Category Archives: news

Want to write like a spy?

Posted on July 10, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

It appears that even the CIA has a style guide. A secret one no less, one that got leaked moreover, according to The Guardian Online yesterday. The Guardian article tells us that the style guide includes well-known “old chestnuts”  like uninterested/disinterested, … Continue reading →

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Advertising the Symposium in Cambridge

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken
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Beware, the World Cup is coming

Posted on June 12, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

Yes, there is futebol even on this blog! Read Jan van den Berg‘s second post, and let us have your comments, for all languages! Today, 12 June 2014 – the start of the World Cup. An exciting time for many. … Continue reading →

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The Guardian on language

Posted on May 13, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

It makes you wonder if they know the difference between grammar and spelling, but the pictures are still great for a good laugh! And there is more where this one came from.   Thanks for the link, Alison!

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“Raadstaalbingo”: Protest against political jargon by Dutch local councils

Posted on May 7, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

This is a blog post written by Ratih Suwitra, another student from my MA course Testing Prescriptivism: Maybe it is a coincidence, maybe it is the linguistics courses rubbing off on me, but lately I have been noticing a few things … Continue reading →

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Pedants and Perpetrators: or, language, power and the dangers of simplificitation

Posted on April 29, 2014 by Robin Straaijer

Yesterday, the website of The Guardian posted an article on the members of the Idler Academy’s Bad Grammar Awards‘ shortlist. The bad grammar perpetrated by those on the shortlist contained a number of the ‘old chestnuts’ such as the use of … Continue reading →

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NWO Humanities blog

Posted on April 15, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

NWO, the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research and the funding agency of our project, recently started a Humanities blog. They asked us to write a couple of blog posts for them, and the first one appeard online yesterday. Though the post … Continue reading →

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The page for the English Usage (Guides) Symposium at the University of Cambridge (see the above menu bar) provides the programme, abstracts and information on how to register. Registration can also be done here. The fee for the Symposium is £30 only: don’t wait too long before … Continue reading →

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Robin Straaijer | Leave a comment

Pietersen and Prescriptivism

Posted on March 31, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

Here we have a blogpost by Ash Navrady, another student in my MA course Testing Prescriptivism: In the early months of 2014, the English Cricket Board made the controversial decision to ‘sack’ star batsman Kevin Pietersen in the aftermath of the disastrous Ashes … Continue reading →

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The indefinite pronoun in the news

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Ingrid Tieken

Joan Beal sent me a link from The Guardian Online on the indefinite pronoun. The topic seems to be getting a lot of interest these days: good. Read  what Rebecca Gowers has to say on the subject: We need to talk … Continue reading →

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