Like most of our readers, I look forward to the weekly “On Language” columns in the New York Times—if only for the reason that it’s one of the places I actually enjoy reading political news and commentary. So, last week...
I’m fascinated by invented languages. When I was younger I remember my mother telling me the story of our family friends who met in college and fell head over heels in love. Their method of communication: Elvish, as in J.R.R....
Greece annually translates five times more books from English than the entire Arab world, and currently, 65 million Arab adults are illiterate. These sobering statistics are thanks to the U.N.’s first Arab Human Development Report published back in 2002 which...
Here’s to Friday, and to making it on the Lexiophile’s list of the Top 100 Language Blogs of 2009! Thanks to everyone who voted. Since it’s customary to raise a glass and toast in celebration, here is a language lovers...
During summer, I can’t say no to a scoop or two of ice cream. So when Mark Dow’s latest Happy Days blog post, No Choice about the Terminology: On pleasure, perception and the language of ice cream came to my...
The other evening as I was watching Werner Herzog’s latest film, Encounters at the End of the World, I was struck by an interview about half way through. In the scene, Herzog and his crew enter a greenhouse at around...
In her recent lecture on dictionaries, Erin Mckean likened the task of the lexicographer to that of a fisherman dropping an enormous net into a sea of language, and collecting with wonderment the words that surface. If that is a...
In a 1983 interview with Musician Magazine, Elvis Costello said that, “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture – it’s a really stupid thing to want to do.” The quote has since been attributed to a dozen other artists,...
Translators usually have close relationships with their favorite dictionaries, and really good translators take much into account (such as context, culture, and the idiosyncrasies of spoken language) when consulting the “authorities” to find the best word choice. In this interesting...
Interpreter Kenji Nimura speaks four languages: Japanese, English, Spanish, and Baseball. Baseball is the all-American sport, right? When I think of the game I picture muggy summer nights, hot dogs, and lukewarm beer (served at a premium price, of course)....
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