A Hodgepodge Of Miraculous Things

A student of many languages. I post mainly language stuff or whatever I feel like.

[sois-canard-et-tais-toi]

english speakers will never experience the traumatism of being called “vous” once you look like an adult

[kaijuno]

Jesus dude relax I’ve missed TWO DAYS of German

[catboywarehouse]

YOU KILLED HIM!!!!!

[kaijuno]

HE WOULD HAVE KILLED ME IF I HADENT

[vibinwiththefrogs-deactivated20]

Me: what if I tell nobody about this language I'm learning and then just come out one day able to have a conversation

Also me, as soon as I try something new: hey y'all check out what silly things I'm up to

[languageboutique]

[little-trifles]

Latin Derivatives: Acerbic

Adj - Harsh in temper or words

acer, acris, acre - sharp, fierce

[datarep]

LGBTQ+ Legal Rights vs. Public Support

by u/danlev

[wtfduolingo]

(ID: Duolingo phrase in Finnish that translates to "I am crying and the onion is laughing")

[flutterfly67]

[Image Description: Cat eating salad meme - A blond girl is screaming and pointing at a cat while another girl is holding her. The cat is sitting at a table eating salad and laughing.

The girl is labeled as "Me" and saying "YOU'RE LOVING TO SEE ME LIKE THIS AREN'T YOU??". The cat is labeled as "The onion".

End ID]

[lockettopia]

HEPHAESTUS

  “Sing, clear-voiced Muse, of Hephaestus famed for inventions. With bright-eyed Athena he taught men glorious crafts throughout the world, —men who before used to dwell in caves in the mountains like wild beasts. But now that they have learned crafts through Hephaestus the famed worker, easily they live a peaceful life in their own houses the whole year round.”  (-Homeric Hymn, translated by H.G. Evelyn white)

HEPHAESTUS, (huh-FAY-stus) is the God of weapon smithing, craftsmanship, and fire. Born with a lame leg, and described as ugly, he presents a much humbler appearance than his more majestic siblings. But he shines in the ingenuity department, crafting marvelous weapons, tools, and traps with his sacred objects; his golden hammer and tongs. I took an artist’s liberty; portraying him with vibrant red hair and beard to reflect his connection with fire, while his skin is pale purple from long hours within his cave forge.

The many golden, forged objects within the image appear in a variety of myths. Let’s begin with the item he hammers; the armor of Achilles. In the Iliad, Achilles pleads with his Nereid mother, Thetis, for new armor. We can see her in the pool in the lower right, waiting for the armor as she sits upon a hippocampusi.  Looking to the background, the throne was made for Hera as a trick, trapping her in the seat. The female figure above is Pandora, the first woman, made upon Zeus’ orders. Beside her are the winged helmet and sandals of Hermes. Above is the chariot of apollo. And at the very top is the golden net which trapped Hephaestus’ wife, Aphrodite, in bed with her elicit lover, Ares. 

Although Hephaestus doesn’t terrorize mortals like some of his more vengeful siblings, one scandalous myth has him chasing Athena in lust, and ejaculating on her thigh when the rape attempt fails. When Athena wipes the seed onto the earth, a son, Erichthonious, is born and later becomes an early king of Athens.

Want to own my Illustrated Greek myth book jam packed with over 130 illustrations like this? Support my book kickstarter "Lockett Illustrated: Greek Gods and Heroes" coming in early 2024. check my bio LINKTREE

[highlyentropicmind]

How "porn" came to mean "good"

If you go to reddit and look for subs with the word "porn" in the name most of them are not about pornography or sex

r/FoodPorn is about pictures of food

r/EarthPorn and r/natureporn are about pictures of landscapes

r/ExposurePorn is about photos with a long exposure

Not eve r/HumanPorn is about pornography, it is just about pictures of people

And these are just a few examples, I could keep going, but the point is that in these cases the word "porn" means "good" or "high quality"

And it's not just subreddit names, people use it in conversation. For example I remember one time I saw a gif of someone juggling in slow motion and people in the comments said it was "juggling porn". They didn't mean it was sexual at all, they meant that this person was really really good at juggling... Or they had a juggling kink...

In fact if you browse reddit for an hour I'm sure you'll find at least one example of people using the word "porn" in this non-sexual way

This is a very interesting example of linguistic evolution, and it is evidence of a remarkably sex-positive attitude

People who see sex and porn as shameful or "dirty" could never use "porn" in this non-sexual way to mean high quality

I think this started with people sharing videos or photos of food that looked really good, prompting someone to joke that it was like "food porn" and it stuck

Afterwards people kept making that joke about high quality pictures of food, and then started applying it to high quality pictures of anything, until the word "porn" acquired a new meaning

If this trend continues it could escape containment and be used in the real world

I wouldn't be surprised if in ten years a small business owner is taken to court for indecency just because their store is named something like "Bike Porn" and he just sells high quality bicycles

And I wouldn't be surprised if this person won his trail, forcing a judge to admit that the word "porn" has a non-sexual meaning, and opening the floodgates for this word to be used openly without any issue

[little-trifles]

I’d argue we’re already starting to see this usage of “porn” leak into the common vernacular. I can’t specifically recall, but I believe I’ve seen at least one real-world example of it being used in this way - probably in a big city or trendy business.

The word “porn” isn’t obscene in itself but is instead a descriptor of something supposedly obscene. I’d reckon whoever challenges such a thing in court would have an uphill battle trying to enforce any sort of penalties.

[little-trifles]

This week I have been looking to accomplish three things:

Restart my journey on tumblr

Find some interesting news and passages to translate to Latin

Restart my journey with Arabic, starting with getting a grasp on the forms and roots

I’ve already shared some translations and have plans to start sharing some of my notes soon.

[lionofchaeronea]

Woe is me! That boy had arrows that hit the mark. I burn, and Love is king in my empty breast. Me miserum! certas habuit puer ille sagittas. Uror, et in vacuo pectore regnat Amor. -Ovid, Amores I.1.25-26

[languageboutique]

[superlinguo]

Linguistics and Language Podcasts

Looking for podcasts about language and linguistics? Here’s a comprehensive list with descriptions! I’ve also mentioned if shows have transcripts. If there are any I missed, let me know!

Linguistics

Lingthusiasm A podcast that’s enthusiastic about linguistics by Gretchen McCulloch and Lauren Gawne (that’s me!). Main episodes every third Thursday of every month, with a second bonus episode on Patreon. (Transcripts for all episodes)

Because Language Every week Daniel, Ben, and Hedvig cover the news in linguistics and tackle a particular topic. (previously Talk the Talk) (Transcripts for all episodes after release)

The Vocal Fries Every episode Carrie Gillon & Megan Figueroa tackle linguistic discrimination in relation to a particular group. (Transcripts for some episodes)

En Clair A podcast about forensic linguistics from Dr Claire Hardaker at Lancaster University. Episodes released monthly, with a range of topics from criminal cases to literary fraud. (Transcripts for all episodes)

Accentricity From Sadie Durkacz Ryan, a lecturer in sociolinguistics at Glasgow University. Season one has six episodes.

Field Notes Martha Tsutsui Billins interviews linguists about their linguistic fieldwork. (Transcripts for all episodes)

History and Philosophy of the Language Sciences sub-30 minute episodes about the history of linguistics from James McElvenny, with the occasional interviews.

The Language Revolution Changing UK attitudes to languages.

Lexis A conversation about linguistics with a topical UK focus, from Matthew Butler, Lisa Casey, Dan Clayton and Jacky Glancey.

Kletshead A podcast about bilingual children for parents, teachers and speech language therapists from Dr. Sharon Unsworth. Also in Dutch.

Linguistics Lounge A podcast about language and discourse with Tony Fisher and Julia de Bres. Transcripts for all episodes.

CorpusCast from Dr Robbie Love, available alongside other shows in the Aston University podcast feed or in video format.

Life and Language Michaela Mahlberg chats with her guests about life and why language matters.

Toksave – Culture Talks A podcast from the PARADISEC Archive, where the archived records of the past have life breathed back into them once again.

Theory Neutral Covering typology and descriptive grammars with Logan R Kearsley.

PhonPod Podcast Interview-based podcast about phonetics and phonology.

Linguistics Careercast A podcast devoted to exploring careers for linguists outside academia.

Language

The Allusionist Stories about language and the people who use it, from Helen Zaltzman (Transcripts for all episodes) (my review).

Grammar Girl Episodes are rarely longer than 15 minutes, but they’re full of tips about English grammar and style for professional writing, and more! (Transcripts for all episodes).

A Language I Love Is… A show about language, linguistics and people who love both. An interview-based podcast hosted by Danny Bate.

Word of Mouth BBC Radio 4 show exploring the world of words with Michael Rosen.

America the Bilingual Dedicated to the pursuit of bilingualism in the USA.

Words & Actions A podcast about how language matters in business, politics and beyond.

Subtitle A podcast about languages and the people who speak them, from Patrick Cox and Kavita Pillay. For those who miss Patrick’s old podcast, The World in Words.

The Parlé Podcast from Canadian Speech-Language Pathologist Chantal Mayer-Crittenden.

Slavstvuyte! A podcast for everyone who is fascinated by Slavic languages from Dina Stankovic.

Subtext A podcast about the linguistics of online dating.

Conlangs

Conlangery Particularly for those with an interest in constructed  languages, they also have episodes that focus on specific natural  languages, or linguistic phenomena. Newer episodes have transcripts.

Linguitect Matt, Rowan and Liam explain linguistic topics and talk about how to build them into your conlang.

Dictionaries

Word For Word From Macquarie dictionary, with a focus on Australian English.

Fiat Lex A podcast about making dictionaries from Kory Stamper & Steve Kleinedler. One season.

Word Matters From the editors at Merriam-Webster, hosted by Emily Brewster, Neil Serven, Ammon Shea, and Peter Sokolowski. 

English

Unstandardized English Interview-based podcast. Disrupting the language of racism and white supremacy in English Language Teaching.

History of English Meticulously researched, professionally produced and engaging content on the history of English. (My reviews: episodes 1-4, episodes 5-79, bonus episodes).

Lexicon Valley Hosted by John McWhorter.

That’s What They Say Every week linguist Anne Curzan joins Rebecca Kruth on Michigan public radio for a five minute piece on a quirk of English language.

A Way With Words A talk-back format show on the history of English words, cryptic crosswords and slang.

Words/etymology

Something Rhymes With Purple Susie Dent and Gyles Brandreth uncover the hidden origins of language and share their love of words.

Telling our Twisted Histories Kaniehti:io Horn brings us together to decolonize our minds– one word, one concept, one story at a time.

Word Bomb Hosts Pippa Johnstone and Karina Palmitesta explore one word per week, using particular words for a deep dive into linguistic and social issues. (Transcripts for all episodes)

Words for Granted In each episode Ray Belli explores the history of a common English word in around fifteen minutes.

Lexitecture Ryan, a Canadian, and Amy, a Scot share their chosen word each episode.

Bunny Trails Shauna and Dan discuss idioms and other turns of phrase.

Translation

Troublesome Terps The podcast about the things that keep interpreters up at night. See also back episodes of Alexander Drechsel’s old podcast LangFM.

In Languages other than English

Parler Comme Jamais A French language podcast from Binge Audio.Monthly episodes from Laélia Véron.

Sozusagen A German language podcast of weekly 10 minute episodes.

Språket A Swedish language podcast from Sveriges Radio about language use and change.

Språktalk A Norwegian language podcast with Helene Uri and Kristin Storrusten from Aftenposten.

Klog på sprog A Danish language podcast that playfully explores the Danish language.

Kletshead A Dutch language podcast about bilingual children for parents, teachers and speech language therapists from Dr. Sharon Unsworth. Also in English.

BabelPodcast A Portuguese language podcast from Brazil, hosted by Cecilia Farias and Gruno.

War of Words A Spanish language podcast about linguistics from Juana de los Santos, Ángela Rodríguez, Néstor Bermúdez and Antonella Moschetti.

Con la lengua fuera A Spanish language podcast from Macarena Gil y Nerea Fernández de Gobeo.

Hablando mal y pronto A Spanish language conversational podcast from Santiago, Juan and Magui.

Back Catalogue

These are podcasts that had a good run of episodes and are no longer being produced.

Spectacular Vernacular A podcast that explores language … and plays with it Hosted by Nicole Holliday and Ben Zimmer for Slate. Transcripts available. 19 episodes from 2021 and 2022.

Science Diction a podcast about words—and the science stories behind them. Hosted by Johanna Mayer, this is a production from WNYC Science Friday. 42 episodes from 2020-2022.

The World in Words From PRI (2008-2019)

How Brands are Build (season 1 of this show focuses on brand naming)

Very Bad Words A  podcast about swearing and our cultural relationship to it. 42 episodes from 2017 and 2018.

The Endless Knot is not strictly a language podcast, but they often include word histories, linguistics podcast fans episode may find their colour series particularly interesting.

Given Names (four part radio series from 2015, all about names. My review)

Odds & Ends

There are also a number of podcasts that have only a few episodes, are no longer being made, or are very academic in their focus:

The Black Language Podcast Anansa Benbow brings you a podcast dedicated to talking about Black people and their languages. Five episodes from 2020.

Speculative Grammarian Podcast (from the magazine of the same name, about 50 episodes from Dec 2009-Jan 2017)

Linguistics Podcast (on YouTube, around 20 episodes in 2013 introducing basic linguistic concepts)

Evolving English: Linguistics at the Library (8 episodes 2018), from the British Library.

Language Creation Society Podcast (8 episodes, 2009-2011)

LingLab (very occasionally updated podcast from graduate students in the Sociolinguistics program at NC State University)

Hooked on Phonetics five episodes from Maxwell Hope from 2019 and 2020.

Glossonomia Each episode is about a different vowel or consonant sound in English. 44 episodes from 2010-2014.

Distributed Morphs An interview-based podcast about morphology, from Jeffrey Punske. Eight episodes in 2020.

Word to the Whys a podcast where linguists talk about why they do linguistics. Created by TILCoP Canada (Teaching Intro Linguistics Community of Practice). 10 episodes in 2020 and 2021.

The Weekly Linguist An  interview podcast about the languages of the world and the linguists who study them from Jarrette Allen and Lisa Sprowls. 21 episodes in 2021.

Silly Linguistics (ad hoc episode posting, but episode 7 is an interview with Kevin Stroud for History of English fans)

Linguistics After Dark Eli, Sarah and Jenny answer your linguistics questions in hour-ish long episodes.

WACC Podcast (guest lectures at Warwick Applied Linguistics)

Sage Language and Linguistics

Let’s Talk Talk

Queer Linguistics has a couple of episodes, with a bit of classroom vibe

GradLings An occasionally-updated podcast for linguistics students at any stage of study, to share their stories and experiences.

Canguro English A podcast about language for people learning languages. 103 episodes from 2018-2021.

Why is English? A podcast about how the English language got to be the way it is, from Laura Brandt. Seven episodes from 2020 and 2021. 

Animology Vegan blogger Colleen Patrick Goudreau uses her love of animals as a starting point for exploring animal-related etymologies. 27 episodes from 2017-2020.

Wordy Wordpecker Short weekly episodes from Rachel Lopez, charting the stories of English words. 14 episodes from 2018.

Speaking of Translation A monthly podcast from Eve Bodeux & Corinne McKay. 10 episodes from 2020-2021.

Se Ve Se Escucha (Seen and Heard) Language justice and what it means to be an interpreter, an organizer and bilingual in the US South, from the Center for Participatory Change. Episodes from 2020.

This is an updated listing from October 2023. I’m always excited to be able to add more podcasts to the list, so if you know of any linguistics/language podcasts not here, please let me know! I wait until a show has at least 3 episodes before I add it to the list, and I like to let people know when transcripts are available.

[superlinguo]

I’ve done my annual update of the linguistics podcasts list.

As always, if something isn’t on the list, let me know, and if a show has transcripts that’s twice as good!

[little-trifles]

Love this!

[languageboutique]

[little-trifles]

Latin Derivatives: Insubordinate

Adj - disobedient, not submitting to authority

in - against

sub - under

ordo, ordinis - order, rank, succession

[interretialia]

Atlas feles nomen suum in magnum serium convertit.

Atlas the cat takes his name very seriously.

(Fons Imaginis.)

[cupsnpages]

if you're a foreign language teacher, and you don't know how to teach grammar in a way where students really comprehend and use it in their everyday lives, here are some useful ideas to use in your classroom.

teaching from examples: this means that the student is the one who needs to find out the grammar rules instead of being presented by the teacher. by teaching this way, it will be more meaningful for students. some examples could be teaching the present simple using realia (using objects in the classroom) or using a generative situation.

teaching grammar through texts: for this, it's important to use meaningful and in-context texts. for example, authentic sources such as newspapers, songs, the Internet, literary texts, the teacher and the students themselves.

These can help us to present grammar. but how do we practice?

Find someone who: this activity can be adaptable to many structures and it's a very interesting game where students can get to know each other. for example, we could make a chart asking students to find someone who has never been to Canada, has always liked music, has never eaten raw fish, has always had tea for breakfast, etc. We can also get students to write the questions themselves to make it more interesting for them or, at the beginning of the semester, we can find out one interesting fact about each individual student and put these facts into the chart (e.g. Find someone who is a football player, Find someone who plays in an orchestra, etc.)

Ask the right question: Students sit in two teams. There is a pile of cards between them. On each card, there is a word or phrase The cards are face down. A member of team A picks up the first card and then has to ask the other team members questions until they give exactly the answer that is written on the card. The game, which is suitable for all levels, forces students to think extremely carefully about the exact construction of the questions they are asking.

to sum up, teaching grammar is part of language second acquisition but we as teachers can make it more interesting and meaningful for our students.

disclaimer: i'd would like to say that if you teach grammar through a deductive method (coursebook, drills exercises, etc) it's okay, i'm not judging you!

you can learn more about this: S Thornbury (1999a: Chapters 3-6) for examples of different kinds of grammar teaching and learning.