Category Archives: Dialects

Macquarie Dictionary 2006 Word of the Year, Australianisms surveys

Posted on January 25, 2007 by Kevin

Word of the year The overall winner of Australia’s Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year contest (see prior post: Vote for 2006 Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year) has been announced. May I have the envelope, please? For being “the … Continue reading →

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Vote for 2006 Macquarie Dictionary Word of the Year

Posted on January 17, 2007 by Kevin

If you missed out on other 2006 word of the year votes, there’s still time in Australia. Macquarie Dictionary has voting in various categories until midnight on Sunday, January 21, 2007 (presumably Sydney’s Australian Eastern Daylight Time, GMT +11). Look … Continue reading →

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Appalachian vocabulary

Posted on December 29, 2006 by Kevin

I posted a few months ago (Standard Appalachian English) about the English dialect of the Appalachian Mountains of the Eastern United States. A new article (citizen-times.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061217/LIVING07/612170301/1031/ENT) [EDIT (5/30/10): dead link] has the same themes of linguistic prejudice and preservation but … Continue reading →

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MS Office embraces Australianisms

Posted on November 18, 2006 by Kevin

If you’re Australian and using MS Word or other MS Office products, you’ll soon get fewer words marked as spelling errors. After a recent online word-survey with over 24,000 voters, Microsoft Office 2007 will include more Australianisms like sickie and … Continue reading →

Posted in Dialects, Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Language Technology, Language-Sites, Words / Dictionaries | 1 Comment

Modern celebs in Cockney rhyming slang (book)

Posted on November 10, 2006 by Kevin

If you saw the 1992 movie Chaplin, you heard Charlie Chaplin (played by Robert Downey, Jr.) refer to his suit as a “whistle” and explain that whistle and flute rhymes with suit. That’s (old-time) Cockney rhyming slang, a slang style … Continue reading →

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‘The Queen’s Hinglish’ (Hindi English) book

Posted on November 9, 2006 by Kevin

There’s a new book out about the mixed English and Hindi (and other Indian languages) spoken by Indians in India and England. The book is The Queen’s Hinglish by B. K. Mahal (ISBN 0007241127). It’s mini-quiz time. Match the Hinglish … Continue reading →

Posted in Dialects, English as a Second / Foreign Language, Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Language Media, Newer Englishes, Words / Dictionaries | Leave a comment

The Four Essential Travel Phrases

Posted on October 20, 2006 by Kevin

The Four Essential Travel Phrases Web site is an amusing site that translates the following questions into hundreds of languages and dialects. 1) Where is my room? 2) Where is the beach? 3) Where is the bar? 4) Don’t touch … Continue reading →

Posted in Dialects, Foreign Languages, HUMOR, Humor-Sites, LANGUAGE, Language Error, Language-Sites | Leave a comment

Shanghai Daily newspaper combats Chinglish

Posted on October 15, 2006 by Kevin

The Shanghai Daily newspaper (上海日报 Shang4hai3 Ri4bao4) of Shanghai, China, has put up a Web site (202.101.38.80/art/2006/10/16/294376/New_Website_offers_English_fun.htm) [EDIT (5/29/10): dead link] to help university students improve their English, especially in preparation for the Shanghai World Exposition in 2010 (Expo 2010 … Continue reading →

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Arrr! Talk Like a Pirate Day 2006

Posted on September 20, 2006 by Kevin

’Tis still September 19th here. That be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, mateys. A fun little “holiday” invented by Americans John Baur and Mark Summers a bunch a voyages round t’sun ago. Official Site, with pirate dictionary and English-to-piratese … Continue reading →

Posted in Dialects, HUMOR, LANGUAGE, Language-Sites, Words / Dictionaries | 2 Comments

Free book on Chinese, other Asian languages

Posted on September 4, 2006 by Kevin

Mark Swofford of Pinyin News has announced that the 1991 Schriftfestschrift: Essays in Honor of John DeFrancis on His Eightieth Birthday (Sino-Platonic Papers) is now available as a free PDF in honor of the 95th birthday of Professor DeFrancis. The … Continue reading →

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