Confusing words
Posted by Celia Walter | 3 Oct, 2009http://www.confusingwords.com/
Confusing Words is a collection of 3210 words that are troublesome to readers and writers.
From Internet Resources Newsletter, October, 2009
Oxford's dictionaries on mobile phones to be available to students in Africa
Posted by Celia Walter | 4 Mar, 2009CellBook signs agreement with Oxford University Press to distribute Oxford's dictionaries on mobile phones
CellBook, a Cape Town, South Africa-based mobile applications developer, has signed an agreement with Oxford University Press to distribute the Oxford Dictionary of English, Concise Oxford English Dictionary, Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English, Compact Oxford English Dictionary for University and College Students, Pocket Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford Thesaurus of English and the Oxford Dictionary and Thesaurus on mobile phones in Africa.
Don't be 404, know the tech slang
Posted by Celia Walter | 11 Dec, 2008A study of new slang terms entering English finds that technology is driving and perpetuating them.
For instance, "404" - the error message given when a browser cannot find a webpage - has come to mean "clueless".
Slang lexicographer Jonathon Green says that some such terms and abbreviations come about because of the limited speed and space afforded by text messaging.
However, an Australian study found that reading "textese" takes more time and results in more mistakes...[more]
African postcolonial literature in English
Posted by Celia Walter | 1 Apr, 2008African postcolonial literature in English
Part of the Postcolonial and Postimperial Web created by Professor
George P. Landow, English and Art History, Brown University with
contributions by Brown University students, postgraduate students,
lecturers from the Univ. of Zimbabwe, and others. The site provides
information on authors writing in or about a post-colonial setting. The
website gives access to the information through an index of authors'
names or through sections focusing on individual countries. There are
also pages giving the political, economic, religious and demographic
details of the countries in which the authors write in order to enable
users to put the writers' lives in context - this detail is almost
entirely taken from the CIA world factboook. Some authors have long
sections - especially those who have been politically active, who get
pages about their political actions, speeches etc. as well as their
writings - while others have a simple page about one of their works.
The indexes do not always correlate, either: J.M. Coetzee, for example,
can be found in the South Africa section, but not on the list of
authors. This is, however, a comprehensive and useful site for students
of African literature.
Intute.ac.uk
http://www.scholars.nus.edu.sg/landow/post/misc/africov.html
The Phrase Finder
Posted by Celia Walter | 28 Mar, 2008The meanings and origins of over 1,200 English sayings, phrases and idioms.
http://www.phrases.org.uk/
Do You Speak American?
Posted by Celia Walter | 8 Mar, 2008This site offers the curious and curmudgeon alike something to enjoy.
Presented by the Public Broadcasting Service, this page details
American English regionalisms, the effects of technology on language,
the social value of accents (or lack thereof), and much more. Be sure
to check out the phenomenon that linguists refer to as the Northern
Cities Shift to understand why we in the Midwest speak the way we do,
and the reason for the "R-less" Southern dialects. Scout Report
http://scout.wisc.edu/Weblog/SWL--GoToEntry.php?EntryId=917