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Language Log

Dr. Frankenstein in Yat

A few days ago, TPM linked to an political ad in the New Orleans Coroner's race, which gives a good example of a particular NO accent (known as "Yat") about which A.J. Liebling wrote in The Earl of Lousiana:There is a New Orleans city accent . . . associated with downtown New Orleans, particularly with [...]

An anticupertino incorrection?

'Definitely' is always spelled with an 'a' —'definitely'. I don't know why," says Paul Budra, an English professor and associate dean of arts and science at Simon Fraser.So reports CNews in Canada here.But I think what they meant was that Professor Budra (who is talking about the disastrous state of the spelling and grammar skills [...]

Snowclonegate

David Marsh, in the regular language column at The Guardian, writes about the increasing frequency of -gate derivatives in recent journalism, and cites Language Log:All these gates are examples of a snowclone, a type of cliched phrase defined by the linguist Geoffrey Pullum as "a multi-use, customisable, instantly recognisable, timeworn, quoted or misquoted phrase or [...]

What he used to be and who they are now

Edward Wyatt ("Creators of ‘Lost’ Say the GPS Unit Is Plugged In", NYT 1/28/2010) quotes Damon Lindelof, an executive producer of Lost, exploring the use of they as an indefinite singular pronoun in free variation with he:“There’s an inherent process when you’re ending something to sort of be thinking about the beginning,” Mr. Lindelof said. [...]

For the snow files

Jens Fiederer writes with a link to this blog posting, about North Korean ideologies as described in B.R. Myers's How North Koreans See Themselves — and Why it Matters. The blogger adds:I also recommend the new book Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea, by Barbara Demick. Excerpt:North Koreans have multiple words for prison in much the [...]

World Wide Words

Weird Words: Hoosegow [New]

The humorous American term hoosegow for a jail reflects the Spanish influence on the language.

Questions and Answers: Centre about [New]

Is centre about an acceptable form of words?

Questions and Answers: Ground zero [Updated]

What do you know about the origin of the term ground zero?

The Onion

MOSCOW--A devious little raccoon chewed through the power cord of the starboard truss, turning the space station over in orbit.

In Focus: Mischievous Raccoon Wreaks Havoc On International Space Station

WASHINGTON—In a landmark decision that overturned decades of legal precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 Tuesday to remove all...

Supreme Court Allows Corporations To Run For Political Office

WASHINGTON—According to the Department of Homeland Security, the U.S. could soon find itself in a "very real" 5/25 scenario, as well as a potential 3/7 situation.

In Focus: Terror Experts Warn Next 911 Could Fall On Different Date

Top Regional Cuisine By State

MIAMI—Members of both Super Bowl teams, who played the majority of their regular season and playoff games in domed stadiums, squinted in pain and sought refuge from the sun Thursday after walking onto the field at Miami's Sun Life Stadium.