Category Archives: language

tangled threads, but not infinitely so

U.S. Surname Distribution. (Link from James Grimmelmann.) Most of the names I tried show an anomaly in some part of the Deep South (Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana); for example, Sherwood is rarest in Alabama. Exceptions include Wheeler, about equally common … Continue reading

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anyone can be provincial!

numerous translations of “Why can’t they just speak [my language]?”.

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pseudolanguage

Sometimes I complain that no one ever gave me a nickname; now a couple of spammers have seemingly remedied the omission: To: “Malik Riley” <bpotter@pobox.com> Cc: “Bradly Fisher” <broker@pobox.com>, “Jaymie Tucker” <bronto@pobox.com>, “Kathlene Gardner” <bruce.metelerkamp@pobox.com>, “Sarai Little” <bugs@pobox.com> To: “Meritriona … Continue reading

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MC Hawking, watch your back

Planned Obsolescence: Dictionaraoke. (Blogging this mainly to save the link. I may comment on it later.)

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transliterating candy

The other day I brought home from a Thai restaurant a wrapped piece of hard candy, looking forward with pleasure to the prospect of opening a swell book that Dad gave me a few years ago, to see whether AMIRA … Continue reading

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translation wanted

Who can tell me what kuvia means in Finnish?

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beautiful plumage

Public service announcement: I keep reading that “the Norwegian Blue prefers keeping on its back,” which makes a tortured sort of sense; but the word in the script is kipping which means sleeping. Hope this helps.

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