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The Americas
A Dubious Award for the Squeezed Middle
‘Squeezed middle’ beats out ‘occupy’, ‘Arab Spring’ and ‘tiger mother’ to win the OED’s word of the year
Podcast: Australia Through its Languages
In this week’s World in Words podcast, a conversation with three Australians about language, culture and history. Thomas Keneally, Deborah Cheetham and Kate Grenville discuss the myths and secrets of Aboriginal languages, the rhetoric of official apologies, and the magnificent prose of legendary bush ranger Ned Kelly.
Oh My Lady Gaga, and Other Linguistic Exchanges
Hengeilivable! Nonsensical English words and phrases are all the rage among young Chinese.
Translators Past, Present and Future
Why human translators aren’t afraid of machine translators. Also, a history of translation, and a new novel that draws on The Iliad.
Corporate Spelling Experiments and Fear of a Chinese-Speaking Planet
Corporations love to tinker with spelling, often with disastrous consequences. Also, a film explores fears about Chinese.
Are Chinese Kids Losing Their Language?
In this week’s World in Words podcast, Beijing urges mandatory calligraphy classes for school kids.
Fry’s Planet Word, and the Rise of Belizean Creole
An interview with writer and actor Stephen Fry, who has made a series on language for BBC TV.
An Inuit Dialect, a Grammar for Cities, and Zappa’s Lyrics
Podcast: Almost no place on earth is remote any more, as a linguist discovers when he spends a year in an Inuit village.
Slipping in out of foreign tongues with Sherard Cowper-Coles and Yang Ying
Should diplomats learn the languages of the countries they’re assigned to? And how easy is it to learn a foreign musical language?
Does Banning Bilingual Education Change Anything?
In this week’s World in Words podcast, what happens after a state bans bilingual education? And toilet talk with a US vs UK English expert.
Twanging with Lynne Murphy aka Lynneguist
A conversation with University of Sussex linguist Lynne Murphy aka Lynneguist. An American in Britain, Murphy maintains the Separated by a Common Language blog.
How Canada Lost and Regained its Top Credit Rating
In 1993 Canada lost its Triple AAA credit rating but has since been returned to AAA status.
Podcast: Memorizing the Koran and a New ‘Speak English’ Test
A Spelling Bee for Muslim World, a language proficiency test for immigrants to Britain, and Alaskans learn an African language.
The Words that Armed Anders Breivik
How much we should blame extreme political rhetoric for the actions of Anders Breivik? Did words help pull the trigger?
Punjabi immersion, Nigerian pidgin radio, and Annoying “Americanisms”
Top five language stories this month including: The first Punjabi public school in the US, a and a British journalist rails against the invasion of what he calls Americanisms into British English.
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