October 1, 2012
by Graham
1 Comment
John Simpson of the OED was interviewed by Evan Davies on last Friday’s Radio 4 Today programme, about ‘new words’ in the OED. One of the words mentioned was medal, used as a verb, which Evan had noticed for the … Continue reading
September 8, 2012
by Graham
6 Comments
The awful events near Lake Annecy have brought this place name into prominence. At first sight it is a straightforward French name, with no problem for people needing to pronounce it, such as British radio and TV newsreaders and journalists, … Continue reading
August 3, 2012
by Graham
5 Comments
Dictionaries which try to show the pronunciation of words can basically use one of two methods: either they can use a respelling system (this was the only possibility for dictionaries compiled up to the middle of the 19th century), or … Continue reading
July 7, 2012
by Graham
11 Comments
The question has arisen this week particularly because of the behaviour of Bob Diamond towards the MPs on the House of Commons Select Committee questioning him about the LIBOR scandal. He consistently called them by their first name, while they … Continue reading
June 30, 2012
by Graham
3 Comments
Tentacle, barnacle, manacle: all words that are stressed on the first syllable. But now, in a Today programme interview on BBC Radio 4, our erstwhile Foreign Secretary, brother of the current leader of Her Majesty’s loyal opposition, has brought us … Continue reading
June 26, 2012
by Graham
5 Comments
This weekend’s papers have brought up (quite inadvertently on their part) a problem caused by the development of non-rhotic accents: “High Street banks are often reluctant to invest in what they see as risky and uncharted territory” (Mail on Sunday, … Continue reading
June 17, 2012
by Graham
8 Comments
On Saturdays, The Independent newspaper has a column called “Errors and Omissions”, which discusses infelicities in the language used in the paper over the previous seven days. Yesterday it discussed the use (or not) of the definite article with “Ukraine”. … Continue reading
June 4, 2012
by Graham
9 Comments
Two years ago, I wrote a post on the Queen’s English Society as it set up an “English Academy”, and I ended my post “Who will prove the futility of the Queen’s English Society’s efforts to its members?” We now … Continue reading
May 9, 2012
by Graham
2 Comments
It seems that anything can be “iconic”. I’ve collected all of the following in just a few weeks: The turtle is an iconic species. The beauty of a traditional radio telescope is iconic. Al-Qaeda targets iconic buildings. The Roundhouse, in … Continue reading
April 24, 2012
by Graham
3 Comments
This Murdoch company is in the news again today with the most recent appearance of James Murdoch before the Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking at the News of the World. The name of the company is usually abbreviated to “News … Continue reading