9 Best Articles in 2021
Aeon+Psyche
Why is English so weirdly different from other languages? by John McWhorter — Aeon
Aeon+Psyche
~15 min read · 79 saves · From 2015 · No, English isn’t uniquely vibrant or mighty or adaptable. But it really is weirder than pretty much every other language
Guardian Books
Oxford English Dictionary adds new entries: chuddies, jibbons and fantoosh
Guardian Books
2 min read · 28 saves · 2019-03-21 · Alison Flood · An Indian English word for underpants joins a host of Scottish insults after the dictionary crowdsourced regional terms
In Language
Mashable
Millennials destroyed the rules of written English
Mashable
4 min read · 72 saves · From 2018 · The spelling and grammar rules do not apply on the Millennial Internet™.
In Programming
WIRED
Coding Is for Everyone—as Long as You Speak English
WIRED
6 min read · 97 saves · 2019-04-08 · Code depends on English—for reasons that are entirely unnecessary at a technical level.
In Language
The Guardian
Behemoth, bully, thief: how the English language is taking over the planet
The Guardian
~20 min read · 98 saves · From 2018 · The long read: No language in history has dominated the world quite like English does today. Is there any point in resisting?
In Books
Literary Hub
43 of the Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language
Literary Hub
10 min read · 92 saves · 2020-08-13 · Last year, I put together this list of the most iconic poems in the English language; it’s high time to do the same for short stories. But before we go any further, you may be asking: What do…
articulatemarketing.com
American English vs British English: what should your company use?
articulatemarketing.com
3 min read · 44 saves · From 2017 · If you write for a multinational, choosing American English vs British English is an important decision. Our checklist explores the issues.
In Writing
plainenglish.co.uk
How to write in plain English
plainenglish.co.uk
9 min read · 87 saves · 2020-08-25 · Plain English Campaign owns the copyright to this guide. You are welcome to print out any of our guides or save them to disk for your own use. You may not photocopy any guide or pass on electronic…
Nautilus Magazine
The English Word That Hasn’t Changed in Sound or Meaning in 8,000 Years
Nautilus Magazine
4 min read · 34 saves · 2019-05-13 · The word lox was one of the clues that eventually led linguists to discover who the Proto-Indo-Europeans were, and where they lived.Photograph…
Trending
In Brain
Towards Data Science
Reinforcement Learning Explained Visually (Part 4): Q Learning, step-by-step
Towards Data Science
20+ min read · 88 saves · 2020-11-28 · Ketan Doshi · A Visual Guide to how and why the Q Learning Algorithm works, in Plain English
In Language
Visual Capitalist
The World’s Top 10 Most Spoken Languages
Visual Capitalist
6 min read · 65 saves · 2020-12-10 · Carmen Ang · While English is the world's most spoken language, it has fewer native speakers than either Mandarin Chinese or Spanish.
Aeon+Psyche
The language of love in a 12th-century English law book
Aeon+Psyche
4 min read · 34 saves · 2020-12-10 · What a 12th-century English law book tells us about the social power of love and friendship in the Middle Ages – and today
In Media
Nieman Lab
The Correspondent, De Correspondent’s English-language site, is shutting down on Dec. 31 » Nieman Journalism Lab
Nieman Lab
7 min read · 74 saves · 2020-12-10 · Nieman Lab reported extensively on the disconnect between The Correspondent's promises and its actual product.
More like this
TNW
The ultimate, 3500-word, plain English guide to blockchain
TNW
~12 min read · 805 saves · From 2017 · Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, I’m sure you’ve heard of Bitcoin and blockchain. After all, they are one of the most trending topics these days — the ultimate buzzwords of the year. Even…
orwell.ru
Politics and the English Language
orwell.ru
~20 min read · 42 saves · From 2016 · George Orwell · Most people who bother with the matter at all would admit that the English language is in a bad way, but it is generally assumed that we cannot by conscious action do anything about it. Our…
getpocket.com
English Is Not Normal
getpocket.com
~12 min read · 39 saves · 2019-09-18 · No, English isn’t uniquely vibrant or mighty or adaptable. But it really is weirder than pretty much every other language.
Guardian Books
The 100 best novels written in English: the full list
Guardian Books
~13 min read · 57 saves · From 2016 · Robert McCrum has reached a verdict on his selection of the 100 greatest novels written in English. Take a look at his list
Smithsonian Magazine
English Is the Language of Science. That Isn't Always a Good Thing
Smithsonian Magazine
5 min read · 82 saves · From 2017 · When a new strain of flu jumps from birds to pigs, the next stop may be humans. Fortunately, when this happened in 2004 with the deadly strain of avian flu H5N1, Chinese scientists caught the change early. Unfortunately, no one took notice of their research, despite its vital importance. Why? Because the research was written in Chinese and published in a Chinese journal. The text wasn’t translated until 8 months later – a fatal delay for a deadly flu. This article from the Smithsonian will interest anyone concerned with the dissemination of our most vital resource: information.
World Economic Forum
The trouble with speaking English as a second language
World Economic Forum
3 min read · 17 saves · From 2018 · Speakers of English as a second or third language can have different perceptions of the world.
The Guardian
Inside the OED: can the world’s biggest dictionary survive the internet?
The Guardian
~19 min read · 42 saves · From 2018 · The long read: For centuries, lexicographers have attempted to capture the entire English language. Technology might soon turn this dream into reality – but will it spell the end for dictionaries?
bbc.com
Native English speakers are the world’s worst communicators
bbc.com
7 min read · 24 saves · From 2016 · In a room full of non-native speakers, ‘there isn’t any chance of understanding’. It might be their language, but the message is often lost
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