Category Archives: Language-Sites

Reminder: Buzzword contest; Word Fugitives

Posted on October 28, 2006 by Kevin

For those who like word contests, this is a reminder that the previously mentioned Buzzword contest from BuzzWhack ends Wednesday, November 1, 2006. That contest is for real words. However, with Barbara Wallraff’s Atlantic Monthly column “Word Fugitives,” you can … Continue reading →

Posted in LANGUAGE, Language Media, Language-Sites, Words / Dictionaries | Leave a comment

‘Talk the Talk’ slang book goes VR

Posted on October 25, 2006 by Kevin

I posted about the American slang / jargon book: ‘Talk the Talk’ last month. Now the author has put 50 of the words and definitions into the virtual reality (wdeditors.com/wordpress/talk-the-talk-has-a-second-life/340/) [EDIT (5/29/10): dead link] realm of Second Life (site). It’s … Continue reading →

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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 →

Posted in Dialects, English as a Second / Foreign Language, Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Language Media, Language-Sites | Leave a comment

Follow-up: GSN National Vocabulary Championship

Posted on October 10, 2006 by Kevin

A week ago I posted about the GSN National Vocabulary Championship by American cable network GSN: The Network for Games (formerly the Game Show Network). Here’s some more information: “Our hope is that, yes, it will help SAT [a college … Continue reading →

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Movie ‘Earthlings’ studies those who study Klingon

Posted on October 4, 2006 by Kevin

Earthlings: Ugly Bags of Mostly Water (imdb.com entry) is a documentary about the Klingon Language Institute (site, including Klingon E-cards) and the language and science-fiction aficianados who speak Star Trek‘s invented Klingon language. Fortean Times: The World of Strange Phenomena … Continue reading →

Posted in Foreign Languages, LANGUAGE, Language-Sites | 1 Comment

GSN National Vocabulary Championship

Posted on September 30, 2006 by Kevin

American cable network GSN: The Network for Games (site) has launched the National Vocabulary Championship for high school students. The top U.S. student wins $40,000 towards college tuition. [EDIT (5/29/10): dead links] Study tools from The Princeton Review (winwithwords.com/study_tools.php) Sample … Continue reading →

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

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

Buzzword contest from BuzzWhack

Posted on September 16, 2006 by Kevin

BuzzWhack has a buzzword contest going on: We’ll be giving away 7 free copies of The Buzzword Dictionary each week through November 1, 2006 to the people who nominate the best 7 buzzwords each week. A lot of the nominees … Continue reading →

Posted in English as a Second / Foreign Language, LANGUAGE, Language-Sites, Words / Dictionaries | 1 Comment

American slang / jargon book: ‘Talk the Talk’

Posted on September 15, 2006 by Kevin

This book looks like fun and is hot off the press (if books take over a week to cool down): Talk the Talk: The Slang of 65 American Subcultures By Luc Reid ISBN 1-58297-423-3 Publisher Writers Digest Books (wdeditors.com/wordpress/fall-2006-titles/talk-the-talk/) [EDIT … Continue reading →

Posted in LANGUAGE, Language Media, Language-Sites, Linguistics, Words / Dictionaries | 1 Comment