Posts

In which play does 'a ghost and a prince meet. And everyone ends in mincemeat'?

Hamlet. At least according to the wonderful Howard Dietz lyric for 'That's Entertainment' in the Hollywood musical 'The Band Wagon' (1952).

Why do we say Iraq War but not Afghanistan War?

Not another debate over the rights and wrongs of those wars but a peculiar linguistic quirk pointed out by Jay Nordlinger My colleague and I were talking about this, too: We say “Iraq War”; but “Afghan War.” Those are unequal. We would never say “Iraqi War” or “Afghanistan War.” Strange. We refer to the “Korean War.” But we would never say “Vietnamese War.” We say “Vietnam War” — and not “Korea War.” It is curious. My theory is that we instinctively reach for the adjective but collectively abandon this rule for multi-syllable countries. So 'Korean' but not 'Vietnamese'. Not very scientific but when did that stop me ....

Eight nations without an official language?

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According to Henry Hitchings new book Language Wars there are only eight nations which do not have an official state language. Can you guess what they are? Here's a clue to help: three of the countries are in Africa and two in Europe. Two are very surprising! Answer/explanation here :

Does language shape the way we think?

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Do the languages we speak shape the way we think? Do they merely express thoughts? Or do the structures in languages (without our knowledge or consent) shape the very thoughts we wish to express? Provocative article is WSJ from Stanford psychology professor challenging - or at least refining - Chomsky's theory of a 'universal language'. How do we come to be the way we are? Why do we think the way we do? An important part of the answer, it turns out, is in the languages we speak.  Full text here On Nature and Languag by Noah Chomskye

The World's Leading Language?

Which language has   the most  a)  native or first language speakers? b) second language speakers? Listen! Below is an extended (but accessible) article on this and related topics. It's suitable for English language learners at Upper Intermediate (B2) and above.