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Such and Such
When “as such” is used correctly, with a clear antecedent, you should be able to substitute that antecedent for “such” and have the sentence make sense. But we frequently misuse “as such” in a much looser way to connect two thoughts. If there’s no clear noun antecedent for “such,” think again and rephrase. After Deadline […]
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Johnson: Strategically speaking
JOHNSON often takes a curious rather than a judgmental view of language use: where many fuss and fret that the language is falling to pieces, your columnist often finds that examining the messy use of language in the real world is more fun than finger-wagging. But that doesn’t mean that Johnson doesn’t think that words […]
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New issue of the Linguistics and Education Bulletin
New issue of the Linguistics and Education Bulletin via Tumblr http://ift.tt/1kl215u
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Understanding gender diversity: sex and gender are not the same thing | Mind your language
The Guardian’s proposed new guidelines when writing about transgender people There are two core concepts that help in understanding transgender people and their experiences. First, gender and sex are distinct in this context: sex = biology, ie sex assigned at birth; gender = one’s innate sense of self. Thus, transgender (where the Latin trans means […]
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Johnson: Is there a single Ukraine?
Is the modern Ukraine one nation? The question is not meant to be provocative. But it is worth asking, since Ukraine is deeply divided on its international destiny: roughly speaking, does it belong more closely to the European Union or to Russia? Political divides cut Ukraine into eastern and western halves. The last two presidential […]
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Close but Not Quite
A slightly unusual word choice can enliven a story. But we should make sure we know what our slightly unusual word actually means. Here are several recent cases where we reached for a word, only to come up with the wrong one or to use it incorrectly. After Deadline http://ift.tt/1e0kyf1