ENGB3 Lang change articles
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Linguists identify words that have changed little in 15,000 years
Neanderthal, cro-magnon, modern man may have shared words which remain to this day. Photo: Monique Westermann You, hear me! Give this fire to that old man. Pull the black worm off the bark and give it to the mother.
A profusion of words
Please note: several of the following links to dictionary content require subscriber access to the OED Online . The early modern period was an era of great change for the English language. According to the OED’ s record, the number of words ‘available’ to speakers of English more than doubled between 1500 and 1650. Many of the new words were borrowed into English from the Latin or Greek of the Renaissance (for example, hypotenuse ), or from the far-off countries visited by travellers and traders (e.g. pangolin ), and must have seemed hard to understand to many of the population. At the same time, there were significant demographic shifts in Britain towards an urbanized culture based in the big cities, such as London: the population of London increased eightfold over these years.
“Having a mare of a week? With hump day over, the weekend is in sight and it’s time to start thinking about getting blootered on appletinis ! Or do you prefer to put on your schlumpy clothes and curl up with a tray bake ?
Braggadocious? Never. Just excited about the Oxford Dictionaries February 2013 update!
The "elephant in the room" is something obvious that can't be overlooked, even if no one is talking about it. The phrase was in use as early as 1935. iStockphoto.com If you've ever shot the breeze, had a heart-to-heart or bent somebody's ear — in fact, if you've ever talked at all — odds are you've used an idiom. These sometimes bizarre phrases are a staple of conversation, and more than 10,000 of them are collected in the latest edition of The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms , which came out this week.
Interview: Christine Ammer, Author Of 'The American Heritage Dictionary Of Idioms'
Manx: Bringing a language back from the dead
31 January 2013 Last updated at 00:47 GMT A Manx dictionary on the Isle of Man flag Condemned as a dead language, Manx - the native language of the Isle of Man - is staging an extraordinary renaissance, writes Rob Crossan. Road signs, radio shows, mobile phone apps, novels - take a drive around the Isle of Man today and the local language is prominent. But just 50 years ago Manx seemed to be on the point of extinction.
From the looks of this, Lord Fisher may have been the world's first teenage girl. Did he ever meet a sentence he couldn't end in an exclamation point? In addition to representing the first-known use of the phrase "O.M.G
First Known Use Of OMG In Letter To Winston Churchill (PHOTO)
Amazeballs to Zing: new words added to Collins online dictionary
Bing - a heap or pile, esp of spoil from a mine Bioarchaeology - the branch of archaeology that deals with the remains of living things
British children 'turn to American English'
29 May 2012 Last updated at 13:24 GMT Argentine footballer Lionel Messi was among the famous people mentioned British children are increasingly using American English in their writing, according to a report based on entries to a BBC short story competition.26 September 2012 Last updated at 19:50 ET By Cordelia Hebblethwaite BBC News, Washington DC There is little that irks British defenders of the English language more than Americanisms, which they see creeping insidiously into newspaper columns and everyday conversation. But bit by bit British English is invading America too.
Britishisms and the Britishisation of American English
