next?

Language teaching and resources

Cliché – The Teacher’s Friend
From the perspective of a language student, cliché is the best thing that can happen for their English. So maybe we should be teaching as many of them as we can cram in.

Books, technology, words and language

A thousand words for death
The language of death is inevitably euphemistic, but few of the verbs or idioms are elaborate or opaque. In fact, the history of verbs for dying displays a real simplicity: most consist of only one syllable.

11 facts yü should know about the umlaut
In 1819 Jacob Grimm described a sound-change process that affected the historical development of German. He called it umlaut from um (around) + laut (sound).

Build your own Siri: Api.ai offers voice integration for all
Wearables, cars, our homes – we’re starting to know what we want to talk to. Speaktoit wants to aid developers in how we talk to them.

European Day of Languages
Yesterday was European Day of Languages. There’s some great stuff on their website, including quizes to test your knowledge of European languages.

Video

Japanese pronunciation of car brands
This video shows the correct Japanese pronunciation of popular Japanese car brands.

Graphic

Dogs of the world
Illustrator Lili Chin has created a poster series called “Dogs Of The World,” which features more than 200 dog breeds, classified by their places of origin.