Hearing that the Italian Stock Exchange has a financial glossary, I had a look. When you enter the site at Glossario Finanziario – Borsa Italiana you get the usual kind of menu of privacy options. The options are described in Italian, but then the selection buttons are in English, saying ‘off’ and ‘on’. Here is…… Continue reading Why not answer in the same language?
Month: August 2024
These are not all alphabets
People often distinguish 3 types of writing system: logographic systems, in which each symbol stands for a word, or for a meaningful part of a word (a morpheme) syllabic systems, in which each symbol stands for a syllable or for a mora. A mora is as a timing unit that is part or all of…… Continue reading These are not all alphabets
Working towards net zero
A couple of months ago, there was a discussion on the blog Language Log about the following headline. Sir Patrick Vallance calls for net zero to have immediacy of search for Covid vaccine. The Language Log post discusses what the headline might mean. Several people commented on the post, saying whether they understood the headline…… Continue reading Working towards net zero
Does the definite article belong in these names?
Listening to the TV and radio coverage of the cricket competition The Hundred, I was struck by an odd use of the definite article the. Many of the commentators use the definite article even with names that are grammatically singular. I give below some background on The Hundred. Then I discuss the use of the…… Continue reading Does the definite article belong in these names?
Chopped up text is hard to digest
Writers don’t always pay enough attention to how their text will appear when it is laid out on the page or on screen. As a result, a text is sometimes unnecessarily hard to parse. Here’s a headline on the BBC news website that threw me briefly this morning. At first, I thought the headline was…… Continue reading Chopped up text is hard to digest
I can’t see it everywhere
I recently heard our youngest grandson (3 years, 4 months) say: ‘I can’t see it everywhere’. That’s an interesting combination. He selected the combination not (or n’t) … everywhere, rather than: standard English not (or n’t) … anywhere. In this combination, anywhere is an example of a ‘negative polarity item’ (NPI), which can only be…… Continue reading I can’t see it everywhere
BSL trial for London Overground
The London Overground is the latest part of the UK rail system to try out the use of British Sign Language (BSL) to give passengers information apart their journey. The trial will be carried out at 5 London Overground stations between July and September 2024. https://www.arrivaraillondon.co.uk/2024/07/01/arriva-rail-london-trials-luna-an-innovative-solution-to-help-british-sign-language-users/ For other posts on BSL, including posts about announcements…… Continue reading BSL trial for London Overground
Spar-Casse
The German word for savings bank is normally written Sparkasse. So, I was surprised to see the spelling Spar-Casse on this magnificent building in Vienna. Photo: Kate Clark, 2024 As it turns out, that spelling goes back 200 years to the very first savings bank in Austria. This was founded in Vienna in 1819…… Continue reading Spar-Casse
What you say and what you mean
The philosopher of language Paul Grice (1913-1988) set out to explain how people convey information going beyond the literal meaning of what they say. He suggested that: speakers typically follow a principle Grice called the co-operative principle; and listeners typically expect speakers to be following the co-operative principle—and, in turn, speakers assume that listeners will…… Continue reading What you say and what you mean
Slang and new language archive
King’s College London (KCL) hosts a Slang and New Language Archive. It is a repository for new language, such as slang, jargon and buzzwords. It also contains media language, political language, linguistic curiosities and etymologies. The Archive webpage contains links to articles and published sources. It is at https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/slang-and-new-language I heard about this from the blog Language and Innovation, by Tony Thorne, who…… Continue reading Slang and new language archive