In his book Spoilt rotten: the toxic cult of sentmentality (2011), Theodore Dalrymple writes: “a friend of mine who teaches history at Oxford is specifically enjoined by the guidelines provided for markers [of papers, exams] by the authorities not to mark … Continue reading
Who was John E. Metcalfe? He appears to have been the author of a usage guide, called The Right Way to Improve your English. The book is cited by Milroy and Milroy (1999), but (apart from a couple of references to … Continue reading
In an earlier post, I announced my attempts to reconstruct the publication history of Fowler’s Modern English Usage. This weekend, I was able to lay my hands on another copy of Fowler (my 8th!) at the same second-hand shop, and equally … Continue reading
For a list of speakers at the prescription conference (University of Leiden, 12 – 14 June 2013) as well as for the abstracts of the plenary speakers, see the black bar above. The abstracts of the speakers will follow soon.
The Bridging the Unbridgeable blog got a mention in the University Yearbook Our World which appeared on the Leiden Dies, on 8 February. Read all about it on page 21.
A while ago, I used to get phone calls from colleagues from all over the university with questions like how to write focussing, with single or double s. As a member of the English department I was expected to know these … Continue reading
What is happening to the word “analysis”, or perhaps “study” (though this might be considered a bit grand for a student paper)? Marking large batches of BA and MA essays this month, I’m beginning to realise that this is developing … Continue reading
During a British Academy lecture in 2011, David Crystal mentioned that language was rarely the object of a work of art. Well, here is a work of art created by Donna Piët for an exhibition called “Een Poging tot Nieuwe … Continue reading
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As of now, the opportunity to submit abstracts for the conference has passed. We have received a large number of abstract on a wide variety of languages and topics. We will notify those who submitted their abstracts before the end … Continue reading
Cynthia is our project assistant (you will find her sitting in the middle in the picture under About this blog). If you want to read about what it was like for her to arrive in Leiden as a student, read the … Continue reading
Bridging the Unbridgeable 