Has the meaning of the term "underrated" changed while I was not paying attention? I see it used in more and more ridiculous ways, but this one has to be the worst:
"The Wildly Underrated Michelin 3-Star Park You MUST Visit!"
It's been rated 3-star! That's the maximum possible. How is this underrated? Not to mention "wildly underrated."
I just can't with people's stupidity anymore.
#English #EnglishLanguage #Underrated
#englishlanguage
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Was anyone else taught this? I learnt ITA in my earliest education. Unlike the people profiled in the article I've never had any trouble with spelling or any aspect of learning or using English and I'd wondered if that was *because* I'd been taught ITA but judging by this article I was just lucky!
The Guardian · The radical 1960s schools experiment that created a whole new alphabet – and left thousands of children unable to spell
Solar Branka posted the Wittgenstein quote "If people never did silly things nothing intelligent would ever get done". I replied that "daft is the limiting case".
Later I noticed that I didn't know the etymology of "daft" and found a socio-linguistical nugget.
I propose you follow "daft" -> "silly" -> "nice" here and you may find a deep anthropological insight.
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/daft
https://mastodon.world/@solarbranka/114796337986861619
@solarbranka
#philosophy #sociology #linguistics #EnglishLanguage
Wiktionarydaft - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
So, I do like using "whom" when appropriate (and when I remember). How to know when to use "whom" instead of "who"? Just turn the statement around. "Who I adore?" or "Whom I adore?" -- turn it around. "I adore him / her / them," then use "whom"!
https://www.alojapan.com/1286879/how-japanese-introductions-literally-translate-to-english-is-a-wild-linguistics-lesson/ How Japanese introductions literally translate to English is a wild linguistics lesson #EnglishLanguage #EnglishTranslation #Japan #JapanNews #Japanese #JapaneseLanguage #JapaneseNews #Languages #learning #LearningLanguages #linguistics #LiteralTranslations #news #tanslations Is it just me or has the world become increasingly silent? Don’t get me wrong, we’re certainly bombarded by things fighting for our attention—ads, content distributed by…
So, I'm realizing that very often, I don't use personal pronouns in my writing. For example, I just wrote, "Looking forward to posting more videos..." Yes, I know I should write, "I'm looking forward" or "I am looking forward" but I often find myself leaving out "I am". Been doing that for years now. Anyone else? Or is it just me?
#Grammar #GrammarQuestion #EnglishLanguage #LanguageIsAVirus
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I'd maintain that “who”, “whom” and “whose” certainly DIDN'T lose the initial “W element”. It's still there, as the lips are rounded and the tongue dorsum is raised even before, and while, the [h] is sounded in these words.
Speech doesn't work like alphabetic writing.
A new blog post at Geneanet (a French genealogy website) presents information on Pope Leo XIV's roots from Louisiana, Cuba, and France (his maternal grandparents); last week they did a post on his paternal European grandparents.
#LeoXIV #FamilyHistory #Genealogy #CreoleHeritage #Geneanet #EnglishLanguage #PopeLeoXIV
https://en.geneanet.org/genealogyblog/post/2025/05/pope-leos-maternal-roots
GeneanetBuild Your Family Tree, Share Your Family History and Improve Your Genealogy ResearchGeneanet, The Free Collaborative Genealogy Database! Build Your Family Tree, Share Your Family History and Improve Your Genealogy Research.
How frequent is vulgar language in online discourse across 20 different English-speaking regions?
Corpus linguistics has the answer. Image and paper by Schweinberger & Burridge, 2025: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lingua.2025.103946
Replied in thread
@lowqualityfacts Can’t tell if I just learned something… or got misinformed.
Replied in thread
This is a good point. Why is there no non-rhotic choice? (-:
Good Morning, all
Hadn’t seen this before – I was introduced to it last night by my English language tutor, who used it to round off a lesson on stress, and how a change of its position within a sentence can change the meaning of that sentence.
#EnglishLanguage #CELTA #RSC
#Shakespeare #Hamlet #BBC #BBC2
https://youtu.be/kEs8rK5Cqt8?si=aduaAHLO9pT5smuv
Anyone else always place a space before a question mark ? To me it just does not look right without a space. #EnglishLanguage
Newsflash...
"dos latas de morrones"
does not mean
"two cans of morons."
You're welcome.
Happy #EnglishLanguageDay! For a look back at the origins of this language, here’s our video on looking for the Earliest English Word: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5QxjzaL1Wc
The latest #LegalEagle video is a bit political, so I'm not going to hyperlink to it.
But there's an amusing little moment when Devin Stone mispronounces Worcester, one of the litigants in Worcester v. Georgia, a landmark case from the 1830s, as "wur chester".
The New England pronunciation — Samuel Worcester came from Vermont. — is the same as ours.
#GeoffreyChaucer fans, #medievalists , #EnglishLanguage and #linguists
Around 10 years ago, a Geoffrey Chaucer parody account on ye olde Twitter (Chaucer Doth Tweet) promoted “Whan That Aprille Day” on April 1st (but it perhaps should be 17th?)
“On the first daye of Aprille, lat us make tyme to take joye yn alle langages that are yclept ‘old,’ or ‘middel,’ or ‘auncient,’ or ‘archaic,’ or, alas, even ‘dead.’ ...
Yn thys celebracioun we shal reade of oold bokes yn sondrye oold tonges. We shal singe olde songes. We shal playe olde playes. Eny oold tonge will do, and eny maner of readinge. All are welcome. We shal make merrye yn the magical dreamscape of 'social media,' and eke, yf ye kan do yt, yn the 'real worlde' too. ... ”
https://houseoffame.blogspot.com/2015/03/maken-melodye-on-whan-that-aprille-day.html?m=1
#WhanThatAprilleDay 2025 anyone?
Geoffrey ChaucerMaken Melodye on Whan That Aprille Day 2015Friendes, Yt doth fill my litel herte wyth gret happinesse to invyte yow to the seconde yeare of a moost blisful and plesinge event.
Does an election "conclude" or is an election "held"?
One campaigns before an election.
One can submit their ballot for the election early at an advanced poll or by mail-in.
The report on the television showed the "Elon Musk is a bellend." bus shelter poster put up by a campaign group.
"What is a bellend?" came the query from the elderly relative.
I hadn't prepared for this question.
Interestingly, I find out this evening that this is in the Cambridge and Collins dictionaries, and apparently in at least one of the Oxford ones, but hasn't made it to Merriam-Webster yet.
It is in Wiktionary. *Of course* it is in Wiktionary. It has been in Wiktionary since 2005.