A Linguistic Note for Christmas

by Dec 19, 2013Linguistics2 comments

Blueberries are blue but cranberries are not cran.
—Steven Pinker, The Language Instinct

Read More 

Papple

Papple

True story I just have to share somewhere: I recently asked a precious and generous and godly and intelligent family friend if she had “Apple Pay,” the iPhone-based payment system, so I could quickly remunerate her for something she'd just given my wife. She just...

Take That, Arrogant American English Speakers

This was utterly, absolutely fascinating. I laughed out loud with joy to hear these residents of Mumbai defend their English and criticize ours (see especially starting around 1:10). Why did I find this so funny/interesting? Because it overturns American expectations...

John Calvin and Lamin Sanneh on Giving the Bible to the People

My book, Authorized: The Use and Misuse of the King James Bible, amounts to an argument for vernacular Bible translation—applied to one specific set of objections in one specific historical circumstance. I find myself repeating myself as I promote the book on podcasts...

Halt! A Defense of My Central Example

Halt! A Defense of My Central Example

A Facebook commenter with a PhD in English challenged my interpretation of halt at KJVQuiz.com. It was perhaps an incautious challenge to make to a person only too ready to write articles upon the feeblest provocation. Here goes. Many of our common words trace back...

Leave a comment.

2 Comments
  1. Don Johnson

    True, but raspberries are definitely rasp!

  2. Dennis

    Nor are strawberries straw.