9 Best Articles in 2021
Aeon+Psyche
Why is English so weirdly different from other languages? by John McWhorter — Aeon
Aeon+Psyche
~16 min read · 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 · From 2019 · An Indian English word for underpants joins a host of Scottish insults after the dictionary crowdsourced regional terms
Mashable
Millennials destroyed the rules of written English
Mashable
4 min read · From 2018 · The spelling and grammar rules do not apply on the Millennial Internet™.
The Guardian
Behemoth, bully, thief: how the English language is taking over the planet
The Guardian
~20 min read · From 2018 · The long read: No language in history has dominated the world quite like English does today. Is there any point in resisting?
WIRED
Coding Is for Everyone—as Long as You Speak English
WIRED
6 min read · From 2019 · Code depends on English—for reasons that are entirely unnecessary at a technical level.
articulatemarketing.com
American English vs British English: what should your company use?
articulatemarketing.com
3 min read · From 2017 · If you write for a multinational, choosing American English vs British English is an important decision. Our checklist explores the issues.
Literary Hub
43 of the Most Iconic Short Stories in the English Language
Literary Hub
10 min read · 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…
plainenglish.co.uk
How to write in plain English
plainenglish.co.uk
10 min read · 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
5 min read · From 2019 · 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…
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Aeon+Psyche
Why is the English spelling system so weird and inconsistent?
Aeon+Psyche
~13 min read · Jul 26th · Why is English spelling so weird and unpredictable? Don’t blame the mix of languages; look to quirks of timing and technology
Scientific American
A Random Walk through the English Language
Scientific American
4 min read · Jun 11th · How a dispute between a religious believer and a confirmed atheist led to a major mathematical breakthrough
Open Culture
Umberto Eco’s 36 Rules for Writing Well (in English or Italian)
Open Culture
3 min read · Jun 18th · Creative Commons image by Rob Bogaerts, via the National Archives in Holland Umberto Eco knew a great many things. Indeed too many things, at least according to his critics:
Guardian Environment
Half the trees in two new English woodlands planted by jays, study finds
Guardian Environment
3 min read · Jun 16th · Former fields were naturally regenerated with oak trees growing from acorns buried by the birds
More like this
Guardian Books
The 100 best novels written in English: the full list
Guardian Books
~14 min read · 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
Aeon+Psyche
English Is Not Normal
Aeon+Psyche
~12 min read · 2019-09-18 · No, English isn’t uniquely vibrant or mighty or adaptable. But it really is weirder than pretty much every other language.
TNW
The ultimate, 3500-word, plain English guide to blockchain
TNW
~13 min read · 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…
World Economic Forum
The trouble with speaking English as a second language
World Economic Forum
4 min read · From 2018 · Speakers of English as a second or third language can have different perceptions of the world.
orwell.ru
Politics and the English Language
orwell.ru
~20 min read · From 2016 · 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…
builtbywords.substack.com
Writing tools I learned from The Economist
builtbywords.substack.com
6 min read · Apr 5th · I learned writing from The Economist. Back home, it wasn’t easy to learn English. No one in my social circle was fluent in the language and I couldn’t afford a private tutor. The best I could do was…
Aeon+Psyche
Why is the English spelling system so weird and inconsistent?
Aeon+Psyche
~13 min read · Jul 26th · Why is English spelling so weird and unpredictable? Don’t blame the mix of languages; look to quirks of timing and technology
Smithsonian Magazine
English Is the Language of Science. That Isn't Always a Good Thing
Smithsonian Magazine
6 min read · 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.
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