Category Archives: Uncategorized

Here is an informative and interesting article about how dictionaries are written and updated. A new online dictionary of Australian English is expected in 2023.

Here is another article about the use of “they” with singular (or indefinite) reference. Despite some residual resistance, this usage finally seems to have become accepted. https://www.mentalfloss.com/posts/singular-they-history

The Canadian Oxford Dictionary has not been updated since 2004 and the entire staff of the dictionary at Oxford University Press was laid off in 2008 (and the editor Katherine Barber sadly died last year). This means that any Canadianisms … Continue reading →

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04287-4.epdf?sharing_token=igH__GmkimaqkEJDFQUBLdRgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0PBEMt6aQZuFBqIW4mI9InPLfo2Iq0k1n38cbV7_p9SB0kUSU_29uCEC0GX5vY9_HsmxWN_cUQTAJUnQ7_sDbUJT_uSS8pX2oxGw_6W_xcXsS02qpS69B94YMSAQfd4DLjEcSt5GE8r3kHGOGOtz7GYnGObrb5vdHwPb-Tud5_25g%3D%3D&tracking_referrer=www.bbc.com

The English language lost the distinction between singular and plural addressees about 1700, but this hasn’t prevented speakers from restoring the distinction in various ways. “Y’all” seems to be spreading from the southern US to other parts of the US … Continue reading →

https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-59307100

https://public.oed.com/blog/the-oed-october-2021-update/

Debates about terminology involve complex and important issues. Here are two views about the term “BIPOC”: https://www.virginialawreview.org/articles/why-bipoc-fails/

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2021/oct/31/vax-chosen-as-word-of-the-year-by-oxford-english-dictionary-firm

Research shows that sentences containing emojis can be processed very quickly, but “sentences” consisting entirely of emojis cannot. Thus, they will never replace text. This article argues that emojis function much like tones of voice, hand gestures, facial expressions, etc. … Continue reading →