Dice Nick Kristof,

Learn Spanish.

That's So Gay, You Moron

An Andrew Sullivan correspondent says it's lame to let ourselves be offended by "language change."

Quel Pretty Pass

Didn't the French used to be fussy about French? From the language blog at the "Economist":

Spotted this morning on an advertising hoarding in the Paris metro: the most extravagant mix of phoneticised French and franglais I have yet come across. It was an ad for Keljob (quel job), a recruitment agency, promising “le speed recrutement” and “des ateliers coaching” (atelier meaning workshop in French).

"Speaking In Fewer Tongues"

We're Babeling less, says the "Economist":

Around a quarter of the world's population speaks just three languages: Mandarin, English and Spanish. But out of the 6,700 of the world's identified languages, nearly 2,500 are deemed at risk according to UNESCO, the UN's cultural body.

Show Me One In A Yeats Poem, And We'll Talk

One expert's idea of the 100 most beautiful words in English. Potamophilous? Blandiloquent? I eschew most of them.