Talking loud and spreadin’ COVID
Infectious disease transmission isn't reserved for coughing and sneezing. A science paper from 2019 suggests loud speech is a major culprit too.
Category: Language
How we communicate is important to the world’s future. Language plays a major part in that. These articles cover everything from polyglots to accents.
The origins of the “black sheep”
Why does "black sheep" suggest negative connotations? And does it have anything to do with the sale of black wool? Grammarphobia gave a lengthy answer.
Black polyglot speaks Japanese, Mandarin, and Arabic
Moses "Mouse" McCormick is a Black polyglot and loves to speak to strangers in their native tongues. Here's an example.
Colin Jackson’s Welsh language journey
Former Olympic hurdler and sporting legend Colin Jackson took a trip back to Wales to improve his Welsh language skills.
Alternatives to ableist terms
Don't call something 'stupid' or 'crazy'. Try some of these alternative words for ableist terms.
Is multilingualism a privilege or survival?
Only 1 in 5 Europeans can speak two languages other than their mother tongue. But is an honour or a necessity?
Let’s make like an X and Y
You'll have heard this phrase before. Now take your pick from a selection of over 90 versions of "make like a...". I write a weekly newsletter called Everything Is Made Up and I sign off with a variant of the phrase "I'm gonna make like an X and Y". To keep things fresh, I use …
Semiotics – Myths, #BlackLivesMatter and #AllLivesMatter
There's something to be said about the link between semiotics and activism. But what links Black Lives Matter with this branch of linguistics?
A Quick Lesson in Semiotics
A drop in the semiotics ocean but a great introduction to a phenomenal subject.
2 polyglots have an awesome chat in 21 languages
Polyglots are amazing but have you ever seen two speak to each other in 21 languages?