I don’t usually post SEO-type stuff, but this is deep and well done: using Pinterest for keyword research. (This would also be an excellent way to build your search “vocabulary” if you’re researching a topic that lends itself well to Pinterest.)
Collins has declared “binge-watch” the word of the year. “Meaning ‘to watch a large number of television programmes (especially all the shows from one series) in succession’, it reflects a marked change in viewing habits, due to subscription services like Netflix. Lexicographers noticed that its usage was up 200% on 2014.”
Followers of UK politics, you’ll love this. There’s a new tool for analyzing the words of UK’s Parliament. “Linguists and historians have worked together to compile all the Parliamentary speeches from 1803-2005 on a free, easy access online website which is launched today. The website includes 7.6 million speeches and 1.6 billion words and include some of the most memorable moments.” The direct link is here.
Skype’s nifty translator feature is being rolled out to Windows users. “With live translation available for six voice languages (English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin and Spanish) and 50 messaging languages, it’s a big step in breaking down barriers in communication.”
Interesting: How hashtags and symbols affect language on Twitter. “Despite all the shortened words and slang seen on Twitter, it turns out that people follow many of the same communication etiquette rules on social media as they do in speech. Research from the Georgia Institute of Technology shows that when tweeters use hashtags — a practice that can enable messages to reach more people — they tend to be more formal and drop the use of abbreviations and emoticons. But when they use the @symbol to address smaller audiences, they’re more likely to use non-standard words such as ‘nah,’ ‘cuz’ and ‘smh.’”
Do you swear like a sailor? Google Docs’ new voice transcription feature will try to clean up your language. “In a prude manner, voice typing replaces the letters of common swear words with asterisks, typing ‘f***’ and ‘s***’ in place of the swears. “
Oxford Dictionary has added a bunch of new terms. Man, Grexit got in there pretty quick, didn’t it? “Among the lessons about who we are right now: The addition of Mx., a gender-neutral honorific for those who do not want to be referred to as Mr. or Mrs., reflects today’s more thoughtful conversations about gender identity, spurred on by the likes of Caitlyn Jenner. Grexit, a term for referring to the possible exit of Greece from the European Union, points to how global our economy is becoming. And the addition of barbacoa illustrates how much people like Chipotle.”
Oh this should be interesting: an online, crowdsourced database of speech errors. “The public-at-large can access the tool at http://spedi.ku.edu. Researchers hope users will enter their own and others’ experiences of tip-of-the-tongue states, as well as slips of the tongue, slips of the ear (where people misperceive words) and malapropisms. A description of the website recently was published in the open access journal Frontiers in Psychology. The ‘provisional’ copy is online now.” Anyone who’s friends with me on Facebook knows I do this constantly, usually through misreading. I think my brain is trolling me.
Google is expanding the visual capabilities of its translate app. “The Google Translate app already lets you instantly visually translate printed text in seven languages. Just open the app, click on the camera, and point it at the text you need to translate—a street sign, ingredient list, instruction manual, dials on a washing machine. You’ll see the text transform live on your screen into the other language. No Internet connection or cell phone data needed. Today, we’re updating the Google Translate app again—expanding instant visual translation to 20 more languages (for a total of 27!), and making real-time voice translations a lot faster and smoother—so even more people can experience the world in their language.”
From Smithsonian Science News: Digitized, Searchable Archives Help Revive ‘Sleeping’ Languages. “Like other kids at summer camp, a group of youngsters in the cities of Miami, Okla. and Fort Wayne, Ind. play games, work on crafts and spend lots of time outside. But for this particular collection of campers, there’s a twist: Much of their time is spent learning or speaking in Myaamia, the language of the Native American Miami Tribe of Oklahoma.”
Language use is so important, and the way you use language online can be incredibly unique! Check out this article on forensic linguistics. “Experts claim a regular anonymous internet user may be tracked through linguistic clues they unwittingly leave behind in their writing. According to Dr Tim Grant in an article for The Conversation, ‘everything from the way someone uses capitalization or personal pronouns, to the words someone typically omits or includes, to a breakdown of average word or sentence length, can help identify the writer of even a short text like a Tweet or text message.’ “
Useful to me because I’m a language nerd (and language is ridiculously important in search) – a map of metaphors. “Experts have now created the world’s first online Metaphor Map, which contains more than 14,000 metaphorical connections sourced from 4m pieces of lexical data, some of which date back to 700AD.” Read the help guide.
The Oxford English Dictionary has gotten a vocabulary update. “Today the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) announces its latest update, ushering in nearly 500 new words and over 900 newly revised and updated words. There are also over 2400 new senses of existing words added. This confirms the OED’s place as one of the largest and longest-running language research projects in the world.” Notable new words include meh, SCOTUS, hot mess, and cisgender.
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