Language Log

一个叫KAHO的日本小姐姐模仿上海和潮汕口音，太好玩了。不但口音学得像，表情和面相都会跟着一起变😀 pic.twitter.com/Ye1IN9BVDK — iPaul (@iPaulCanada) April 29, 2026 The speaker is a Japanese girl named Kaho.

This article by Niall Ferguson, "Texting Makes U Stupid" skipped my notice when it first appeared in Daily Beast (9/11/11).  I would have missed it again this time around had it not been called to my attention by Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs.  Anyway, it's still a hot button issue, so better late than never. Abstract […]

‘Gilgamesh’ Review: Love and Death in MesopotamiaThe epic of Gilgamesh is more than 40 centuries old. Simon Armitage’s new translation feels thrillingly alive.By William Giraldi, WSJApril 24, 2026 Much as I admire Simon Armitage's translation, I must say that I am overwhelmed by the excellence of the reviewer, William Giraldi.  He is much plauded for […]

Below is a guest post/email by Preston C.: I wanted to share a compact ambiguous sentence in the spirit of “Buffalo buffalo…,” but built from more ordinary English resources: In Buttons’ Buttons, Buttons Buttons buttons Buttons Buttons’ buttons Buttons Buttons’ buttons’ buttons button. One workable parse treats “Buttons Buttons” as a proper name, “Buttons’ Buttons” […]

Project Kino (3/23/26)

Last August and September, President Donald Trump asserted that his actions would reduce drug prices by as much as 1500%, and more recently claimed actual reductions by as much as 600%. On April 22, Elizabeth Warren questioned RFK Jr. about this. She registered a doubt about the mathematics of a reduction in price by greater […]

Homer's Iliad Book 1 Recitation | Lines 1-21 | Restored Ancient Greek | Greek History

‘If This Be Magic’ Review: A Great Feast of LanguagesShakespeare has resonated with audiences in Swedish, Swahili and beyond. But translating the Bard requires some difficult choices.By Henry Hitchings, WSJ (April 22, 2026) Transferring Shakespeare's works into another language is hard work: Samuel Johnson complained, more than 250 years ago, that William Shakespeare’s style was […]

In "Poem in the key of what" (10/9/2006), I blogged about a paper by Maartje Schreuder, Laura van Eerten and Dicky Gilbers, "Speaking in major and minor keys". Its abstract: In music the difference between sad and cheerful melodies is often indicated as a difference between a minor and a major key. In order to […]

"Japan announces new name for days over 40C after hottest summer ever", by Ruth Wright, Euronews (4/20/26) They have words for it.  The one that's taking the online media by storm is kokushobi  酷暑日.  That literally means "harsh / cruel + hot days".  I can attest to this characterization of scorching  days in Japan.  I remember […]

A note from Ambarish S.: There’s an ongoing controversy in India with Prime Minister Modi being accused of blackface during an election campaign in the south, where people have darker skin on average. The Alert (a Hindi news website of unknown reputation) had the following Hindi sentence on it’s X: तमिलनाडु रैली में मोदी जी […]