Four-letter words have been around since the days of our forebears—and their forebears, too. In Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing,
a book out this month from Oxford University Press, medieval literature
expert Melissa Mohr traces humans’ use of naughty language back to
Roman times. NewsFeed asked Mohr what surprising tidbits readers might
stumble upon amidst the expletives. Here are nine talking points from
her opus for your next (presumably, pretty edgy) cocktail hour.
Donnerstag, 11. April 2013
Montag, 18. März 2013
Commas and Feelings
A student in my “History of the English Language” course stopped me
after class a few weeks ago and asked, “I was just wondering—how do you
feel about the Oxford comma?” She could have asked about the rationale
behind the Oxford comma (the comma after the penultimate item in a
list—e.g., apples, chocolate, and peanut butter) or about the history of the Oxford comma. But instead, she asked how I felt about the Oxford comma, the suggestion being that a punctuation mark could be meaningful enough to arouse personal feelings.
Sonntag, 17. März 2013
Creating Classrooms We Need: 8 Ways Into Inquiry Learning
If kids can access information from sources
other than school, and if school is no longer the only place where
information lives, what, then happens to the role of this institution?
“Our whole reason for showing up for school has changed, but
infrastructure has stayed behind,” said Diana Laufenberg, who taught
history at the progressive public school Science Leadership Academy
for many years. Laufenberg provided some insight into how she guided
students to find their own learning paths at school, and enumerated some
of these ideas at SXSWEdu last week.
SimCityEDU: Using Games for Formative Assessment
As game-based learning gains momentum in education circles, teachers
increasingly want substantive proof that games are helpful for learning.
The game-makers at the non-profit GlassLab are hoping to do this with the popular video game SimCity.
How Emotional Connections Can Trigger Creativity and Learning
Scientists are always uncovering new ways into how people learn best,
and some of the most recent neuroscience research has shown connections
between basic survival functions, social and emotional reactions to the
world, and creative impulses.
Montag, 4. März 2013
Txtng Rules
Anne Curzan
Two weeks ago I gave a talk to a group of University of Michigan at Ann
Arbor undergraduates called “Txtng and the Future of English.” As a
linguist who studies the history of the English language, I reassured
the students that they are not ruining the English language, no matter
what they hear from their parents or teachers or other trustworthy and
concerned authorities. Some of the students looked gratified by this
alternate perspective; others looked skeptical.
Montag, 17. Dezember 2012
35 Modern Words Recently Added to the Dictionary
The Oxford Dictionary Online is a warehouse of over 600,000 words.
Despite this large arsenal, we continue to coin, clip, and blend new
words into existence, and the Oxford folks pump some of these new words
into their dictionaries. Here are some more recent additions with their
official definitions.
1. Bling (n): Expensive, ostentatious clothing and jewelry.
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2. Bromance (n): A close but non-sexual relationship between two men.
*
3. Chillax (v): Calm down and relax.
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2. Bromance (n): A close but non-sexual relationship between two men.
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3. Chillax (v): Calm down and relax.
Read the full text here:
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