Just wrote this response to a reviewer who accused me (ME!) of being unclear because I had too many sentences that started with 'because' or 'this.' If you wanna-be grammarians come for me, you'd better make sure you have your facts straight.
February 13, 2026 at 7:03 PM
Just wrote this response to a reviewer who accused me (ME!) of being unclear because I had too many sentences that started with 'because' or 'this.' If you wanna-be grammarians come for me, you'd better make sure you have your facts straight.
wait until you have to explain this table to second language learners
(it's from Language Log, but I seem unable to bring it up at the moment; URL is in alt text)
(it's from Language Log, but I seem unable to bring it up at the moment; URL is in alt text)
February 7, 2026 at 5:04 PM
wait until you have to explain this table to second language learners
(it's from Language Log, but I seem unable to bring it up at the moment; URL is in alt text)
(it's from Language Log, but I seem unable to bring it up at the moment; URL is in alt text)
All the #Japanese learners and #ニホンゴ＃仲間 turn up~! We got another #LanguageLog on our hands.
youtu.be/sHheo8Tf6QQ
youtu.be/sHheo8Tf6QQ
Japanese Language Learning Log: On the fifth vlog of Crimas...
YouTube video by G00ns3
youtu.be
December 13, 2025 at 10:07 PM
All the #Japanese learners and #ニホンゴ＃仲間 turn up~! We got another #LanguageLog on our hands.
youtu.be/sHheo8Tf6QQ
youtu.be/sHheo8Tf6QQ
https://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001812.html -- he used the word in a poem thinking it meant some kind of headgear, and maybe nobody told him otherwise for years
Language Log: Twat v. Browning
Well, the OED entry certainly suggests a story, but it's far from whole. In fact, the entry is a curious and interesting document:
itre.cis.upenn.edu
December 9, 2025 at 6:22 PM
https://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/001812.html -- he used the word in a poem thinking it meant some kind of headgear, and maybe nobody told him otherwise for years
I have to add this one to my rather worrying collection. Languagelog has run many pieces about garden path sentences and the fact that I have thus far parsed at a glance each of them as the writer intended makes me think there must be something seriously awry with my grasp of my L1's syntax.
December 9, 2025 at 8:03 AM
I have to add this one to my rather worrying collection. Languagelog has run many pieces about garden path sentences and the fact that I have thus far parsed at a glance each of them as the writer intended makes me think there must be something seriously awry with my grasp of my L1's syntax.
This post, and especially the final paragraph, deserves to be hoisted from my own archive 18 years on.
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005140.html
#language #communication
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005140.html
#language #communication
Language Log: "My confidence damaged," Chancellor doesn't say
itre.cis.upenn.edu
November 21, 2025 at 8:20 AM
This post, and especially the final paragraph, deserves to be hoisted from my own archive 18 years on.
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005140.html
#language #communication
http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/005140.html
#language #communication
Ooh was shown this by someone on discord and it's lovely and reminded me of languagelog posts back in the day (eggcorns and snowclones) aaronson.org/blog/square-... #language #crosswords
Square Theory
The story starts in Crosscord, the crossword Discord server. Over 5,000 users strong, the server has emerged as a central hub for the online crossword community, a buzzing, sometimes overwhelming, som...
aaronson.org
July 28, 2025 at 10:42 AM
Ooh was shown this by someone on discord and it's lovely and reminded me of languagelog posts back in the day (eggcorns and snowclones) aaronson.org/blog/square-... #language #crosswords
I'm a long-term fan of LanguageLog at UPenn, so it's great to see #Taigael from Wind&Bones Books getting a shout-out over there. languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
@windandbones.com
@windandbones.com
Language Log
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
July 5, 2025 at 1:38 AM
I'm a long-term fan of LanguageLog at UPenn, so it's great to see #Taigael from Wind&Bones Books getting a shout-out over there. languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
@windandbones.com
@windandbones.com
languagelog, which as far as I know coined the term (they popularized it, anyhow) continues to post about them, delightfully, more than two decades into that blog’s tenure: languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?cat=49
Language Log » Eggcorns
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
June 25, 2025 at 12:40 PM
languagelog, which as far as I know coined the term (they popularized it, anyhow) continues to post about them, delightfully, more than two decades into that blog’s tenure: languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?cat=49
For #KDrama fans who loved the linguistics focus in #TreeWithDeepRoots , here's one of several articles the renowned Sinologist Victor Mair has written about Hangul at languagelog. This one goes a long way to explaining why Korean sounds are slurred so much
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69127
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69127
Language Log » Hangul as alphasyllabary
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
May 28, 2025 at 2:59 PM
For #KDrama fans who loved the linguistics focus in #TreeWithDeepRoots , here's one of several articles the renowned Sinologist Victor Mair has written about Hangul at languagelog. This one goes a long way to explaining why Korean sounds are slurred so much
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69127
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=69127
I too was interested in it, as explains the likely source of a term that Victor Mair uses often at languagelog: "topolect" - almost a literal translation of the Mandarin, it seems
May 28, 2025 at 2:35 PM
I too was interested in it, as explains the likely source of a term that Victor Mair uses often at languagelog: "topolect" - almost a literal translation of the Mandarin, it seems
I was amused to see that there were *reviews* on Google for the local Park & Ride. Even more amused to discover this delightful eggcorn.
#eggcorn #languagelog #respite
#eggcorn #languagelog #respite
February 9, 2025 at 6:17 PM
I was amused to see that there were *reviews* on Google for the local Park & Ride. Even more amused to discover this delightful eggcorn.
#eggcorn #languagelog #respite
#eggcorn #languagelog #respite
Check out LanguageLog
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
Language Log
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
January 31, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Check out LanguageLog
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
"no word for boredom"
Is LanguageLog still updating their "no word for X" list?
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1081
Is LanguageLog still updating their "no word for X" list?
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1081
January 4, 2025 at 2:02 AM
"no word for boredom"
Is LanguageLog still updating their "no word for X" list?
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1081
Is LanguageLog still updating their "no word for X" list?
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=1081
I’m just sitting here reading all the #languagelog tributes to Bill Labov and ugly crying. What a legacy.
December 19, 2024 at 8:38 AM
I’m just sitting here reading all the #languagelog tributes to Bill Labov and ugly crying. What a legacy.
I also remember when John McWhorter's worst public sin was "stupid posts on LanguageLog", as long as we're dating ourselves
October 30, 2024 at 12:32 AM
I also remember when John McWhorter's worst public sin was "stupid posts on LanguageLog", as long as we're dating ourselves
There has been some debate on the exact meaning of 霝 (for example here on LanguageLog: languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=58778). Is it drizzle (零)? Or continuous rain (霖)? Lexicographical tradition says it's drizzle, and Takashima Ken'ichi's agrees, though both would be possible: 2/
July 3, 2024 at 11:11 PM
There has been some debate on the exact meaning of 霝 (for example here on LanguageLog: languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=58778). Is it drizzle (零)? Or continuous rain (霖)? Lexicographical tradition says it's drizzle, and Takashima Ken'ichi's agrees, though both would be possible: 2/
oh yeah I mean a world with languagelog in it is one where I have no need for On Language
June 12, 2024 at 1:37 AM
oh yeah I mean a world with languagelog in it is one where I have no need for On Language
The story is told usually as Wang Zhao hearing wangba dan 王八蛋, but that might be an ellipsis in storytelling, since 王八肏的 sounds much closer to 黃包車 (thanks to a comment by @bokane.org in LanguageLog) 2/5
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20317
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20317
Language Log » How Mandarin became China's national language
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
May 18, 2024 at 11:58 AM
The story is told usually as Wang Zhao hearing wangba dan 王八蛋, but that might be an ellipsis in storytelling, since 王八肏的 sounds much closer to 黃包車 (thanks to a comment by @bokane.org in LanguageLog) 2/5
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20317
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=20317
There's some debate where it comes from, it might have evolved from 上 (above). ... And it was once topic in
the LanguageLog
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=58102
the LanguageLog
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=58102
Language Log » Iteration marks and repeaters in ancient Chinese texts
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
April 14, 2024 at 10:42 AM
There's some debate where it comes from, it might have evolved from 上 (above). ... And it was once topic in
the LanguageLog
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=58102
the LanguageLog
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=58102
WTF languagelog posted this two hours ago with the exact same 茄汁 / ketchup coincidence point languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=61115
Language Log » "Tomato sauce" in Cantonese, with a trigger warning
languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu
October 30, 2023 at 6:54 PM
WTF languagelog posted this two hours ago with the exact same 茄汁 / ketchup coincidence point languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=61115
I don't know if you're familiar with the languagelog website I linked to in another comment. It's not that active anymore, but go back 10+ years and there's some epic rants about the damage caused by Strunk and White.
August 19, 2023 at 11:55 PM
I don't know if you're familiar with the languagelog website I linked to in another comment. It's not that active anymore, but go back 10+ years and there's some epic rants about the damage caused by Strunk and White.
Oh man, I blogged about the Barbie Liberation Organization back in '06, recounting their 1993 campaign of doll terror. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002892.html
August 2, 2023 at 5:42 AM
Oh man, I blogged about the Barbie Liberation Organization back in '06, recounting their 1993 campaign of doll terror. http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/002892.html
This is a pretty good overview:
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2019/07/readability-formulas-7-reasons-to-avoid-them-and-what-to-do-instead.php
LanguageLog has occasional critiques:
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=21847
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2019/07/readability-formulas-7-reasons-to-avoid-them-and-what-to-do-instead.php
LanguageLog has occasional critiques:
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=21847
www.uxmatters.com
June 2, 2023 at 8:45 PM
This is a pretty good overview:
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2019/07/readability-formulas-7-reasons-to-avoid-them-and-what-to-do-instead.php
LanguageLog has occasional critiques:
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=21847
https://www.uxmatters.com/mt/archives/2019/07/readability-formulas-7-reasons-to-avoid-them-and-what-to-do-instead.php
LanguageLog has occasional critiques:
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=21847
Elevating this useless histogram to such a prominent place on every researcher's profile is the web design equivalent of "nerdview" (@LanguageLog ): an ill-thought-out choice that makes very little sense to end users and is telling of your own biases
November 4, 2024 at 9:25 AM
Elevating this useless histogram to such a prominent place on every researcher's profile is the web design equivalent of "nerdview" (@LanguageLog ): an ill-thought-out choice that makes very little sense to end users and is telling of your own biases