Tag: English language

Filed under:

Jennifer Glossop

Following Katherine Barber

May 6, 2021 by Jennifer Glossop | 7 Comments on Following Katherine Barber

Last week, the editing community lost one of its finest contributors: Katherine Barber died on April 24. Katherine’s works and words were often quoted in Editors Canada discussions, and she was a keynote speaker at the 2015 conference. Author, editor and friend Jennifer Glossop remembers Katherine’s passions. A blue ballet shoe on a stick — […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Gael Spivak

Running Out of Words: It’s Not a Slippery Slope

January 19, 2021 by Gael Spivak | 6 Comments on Running Out of Words: It’s Not a Slippery Slope

It’s almost inevitable. People who say “we’ve gotten too PC” about language will, at some point in the discussion, claim that if we stop using certain words or phrases, we’ll run out of words to write and talk. Arriving at this spot Who is having these discussions and how does this line of thinking work? […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

James Harbeck

The Hardest Language

April 11, 2017 by James Harbeck | 2 Comments on The Hardest Language

What language is the hardest to learn? The hardest for whom to learn? The world has many languages of many different kinds, but one thing they all have in common is that kids grow up speaking them fluently and think of them as the natural way to say things. Some languages have many inflections — […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Marianne Grier

German Lessons With Mrs. Cheese

April 4, 2017 by Marianne Grier | 9 Comments on German Lessons With Mrs. Cheese

At the feisty age of 16, I was given an opportunity to study in Switzerland to improve my French language skills. After committing, I found out that the only exchange spot was in Bern, the country’s German-speaking capital. My teenage determination told me I could learn the language quickly enough to complete my school year […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Wilf Popoff

Wasted Words: How Language Sometimes Evolves

July 7, 2015 by Wilf Popoff | 5 Comments on Wasted Words: How Language Sometimes Evolves

I’m aware of the organic nature of living languages and their need to adapt. If I forget, a glimpse of Chaucer brings me up short. His poetry shows just how much a language can change in six centuries. The remarkable capacity of English to absorb fresh concepts and to express new ideas and technology enables […]

Read more »

Tagged

Filed under:

Anita Jenkins

Facts and Fiction: English, Cows and the TLS

July 2, 2014 by Anita Jenkins | 1 Comment on Facts and Fiction: English, Cows and the TLS

This is the first in our “Facts and Fiction” series of mini-book reviews. Each blog entry will briefly describe one non-fiction and one fiction title that might interest editors and other lovers of language. The Story of English By Robert McCrum, Robert MacNeil and William Cran (third edition). Penguin, 2002. I’ve always loved this book, […]

Read more »

Tagged