Anti-anti-Americanisms

An Economist rebuttal, of sorts, to the BBC's list of Americanisms that Brits dislike.

Hint: if its in the King James Bible, it is probably not an Americanism.

Oxford comma

A fine meditation on language, by way of commas in lists.

Via Chris Blattman

Hated Americanisms

A list of American expressions that readers of the BBC website dislike.

I was not quite sure what to make of this. "I could care less" is just a mistake, not an Americanism. Why maths are plural in the UK and not in the US is something I have always wondered about. I am unclear on why anyone would want "fortnightly" to remain a vital part of the language.

Overall, one might argue that most of these folks out to find more important things to worry about. On the other hand, I get irritated now, thanks to Duncan Thomas, when people say "observable" when they mean "observed" so perhaps I am just as bad.

Via the Agitator

Joking with the Dalai Lama on Australian TV

My sense is that the Dalai Lama would appreciate a good joke, if only he could understand it.

And what is it about Aussie accents that just sounds like fun?

Important news for pedants

Toyota has vindicated my claim that the plural of Prius is Prii.

I feel so much better now. I await a similar press release from the US Census Bureau regarding the plural of "census".

Via: instapundit

On the form and substance of language

Quite so.

Hat tip: Charlie Brown

When words change meaning over time ...

The Canadian history magazine heretofore known as "The Beaver" is changing its name to "Canada's History" so as to avoid internet confusion.

"The Beaver was an impediment online," publisher Deborah Morrison told AFP.

No word yet on whether the student newspaper of the London School of Economics, also called The Beaver, will be following suit.

Hat tips: Charlie Brown and Mike Elsby

Time to hire a new sinologist

The Telegraph summary says it all:

A respected German scientific magazine has been embarrassed to discover it printed a Chinese-language advertisement for "jade-like girls" and "coquettish and enchanting housewives" across its front cover.

It thought the ad was classical Chinese poetry.

For those who prefer their linguistic confusion in the other direction, the article points to this website featuring mangled English in China.

Hat tip: Charlie Brown

Viral language humor

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that's probably true of many languages.)

There is a two-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is 'UP.' It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP?

Why do we speak UP, and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?

We call UP our friends and we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has a real special meaning.

People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special.

And this up is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP !

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP , look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP . When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets UP the earth. When it does not rain for awhile, things dry UP..

One could go on & on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now ........my time is UP , so time to shut UP!

Oh...one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U P

Don't screw UP. Send this on to everyone you look up in your address book.

Now I'll shut UP.

Hat tip: Jackie Smith

Mr. Orwell, please call your office.

In this report on Jason Furman's appointment as Obama's chief economic advisor, I was struck by the line "Going farther back, liberal activists resented former President Clinton's support for free trade, ... and other centrist policies."

The usage of "liberal" here is the exact opposite of its historical meaning. Indeed, is there any more quintessentially liberal policy than free trade?

From this we learn not only something about the evolution of language but also something about the historical knowledge of people who write for the LA Times.

Hat tip: Greg Mankiw