by Jamie Chavez | Aug 1, 2016 | Words & Language
When do yes and no mean the same thing? Do they? I’m trying to wrap my head around this and I’m not sure I have the knowledge/vocabulary to express it. But I’m going to find out. Here, this: You’re writing along, using your personal writer’s voice in your little blog,...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 30, 2016 | Words & Language
We’ve talked a lot about how language—words and grammar—changes over time (here’s one of my posts with links to many of the rest: “The Language Metamorphosis”), but this article takes a really long view: What will the English language be like in 100 years? The global...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 21, 2016 | Books You Might Like, Words & Language
In Britain, … [a] more common complaint is that British English is generally being tainted by Americanisms. As I have suggested, outrage at American influence was common among Victorian defenders of British English, and its volume increased as first American silent...
by Jamie Chavez | Jul 16, 2016 | Words & Language
You know I’ve had an abiding interest in travel … and the way we humans communicate. (I could go on and on …) I’m always astonished to hear a radio interview with someone from a far-off land who speaks English—and speaks it well enough that I, who speak only one...
by Jamie Chavez | Jun 18, 2016 | Words & Language
When I worked in the corporate world, there was a woman who reported to me who used ast when she meant ask and dest when she meant desk.* Now that I’ve read this article—“8 Pronunciation Errors that Changed Modern English” Now I know this is called metathesis. It...
