Reading the Map of Scotland

Oct 26, 2014 by

Reading the Map of Scotland

[This post was originally posted in April 2012] Several recent posts examined toponyms and what we can learn from them. Reading place names on a map can also reveal who used to inhabit the land in earlier times. Take, for example,...

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What is a city?

Oct 26, 2014 by

What is a city?

[This post, originally published in April 2012, examimes the etymologies of the words for ‘city’ and ‘town’ — Many thanks to Vitaliy Rayz for excellent photography] The etymologies of the words for...

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“Mustard After Dinner”, Or Are Spain’s Mealtimes Climate-Related?...

Oct 25, 2014 by

“Mustard After Dinner”, Or Are Spain’s Mealtimes Climate-Related?

[This post was originally published in February 2014] In a recent article in the New York Times, Jim Yardley discussed the proposal by the Spanish government to end the siesta tradition and switch to a meal- and worktime pattern...

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“No Food”?—Or How Not to Translate!

Oct 23, 2014 by

“No Food”?—Or How Not to Translate!

On occasion, I use this blog to rant about bad translations I encounter in movies and novels, particularly those set in Russia. With over 800,000 speakers of Russian in the U.S., what is these writers’ excuse for producing sloppy...

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The Geography of ‘Book’

Oct 2, 2014 by

The Geography of ‘Book’

[This post was originally published in May 2013] As explored in my earlier posts (see also here, here, and here), the spatial distribution of words for a given meaning can reveal interesting patterns of both language spread and...

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Say “Cheese”!

Sep 29, 2014 by

Say “Cheese”!

[This post was originally published in March 2013] As noted in my earlier post, dairy consumption is a predominantly European tradition, due to higher levels of lactase persistence (that is, ability of adults to process lactose, a...

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