Language
The English language should be cherished
For me, there is little worse than a bellowing rendition of Rule Britannia, or a mention of past empirical ‘greatness.’ That said, there is one thing that seemingly does grant us first prize in the lottery of life. That is our language.
By Josh Barrie | Notebook, Opinion | Thursday, 27 September 2012 at 1:12 pm
Obama’s drone strikes, Jeremy Hunt and a deficit of meaning
Politicians should no longer be allowed to hide behind words while trumpeting a free press.
By Nicolas Niarchos | Notebook | Saturday, 2 June 2012 at 4:00 am
Infrastricture
David Cameron is making a speech today about “infrastructure”. When Downing Street put out an operational note about this yesterday, I had a Star Wars moment: “a bad feeling about this”. Infrastructure is an alarming word in politics.
So it proved when a news release followed, embargoed until 0001 hrs today, with some extracts from what [...]
By John Rentoul | Eagle Eye | Monday, 19 March 2012 at 12:01 am
Breathing life into a dying language
The Andamans, a cluster of islands 700 miles east of the Indian mainland in the Bay of Bengal, are home to three highly endangered languages. One of them, Great Andamanese, has only five speakers.
Professor Anvita Abbi, a renowned linguist specialising in the minority languages of the Indian subcontinent, has spent many years researching the languages, [...]
By Andrew Buncombe | The Foreign Desk | Wednesday, 16 November 2011 at 4:37 am
Lost in Translation
You’re one of twelve in a jury. It is your job to decide a persons fate. Guilty or not guilty. You have to be sure. If you’re not sure you have to find him or her not guilty. If the charge put to them carries a lengthy sentence, you could say their life is in [...]
By Ilona Burton | Notebook | Monday, 14 March 2011 at 10:17 pm
Getting lost in translation – an occupational hazard in the travelling tennis world?
In today’s multimedia arena of smartphones, iPads, twitter, Facebook, and so on, the concept of not being understood is rather a rare one.
We are blessed, that, apart from throughout most of China, the Queen’s speech is an all-pervading influence. First of all, much of the internet is in English. And secondly, if you do have [...]
By Alexandra Willis | Sport | Monday, 7 March 2011 at 9:30 am
British language – we’re going through changes
It seems everyone who’s anyone in newsworld today is asking the critical question: Do you pronounce the letter ‘H’ “Haitch” or “atich”.
By Ilona Burton | Notebook | Thursday, 28 October 2010 at 5:13 pm
Cowgirls, fashion week and ‘Kissing Cousins’
The best of the web.
By Alice-Azania Jarvis | Digital Digest, Notebook | Friday, 10 September 2010 at 2:07 pm
Medalling with English
A new verb has sneaked into the language. I don’t like it. I hope it goes away.
Last night there was an item on the BBC 10 o’clock news explaining why some British sports, such as rowing are to receive generous financial backing, between now and the 2012 London Olympics, while others including fencing and volleyball, [...]
By Andy McSmith | Eagle Eye, McSmith | Thursday, 4 December 2008 at 10:47 am
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