Latin tattoos.
Poem: To A Thesaurus.
“Badgergasm” (analysed).
Ireland, the emerald desert.
Ultrasonic songs of male mice.
Language as a secret weapon.
Taking abstract thoughts literally.
Proverbs and sayings of the Isle of Man.
The secret history of typography in the OED.
How “dord” accidentally entered a dictionary.
When exclamation marks disappeared from Marvel comics!
The evolution of speech: a comparative review (PDF, 632 KB).
The Linguistic Niche Hypothesis: summary, full report, discussion.
“Sarah Palin and her elk“, and eggcorns of this ilk (via Fritinancy).
Thanks for these. I loved the poem to a thesaurus. That’s going to be a great one to give the kids so they can investigate synonyms and their etymologies. Fab.
You’re welcome, Fran. I hope your students find the poem helpful, instructive, worthwhile, useful, productive and beneficial.
Lingua speciem involutam praebet, sed sat cito eam comprehendes. :)
As ‘usual’, great stuff! Thanks, Stan.
Some day I will have to get the hang of Latin, Sean! In the meantime I’m satisfied to dip my toe in, now and then.
OMG I thought I’d die laughing at the emerald desert, just fantastic!!
I will peruse the rest later when time permits. Thanks for the LOL, Stsn.
XO
WWW
The poem is fun. Mais Monsieur Boileau dirait:
Un seul mot
Je vous en prie
Un seul mot
Cela suffit.
As usual, very interesting. Now that I’ve seen the map of Ireland, I’ll stay safely home. I hope that you’re keeping well and alive. All the best. À ta santé, cher ami!
WWW: I’m glad you got a kick out of it! The map made me crack up too, in spite of the ould rheumatism.
Claudia: Et à la vôtre, mon amie! I am keeping very well and quite alive, despite what the map might suggest. Bien sûr, le thésaurus ne devrait pas remplacer le travail d’une imagination qui pourrait trouver le mot juste — mais Roget’s a sa propre utilité, surtout pour les apprentis.