English language – News Stories About English language - Page 2

American Opens Cuba's First English-Language Bookstore

Cuba Gets First
English-Language Bookstore

Aug 10, 2013 10:39 AM CDT

Cuba Gets First English-Language Bookstore

American ex-pat opens co-op

(Newser) - Cuba's first English-language bookstore, cafe, and literary salon opened in Havana yesterday. The brainchild of a longtime US expat, Cuba Libro launched with just 300 books on offer, about what you'd expect to find in the lobby of an average US bed & breakfast. Next to what's...

Most Kids
Curse Before
They Learn
the Alphabet

A, B, C ... F

Apr 14, 2013 7:48 AM CDT

Most Kids Curse Before They Learn the Alphabet

And they pick it up from ... guess who?

(Newser) - Most kids can utter an expletive before they even know their ABCs—probably because their parents (and most other adults) have such terrible pottymouths, according to a new book. In Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing, Mellissa Mohr argues that English-speakers actually use a curse word about once every...

14 Great Words With No English Equivalent

14 Great Words the
English Language Lacks

14 Great Words the English Language Lacks

Have you ever felt tartled?

(Newser) - You're stuffed, but you just can't stop eating because the meal is so delicious. What's the word for that again? Right, there is none, at least in English. But Georgians sum it up as "shemomedjamo." It's one of 14 interesting foreign words rounded up...

'Fiscal Cliff'
Tops List of
Banished
Words

Dec 31, 2012 6:33 AM CST

'Fiscal Cliff' Tops List of Banished Words

Of course, that doesn't mean anyone will stop saying them

(Newser) - It's the end of another year, and thus time for Michigan's Lake Superior State University to release its 38th annual List of Words to be Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse, and General Uselessness. The dozen words and phrases that made this year's cheeky...

AP Bans 'Homophobia,' 'Ethnic Cleansing'

AP Bans 'Ethnic Cleansing,' 'Homophobia' From Stylebook

Nov 28, 2012 12:03 AM CST

AP Bans 'Ethnic Cleansing,' 'Homophobia' From Stylebook

'Anti-gay' is more accurate, editor says

(Newser) - The AP has axed terms including "homophobia," "Islamophobia," and "ethnic cleansing" from its widely followed stylebook. "Ethnic cleansing is a euphemism for pretty violent activities, a phobia is a psychiatric or medical term for a severe mental disorder," the AP's deputy standards...

'GIF' Is Oxford Dictionary's Word of 2012

Oxford Dictionary's
Word of 2012: GIF

Nov 13, 2012 4:51 AM CST

Oxford Dictionary's Word of 2012: GIF

File format beats 'YOLO,' 'superstorm'

(Newser) - The GIF file type for simple animations has been around since the '80s but only now has the Oxford Dictionary decided to make it its American word of the year. GIF—which stands for "graphic interchange format"—"celebrated a lexical milestone in 2012, gaining traction as...

Beluga Whale
Tells Diver: Get 'Out'

Oct 22, 2012 6:06 PM CDT

Beluga Whale Tells Diver: Get 'Out'

A whale's song sounds eerily human, study says

(Newser) - It could be the muffled sound of singing in the shower or that sing-songy indecipherable voice from the Muppets' Swedish Chef. But scientists say it was a whale imitating people. In fact, the whale song sounded so eerily human that divers initially mistook it for a human voice. In a...

Romney's 'Old-Timey' English Evokes Another World

Oct 21, 2012 2:42 PM CDT

Romney's 'Old-Timey' English Evokes Another World

Some voters are charmed by 'his 1950s language'

(Newser) - "Binders full of women" may be the Mitt Romney remark of the moment, but colleagues and friends have long marveled at his uniquely old-fashioned version of English, the New York Times reports. Mormons typically avoid salty language, and Romney's father George also spoke in a gentlemanly manner,...

Atlantic Unveils
Dictionary of
Most Hated
Words

Aug 11, 2012 4:28 PM CDT

Atlantic Unveils Dictionary of Most Hated Words

Arguably, moist, and webinar make the dreaded list

(Newser) - Basically, there's an awesome online dictionary that's interesting and supposably whimsical—and if those italicized words are driving you crazy, you'll like the Atlantic 's dictionary of "despicable words." The magazine bases it on emails from readers who are simply seething over our use...

Arizona Woman, Blocked From City Council, Runs for VP

Jun 12, 2012 12:28 PM CDT

Arizona Woman, Blocked From City Council, Runs for VP

Was disqualified for not speaking English

(Newser) - When Alejandrina Cabrera tried to run for San Luis City Council, she was kicked off the ballot because she couldn't speak, read, or write English fluently. So now she's running for a slightly higher office: vice president of the United States. Cabrera has signed on with Utopian Party...

9 Foreign Words
We Really Need
to Start Using

Mar 3, 2012 4:20 PM CST

9 Foreign Words We Really Need to Start Using

Kummerspeck, and other great options

(Newser) - The German language is officially richer, thanks to its adoption of the English word "shitstorm." Now that we've given, it's time to take: Cracked argues that the English language is in desperate need of these nine foreign words, for which there is absolutely no English equivalent:...

Our No. 1 Gift to German Language in '11: 'Shitstorm'

experts declare

Feb 13, 2012 1:24 PM CST

Our No. 1 Gift to German Language in '11: 'Shitstorm'

Yep, really. A jury of German language experts picked it

(Newser) - Germans are better off because of America's pottymouth, at least according to a group of language experts who have named the biggest English contribution to the German language in 2011: "shitstorm." Yep, the "Anglicism of the Year" is a word that the experts say "fills...

'Amazing' and 'Baby Bump'
Top List of Banished Words

year in review

Dec 30, 2011 8:29 AM CST

'Amazing' and 'Baby Bump' Top List of Banished Words

'Win the future,' 'new normal' also on list of hated words and phrases

(Newser) - The compilers of the 37th "List of Words Banished from the Queen's English for Misuse, Overuse, and General Uselessness" say it's amazing that "amazing" didn't make their annual list earlier. With more than 1,500 nominations from around the world, the overused superlative topped this...

Libya Fight
Is War on
Dictionary

OPINION

Jun 21, 2011 1:56 PM CDT

Libya Fight Is War on Dictionary

Apparently it's not 'war' if Americans aren't killed: Jonathan Schell

(Newser) - The Obama administration says the Libya conflict isn’t war because it doesn’t “involve the presence of US ground troops, US casualties, or a serious threat thereof.” So “war is only war, it seems, when Americans are dying,” writes Jonathan Schell in the Los Angeles ...

It's OK to Let Words
Evolve—Sometimes

OPINION

Apr 7, 2011 5:08 PM CDT

It's OK to Let Words Evolve—Sometimes

Slate writer introduces ranking system for worried linguists

(Newser) - Quick, define "disinterested." If you said "impartial" rather than "uninterested," congratulate yourself on knowing the original meaning, albeit one that's eroding. Ben Yagoda at Slate tackles the age-old linguistic issue of knowing when it's OK to let words evolve—and when it's not. But he...

Heart Symbol
Latest 'Word' in
Oxford Dictionary

Mar 24, 2011 12:16 PM CDT

Heart Symbol Latest 'Word' in Oxford Dictionary

'Muffin top,' 'OMG' also added in latest OED edition

(Newser) - The latest addition to the Oxford English Dictionary is beyond words. Today’s online update to the definitive work adds a graphic symbol for the first time: a heart, as in “I heart NY.” Listed under the word “heart” and defined as a verb meaning “to...

Germany Removes English
Phrases From Signs

Dec 31, 2010 4:23 PM CST

Germany Removes English Phrases From Signs

Transportation chief is fed up; no more 'stop' or 'ticket'

(Newser) - Germany's transportation minister is not happy with what he considers an invasion of the English language into German culture, and he's fighting back. Thomas Ramsauer has begun replacing English words and phrases used by his department with original German, reports The Local .

Guess the Most
Annoying Word. Ever.

Guess the Most Annoying Word. Ever.

'Whatever' is worst; 'like' also highly irritating

(Newser) - “Whatever” is, like, the most annoying word in the English language, a poll finds—for the second year in a row, notes Reuters. The Marist survey of more than 1,000 Americans found that almost 39% think “whatever” is the most annoying English word or phrase; runners up...

Oklahoma Votes Yes
to English, No to Sharia

unusual BALLOT MEASURES

Nov 3, 2010 2:05 AM CDT

Oklahoma Votes Yes to English, No to Sharia

...and the results of other unusual ballot measures

(Newser) - Oklahoma's voters passed a pair of ballot initiatives last night—and progressives and immigrant-rights groups are alarmed, AP reports. One of them requires that all official state actions be conducted in English, with exceptions for Native American languages and in cases when federal law requires otherwise. The other—described as...

Dictionary's Vault
of Rejected Words Uncovered

WURFING?

Aug 6, 2010 7:02 AM CDT

Dictionary's Vault of Rejected Words Uncovered

Millions of failed words lie in Oxford room

(Newser) - Millions of words that just didn't make the cut according to the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary lie unused in a little-publicized vault owned by the Oxford University Press. The vault—whose existence was uncovered by a research student compiling a "Dictionary of Non-Words"—contains untold numbers...