April 20, 2009
by Graham
2 Comments
John Wells’ blog of 13 April deals with the inability of many BBC reporters to pronounce the unfortunate earthquake-stricken Italian town. As he says, the Guardian’s Alexander Chancellor takes the Pronunciation Unit to task for not doing its job properly. … Continue reading
April 13, 2009
by Graham
3 Comments
I’m sorry I’ve been ‘absent’ for a couple of weeks, but pressure of other work has meant that this blog had to take second place. However, … As John Wells says in his comment to my last post, we are … Continue reading
March 18, 2009
by Graham
6 Comments
Wherever I go in Europe, I seem to see signs outside lifts that say “Do not use the lift in case of fire”. Inevitably, one of the British people standing waiting for the lift to arrive then says “We shouldn’t … Continue reading
February 28, 2009
by Graham
17 Comments
Jack Windsor Lewis’ blog 151 mentions the fact that ‘ch’ is counted as a single letter when alphabetising Welsh, Spanish (but not Portuguese) and Czech. Double ‘ll’ is likewise a single ‘letter’ in both Welsh and Spanish (as an example, … Continue reading
February 19, 2009
by Graham
6 Comments
In a comment on last week’s post about ‘snow terms’, John Cowan takes me to task for comparing apples with lemons (a ‘malo-citrine’ comment is how he puts it) when I wrote that ‘lie’, ‘settle’, ‘stick’ and ‘pitch’ were alternative … Continue reading
February 14, 2009
by Graham
9 Comments
England has had far more snow this winter than for many a long year – 18 according to the Meteorological Office. When snow falls and does not immediately melt, what is it doing? In Scotland, it is said to be … Continue reading
February 5, 2009
by Graham
3 Comments
Last week, Birmingham City Council announced that it was no longer going to put apostrophes in its street names. This caused an outcry in the press. I can only assume the council needs the publicity, because the placing of apostrophes … Continue reading
January 29, 2009
by Graham
4 Comments
The Today Programme on Radio 4 has this morning once again demonstrated the ignorance of journalists about the nature of language – the main tool of their trade. This was particularly deplorable this morning (Thursday 29 January) as both its … Continue reading
January 23, 2009
by Graham
3 Comments
Philip Taylor has asked about the anglicisation of Łódż. I have mentioned this place before, here, but only in passing, so perhaps it is time to give a bit more background.
January 19, 2009
by Graham
5 Comments
In Britain the answer might be at ASDA, Tesco, Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Morrison’s, Marks & Spencer’s, Debenham’s, Harrod’s … But some would say “Tesco’s”, and I’ve also heard “Waitrose’s”. The ‘regular’ treatment of shop names is to add the genitive to … Continue reading