Friday Fun: You can’t say “sh” in Spanish
This 4-minute TED Talk explains how the lack of “sh”explains why we use the letter X to mean “the unknown.” You know like Planet X. X-ray. Gen-X. X-Men. X-rated.
Cheers!
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If you’re entertained by invented languages, you’ll enjoy this podcast from The World in Words. It lists both old and new novels which include an invented language. Plus a weather report in Elvish for Tolkien fans. Enjoy! Related articles New Zealand Weatherman Gives Forecast in Elvish (VIDEO) (blippitt.com) Auden and Elvish (newyorker.com)
Why do we “deck” the halls?
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Pros Write celebrating first-year anniversary
Purpose is unchanged. But the blog has a new look and organization. Feedback is welcome!
Why this blog?
I’ve been talking about the role of writing for professionals for nearly 25 years. My “talk” has always taken place in a university classroom or an academic journal. I’m not ready to stop talking in those contexts, but I am tired of their constraints. So why not talk with fewer (or at least different) constraints here? There are things…
Typography in the news
Check out today’s US Navy ends dependence on capitalised communications from BBC News. Michael Clarke, director of the Royal United Services Institute think tank in London, told the BBC, The US Navy has made up its mind that not everything is a crisis and some messages are just normal. The change appears to mean the organization has…
A little diversion involving words
Got that frivolous Friday feeling? I have exams to grade so, naturally, I was looking for a diversion this morning and thought I’d share three of my attempts. Diversion 1: Identify the pun performed by today’s photo from doozzle. Diversion 2: Check out the pronunciation humor in this Berlitz ad. Diversion 3: Watch the short video on…
