Patrick CoxThe 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


UK English Blown to US Shores, ‘Like Some Exotic Seed’

Hypothetical flag quartering the British and American flags (Lunar Dragon via Wikimedia Commons)

For decades, Brits have complained about American contamination of British English. More recently, the reverse has been taking place: British expressions are elbowing their way into American speech. So far, Americans don’t seem to mind.

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A Call for English Only at the European Union

A translator works at her station at the Translation Unit of the European Commission in Brussels (Photo: Don Duncan)

With 23 official languages– rising to 24 in July– the European Union is knee-deep in translated documents. Must every document be translated into Latvian and Irish? Or should the EU simplify matters by making English its working language? Also, the Webby Awards are known for 5-word acceptance speeches. Many are clever, few are boring, but are any truly memorable?

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Composer Kevin James Finds Music in Disappearing Languages

The Del Sol String Quartet performing “Ainu Inuma” in San Francisco. (Photo: Irwin Lewis)

New York City-based composer Kevin James’s Vanishing Languages Project explores the musicality in four endangered languages.

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Getting Kids to Speak Africa’s Languages, One Doll at a Time

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Language news with Cartoon Queen Carol and Patrick. We discuss the future of Yoruba, wine flavors in Chinese, some great subtitled TV dramas that Americans are missing out on and much more.

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How an American Linguist Helped Unlock the Secrets of Linear B

A sample of Linear B script. This piece contains information on the distribution of bovine, pig and deer hides to shoe and saddle-makers.  (Photo: Sharon Mollerus via Wikimedia Commons)

In 1952, a mysterious Bronze Age script was deciphered by an Englishman, Michael Ventris. But his work rested in part on a Herculean analysis undertaken by an American linguist, Alice Kober. The World’s Alex Gallafent reports.

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How Language and Culture Play into Phishing Scams

(Photo: Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

The Pentagon is accusing the Chinese military of cyber-spying on US businesses and government sites. Chinese hackers appear to have upgraded their skills. They are –like many hackers around the world– using better English.

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The Many Historical Twists and Turns of Spanish

Excerpt from "Epitafio épico del Cid," circa 1400 (Photo: Wikimedia Commons)

A conversation with writer Julie Barlow. Barlow and Jean-Benoit Nadeau are co-authors of “The Story of Spanish,” their follow-up to “The Story of French.” Though linguistically similar to French, Spanish has evolved with more freedom and variation, and is now far more widely spoken than French.

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Penmanship and Personality: An Ode to the Handwritten Note

Charles Dickens's signature on a hand-written letter (Photo:  Reuters/Finbarr O'Reilly)

From a loved one’s hasty scrawl to Jack Lew’s “manufactured” signature, how much do people reveal about themselves in their handwriting? Author Philip Hensher says quite a bit, though not as much as handwriting experts sometimes claim. Hensher argues that digital communications deprive us of the intimacy of handwriting

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How to Fake an Accent and Get Away With It

Center: Radovan Karadžić in January 2008, appearing at a medical conference in Belgrade under the alias Dr. Dragan David Dabić (Photo: Serbian government via BBC screenshot)

“Matilda,” now a Broadway hit, has a cast full of Americans doing British accents. We usually think of actors as carrying off the best fake accents. But others do it, sometimes with great success. What’s the secret?

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Northern Ireland’s Past Through a Father’s Lens and Son’s Songs

Ballynahinch, 1985 (Credit: Bobbie Hanvey Photographic Archives, John J. Burns Library, Boston College, Courtesy of the Trustees of Boston College)

The melding of photographs and songs help tell the story of Northern Ireland’s recent violent history. The photos were taken in the 1970s and 80s by award winning photojournalist Bobbie Hanvey. The songs are by Bobbie’s son, Steafán Hanvey.

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A New Protestant Beginning for the Irish Language in Belfast

A woman carries a carton of milk past a Republican mural of "Gaeilgeoir" (Irish speaker) Bobby Sands outside the Sinn Fein offices on the Falls road in West Belfast (Reuters/Cathal McNaughton

The Irish language used to be a symbol of Catholic nationalism. But it’s gradually becoming de-politicized, morphing into just another minority language in need of saving. You can see evidence of that change in community halls in Belfast, where a few Protestants are learning Irish.

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Will New Words Change How We Think About Illegal Immigration?

Eddie Alberto waits in line for assistance with paperwork for the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program at the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles in Los Angeles. The U.S. government has begun accepting applications from young undocumented immigrants seeking temporary legal status under relaxed deportation rules announced by the Obama administration. (Reuters/Jonathan Alcorn)

The Associated Press is dropping the term, ‘illegal immigrant.’ Why? And what term to use in its place? We offer some suggestions from some non-English language media.

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A New Beginning for the Kurdish Language in Turkey?

Taha Tursun is studying to be a Kurdish teacher at Dicle University. Changes in Turkish law have now paved the way for Kurdish language education. (Photo: Jodi Hilton)

The Turkish government is loosening restrictions on teaching Kurdish in public schools. The question is whether it’s a political ploy, or a real attempt at making peace with Turkey’s Kurds.

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Sugar Sammy: Quebec’s Multilingual Court Jester

Sugar Sammy (Photo: Susan Moss)

Samir Khullar aka Sugar Sammy is the son of Indian immigrants who at home spoke Punjabi and Hindi, at school studied in French, and learned to tell jokes in English. He’s now taking his native Quebec by storm with stand-up comedy delivered in four languages.

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‘Amnesty’: Sensitive Word in the Immigration Debate

Mary Horrigan (L) carries a sign against amnesty for illegal immigrants at a rally in support of immigrants in Boston, Mass., May 1 2006. (Photo: REUTERS/Brian Snyder)

A key sticking point to passing an immigration reform package in Congress will be how to handle the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the US. It’ll be tough to sort out, especially since many can’t even agree on a proper term for the process.

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