Steven Pinker on Good Writing and “Bad”
I've quoted Steven Pinker numerous times on this blog, but I've never heard him talk. He's brilliant, and I found this to be a fascinating and clear-headed discussion on writing: A few things Pinker added to my understanding on an issue—English usage—I've already spent a great deal of time on: The only way to get good at writing is to read a lot. I knew that. But Pinker added a phrase: "read a lot of edited prose." Good point. "English probably has as many idioms as it has words." Never heard...
Hometown Boy Makes Good
BJU alum Dan Forrest receives well-deserved praise for oft-performed new work.
Boy Was Scrivener Wrong
I wish F.H.A. Scrivener, the editor of a version of the Textus Receptus that mimicked the textual critical choices of the King James translators, had been right when he wrote the following in 1873. I have taken the liberty of bolding every erroneous prediction. If a judgment may be formed from previous experience in like cases, the revised and unrevised Versions [namely the English Revised Version and the KJV, respectively], when the former [the ERV] shall be at length completed, are destined...
Bible Translation Tribalism
It’s been a while since I’ve been so excited about a post by Scot McKnight (um, I think this is actually a first), but he really nailed it in this post on Bible translations and tribalism. Here's an excerpt: The politics of Bible translation is a sad case of colonizing the Bible for one’s agenda. There is lots of stone throwing about translations as if one is wildly superior to the others, but often that is about tribes and not the translation. Each group has its Bible, has its translation,...
Slang
Good stuff on slang and etymology. I've enjoyed this woman's video posts at the Merriam Webster site. She gets it (as I certainly hope our lexicographers would).