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The Runglish Cocktail
LONDON: First there was Franglais, a mangled combination of English and French. Then came Spanglish and subsequently Denglish, a mixure of German and English. Don’t fret. Just start getting used to Runglish — the the English-laced argot of young Russians — especially if you are planning a visit to the erstwhile Soviet Union. Yes, the […]
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Interesting courses and memberships
IGNOU offers a certificate course in copyediting and proofreading, which is of 6 months’ duration. Details are available on the site: http://www.ignou.ac.in Symbiosis Distance Learning Programme offers a 1 year Post-Graduate Diploma in Instructional Design. The site is http://www.scdl.net/pgdid.asp Being an accredited proofreader and belonging to a socity for proofreaders and editors sure helps:Check out […]
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Yes, eh?
Many of us Indians have the habit of vernacularising the English language. For example, to show agreement with the speaker or to show our involvement with his or her dialogue, we often say ” Yes, eh?” This happens more with Tamilians. It would be a lot better if we just interjected with a ” Really?” […]
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Where is our language going?
“In one of the megachain bookstores, a woman asked a young clerk for the author of Like Water for Chocolate. After the salesperson had spent five minutes searching and still could not locate the famous title, the customer realized that the young man had been looking for Water from Chocolate. It’s like … you know. […]
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Lolcats
This is a cute cat macro available on www.lolcats.com Lolcats are image macros combining photographs of a cat with a humorous and idiosyncratic caption. The name “lolcat” is a compound word formed from lol and cat. Lolcats are the latest craze!
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“Best Words”
Here’s a list of best words accoring to www.vocabula.com http://www.vocabula.com/vrbestwords.asp
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Some more fun reads on grammar
Here are a whole lot of interesting titles on English Grammar: http://astore.amazon.com/theslotaspotforc/103-4585736-5779820?node=1&page=2
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Woe is I and Words Fail Me
Visit these bright and cheery sites to know which books on English grammar I’m dying to read, but I haven’t gotten hold of yet: http://www.grammarphobia.com/books_woe.html http://www.grammarphobia.com/books_words.html About the author: Patricia O’ Conner While she was working at the New York Times, Jane Isay, then the publisher of Grosset/Putnam, asked Patricia O’ Conner to write a lighthearted grammar […]
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What is linguistics?
Linguistics is the scientific study of language, which can be theoretical or applied. Someone who engages in this study is called a linguist. Theoretical (or general) linguistics encompasses a number of sub-fields, such as the study of language structure (grammar) and meaning (semantics). The study of grammar encompasses morphology (formation and alteration) of words and […]
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Panda Joke
A panda walks into a bar. He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air. “Why? Why are you behaving in this strange, un-panda-like fashion?” asks the confused waiter, as the panda walks towards the exit. The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it […]