When Being Lost for Words is more than a memory lapse We all experience occasions when we are lost for words or struggle to find...

Why are so many languages spoken in the world? Around 7,000 different languages are spoken around the world. This seems like an...

Does it become harder to learn new languages as you age? Until relatively recently, even scientists believed that you couldn’t teach old...

The implications of language extinction Thousands of languages are spoken across the globe but sadly hundreds of these are close to...

The evolution of colourful language In a previous article, we explored the language of colour. We looked at how our vocabulary can...

The language of colour There was a time when languages didn’t feature words for individual colours. As languages evolved, words for...

How to use a monolingual paper dictionary There are a wide variety of English dictionaries to choose from. Each dictionary is a unique...

Surprising facts about dictionaries Dictionaries might seem like a rather dry subject. But if you believe that dictionaries wouldn’t...

Covid-19 language and the Oxford English Dictionary Table of contents Covid-19 language and the Oxford English Dictionary A dictionary...

Back translation Also known as reverse translation, back translation is a potentially crucial step in the translation quality assurance...

The Netflix fail: why subtitles are currently such a hot topic Table of contents The Netflix fail: why subtitles are currently such a hot...

The Yorkshire Ripper Hoax We recently explored the role of forensic linguistics in assisting criminal investigations and in securing...

Skopos Theory, emphasizes that the purpose of a translation should guide the translation process.

Forensic linguistics and Forensic Phonetics in criminal investigation Table of contents Forensic linguistics and Forensic Phonetics in...

Shakespeare, parlour games and kids – the history of knock-knock jokes Guaranteed to inspire many giggles, knock-knock jokes are firm...

Why Linguistic Quality Assurance Matters Poor quality translations can cause considerable embarrassment to any brand and are unlikely to...

Why do puns make us smile – or roll our eyes? Like football, politics and savoury spreads made of yeast extract, puns divide opinion. For...

Fozzbonkling nonsense words that excite your simploncs All languages evolve across the ages, with new words being added every year and...

Infamous and hilarious translation disasters Translation is an art, a science and a minefield! Get it right and nobody notices. Get it...

Are there any English speaking EU countries? Until the 1990s, French was the dominant language of the EU. But new countries continued to...