Characteristics of Indian English

by Jovana Čenejac Ever since the early seventeenth century, when the British East India Company established trading posts in the East Indies and throughout Southern Asia, English has been used widely throughout the region in a number of countries that would rise from the ashes of former Imperial colonies. So it should come as no surprise…
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Hyperwebster and the Universe’s Longest Game of Scrabble

Infinity is famously difficult to picture. You can imagine huge numbers or things repeating into the horizon, fractals that appear to go on forever, but since infinity never stops, it’s impossible to really consider everything that could go into it. So, food for thought – what if we didn’t have to think about infinity as…
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Johannes Goropius Becanus, False Etymology and the Garden of Eden

Pre-Enlightenment-era Dutch linguists such as Johannes Goropius Becanus probably don’t make the list of things you think about on a regular basis. Typically, they wouldn’t make my list, either, but right now I’m on a little bit of a linguistic history kick and I have a few grievances that need airing.Click these—> The 15th, 16th,…
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A Linguist, a Polyglot and a Translator Walk Into a Bar…

The more I write the more it becomes painfully and abundantly clear that outside of language circles, the general population does not really understand much about the practical aspects of language or the differences between many of the titles bestowed upon various roles within the language community. Many people have done no more with language…
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What Language Will We Speak in Space, on Mars and Beyond?

  In the spirit of February’s massively successful maiden SpaceX Falcon Heavy launch, I wanted to throw together a short mini-post about space and language. Before we get into the languagey stuff, I feel like I need to briefly explain what’s going on. On Tuesday Feb 6th, entrepreneur billionaire Elon Musk’s private space launch company…
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DeepL is the Beginning of the End for the Translation Industry

  Translation is like a roll of toilet paper – most people don’t really think about it until they’re sitting there without it, wondering how awkward it’s going to be to yell to their hardly sympathetic girlfriend for assistance. Fortunately for the toilet paper, it isn’t in any danger of losing its job any time…
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