Invented by a fledgling American calligrapher: I hope someone can improve on my calligraphy. #ChiNazi #FreeHongKong #FreeET #FreeTaiwan #FreeChina pic.twitter.com/2Fsy4iSuG1 — Anders Corr, Ph.D. (@anderscorr) October 14, 2019
Back in September 2010, I reported that the Oxford English Dictionary had added an entry for eggcorn, a term that was coined right here on Language Log for an alteration of a word or phrase that makes sense in a new way (like acorn being changed to eggcorn). The earliest citation given for that meaning of eggcorn […]
Here's what it looks like (click to embiggen for necessary detail): Photograph by Yixue Yang, who gave it the name "spiked lantern". Quiz: before going to the next page, please give it whatever name you think is most appropriate, based on its shape or whatever other attributes you can glean from the photograph.
Click on the 1:26 image to start the video: These riot #hkpolice were caught speaking Putonghua and they are obviously #CCP sent #china police. #hkers speak a different dialect. @nytimes @BBCNewsAsia @marcorubio @SolomonYue https://t.co/zi890c2tWf — Amy Wong (@AmyWong01217912) October 10, 2019
[This is a guest post by J.W. Brewer] Among the courses available to Yale undergraduates this fall semester is the one whose description I've cut and pasted below. It's taught by Prof. Claire Bowern. I can't recall anything quite like this offered in the department when I was an undergraduate major way back in the […]
"Silk Road Tales: A Look at a Mongolian-Chinese Storybook" By Bruce Humes, published October 8, 2019, 9:19p.m. Paper Republic: Chinese Literature Matters …This post features the tale of Zhang Qian, diplomat and explorer of the “Western Realm” during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han (141-87 BCE). The book is in Chinese and Mongolian (traditional […]
Sign for a tram stop in Istanbul:
John Seabrook, "The Next Word: Where will predictive text take us?", The New Yorker 10/14/2019: At the end of every section in this article, you can read the text that an artificial intelligence predicted would come next. I glanced down at my left thumb, still resting on the Tab key. What have I done? Had […]
The magic of Chinese characters. Another reason why #HongKong people should preserve traditional characters. pic.twitter.com/ss3v4UEVZh — Rachel Cheung (@rachel_cheung1) October 5, 2019
Every week I bring floral arrangements to the main office of the UPenn Department of East Asian Languages and Civilizations. This week, one of the vases will have two spikes of beautiful ornamental millet ("foxtail" is certainly an appropriate descriptor). Millet has special significance for East Asia, since — along with rice — it is […]
There's some discussion on twitter of what we should call the current American political scandal: Gates are over. Let's return to the classics. The best name for a scandal built on insane conspiracy theories is Crackpot Dome. — Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) October 4, 2019
From Ben Zimmer, a nomination for the Trent Reznor Prize for Tricky Embedding. The nominee: Jamie Salter, CEO of Authentic Brands Group. The source: Jacob Bogage and Ben Strauss, "Sports Illustrated shaken by major layoffs and massive reorganization", WaPo 10/3/2019 — Reached by phone Thursday and asked about the turmoil at SI, ABG chief executive […]