The World in Words focuses on language. We cover everything from bilingual education to the globalization of English to untranslatable foreign phrases. You’ll learn how to insult someone in Icelandic, among other things. Hosted by The World’s Patrick Cox.
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The World in Words
An Australian Dictionary Redefines Misogyny
After Australia’s prime minister accuses the opposition leader of misogyny, Australia’s leading dictionary says the word has changed its meaning.
Hinglish: A Case of Reverse Colonization?
English is something of an open-source language: the people who speak it shape it, and add to it. No one has the authority to exclude words. That affects how English is spoken by its hundreds of millions of native speakers; also, how it’s spoken by those who come to it as a second or third language. Those speakers are having a profound influence on English. Especially in country as large as India.
In Cairo, Cars Speak
Learn Egyptian car horn code for expressions like ‘Open your eyes!’ ‘You are no driver!’ and, of course, ‘I love you.’
The Perils of Campaigning in Spanish
For Obama, Romney and many before them, speaking to voters in their native tongue is a great idea—until it goes wrong.
Should Americans Limit Their Speech for the Sake of the Arab Spring?
The First Amendment protects free speech. But who is protecting the future of the democracy in Arab Spring nations?
The Language of Disability Around the World
The BBC has issued linguistic guidelines for journalists covering the Paralympics. But as The World’s Patrick Cox reports, the guidelines are for English words only. Many BBC journalists work for foreign language programs, and are having trouble translating some of the terms.
Where Chinese and Arabic Calligraphy Meet
Chinese-born Haji Noor Deen is a master calligrapher whose script combines Chinese and Arabic– traditions that are “at once opposites and complements.”
Jewish American Students Reimagine Yiddish Europe
A trip to Belarus, Poland and Lithuania organized by a Jewish cultural group focuses on life, not death.
Turbanology Unwraps Sikh Culture
The language of the Sikh turban: its meaning, its aesthetics, its music, and the Turban Rights Movement.
Invented Languages from Hollywood to Bollywood
There’s a long tradition of languages invented for fiction, from Elvish to Klingon. Now there’s Dothraki, created for HBO’s Game of Thrones, and Gaalaguzi, reportedly a language invented for the upcoming Indian sci-fi comedy Joker.
Africa’s Translation Gap
How more translation in a continent of 2,000 languages could save lives and create wealth.
Boris Johnson on How London Made the English Language
A marathon of an Olympic podcast, with items on archery terminology, a new translation app for athletes and tourists, the feared Olympic Brand Police, and Boris Johnson’s linguistic London.
The Bimusical Brain
Do people who grow up in two musical cultures have a bilingual-like cognitive edge?
How Technology is Changing Chinese, One Pun at a Time
Technology is rapidly accelerating the creation of new punning slang, to the point of fundamentally changing the Chinese language.
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