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Author Archives: Morana Lukač
David Crystal and the history of English spelling, or how the Internet is killing off silent letters
The Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, which is held annually in Wales, was a prolific place this year for discussions about language use. Professor David Crystal gave a wonderfully engaging talk at the event, presenting his latest book Spell … Continue reading
Apostrophe humour
In a recent analysis of letters to the editor written on the topic of the errant apostrophe, I have come across many humorous examples of both letters and featured comics. The two comics below are taken from the Guardian. The … Continue reading
Out with whom, in with the split infinitive
One of our blog authors recently tackled the “whom issue”, and it made me wonder if this word is really dying out. Our readers will also remember several posts featuring the split infinitive, the pedants’ pet peeve. I have decided … Continue reading
Posted in usage features
Tagged Brown corpus, corpus, langauge change, LOB corpus, pet peeve, split infinitive, whom
5 Comments
Which online sources on language use do you consult?
In 1995, Deborah Cameron made an observation which was years ahead of its time: “[The Internet] is an ideal arena for swapping linguistic trivia and debating matters of usage”. By now it is more than obvious that Cameron was right; … Continue reading
Posted in polls and surveys, usage features, usage guide
Tagged Deborah Cameron, language blogs, online sources, survey
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My (P)interests include grammar
Although grammar is surely a serious matter, pedants have managed to find amusing ways of promoting correct language use online. Check out the collection of the fun and informative grammar pins on our new Pinterest board “Grammar Matters”. Pinterest is … Continue reading
Jafaican: “Ali G would understand it perfectly”
In recent years, linguists across Europe have described new language varieties spoken by young people living in multicultural and multilingual communities of large cities. In Germany the variety is referred to as Kiezdeutsch (“neighbourhood German”), in Norway as kebabnorsk (“kebab … Continue reading
Posted in usage features
Tagged Jafaican, Multicultural London English, multiethnolect, Paul Kerswill
2 Comments
Gruesome Twosomes
The above picture, in which persecution is confused for prosecution, was featured in a recent episode of a sitcom aired on Fox Extended, “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”. To remind the reader about the distinction between the two, The Oxford … Continue reading
Posted in usage features
Tagged humour, mistaken words, persecution/prosecution, usage problems
1 Comment
Settling the split infinitive differences
Letters to the editor (LTE) sections in historical newspaper databases are rich sources for investigating the language pedants’ pet peeves. The split infinitive seems to be among the prominent causes for their perpetual discussions. A 1904 article in the Washington … Continue reading
Posted in usage features
Tagged letter to the editor, prescriptivism, split infinitive
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Bridging the Unbridgeable 