History of the English Language course

I will be teaching a History of the English Language course on Monday afternoons Sept 13th to November 8th at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies:

Course Details

Did you know that the word "travel" is derived from an instrument of torture? That "tragedy" originally had something to do with goats? That hotels and hospitals have something in common? The fascinating history of the English language is full of such surprises. This course is a survey of the influences that have shaped English vocabulary over the years, covering the Anglo-Saxon and Viking origins, the influx of Norman French and Central French, later Latin and Greek borrowings, standardization and French borrowing in the 18th century, and international borrowing since the 18th century. We will tie linguistic developments in with the social and political events with which they coincided. Topics will include why English spelling is so difficult, why we have such a large wordstock, and how dictionaries are written.
To register:
http://2learn.utoronto.ca/uoft/search/publicCourseSearchDetails.do?method=load&cms=true&courseId=10855407#

That's the kind of fan I want!

I was just reading an item about keeping cool in the summer that suggested what you really need in your bedroom on a hot summer night is an "osculating fan". Much as I would like a fan that kisses me, what they meant was an "oscillating fan". "Osculate" (to kiss) comes from the Latin osculum (small mouth). It's possible that "oscillate" (to move back and forth) also comes from a Latin word meaning "small mouth", possibly in reference to a mask left to hang in the breeze. But this is not confirmed.

Photo by Filios Sazeides on Unsplash

Dialect coaches for Silicon Sally

I have long been annoyed by the automated announcements of departing flights in many Canadian airports. The English announcements are made by an American English voice and the French ones by a Continental French voice. It makes one feel like a stranger in one's own country to hear our capital city referred to as "Attawah". On complaining to Air Canada I was told there was no Canadian program available, which I find hard to believe.
I was equally surprised on a recent trip to Minneapolis to discover that the automated voice in the tram between the transit station and the terminal adjured us to stay "cleah of the doohs" in a decidedly British accent.
These computer-generated announcers need a dialect coach!

Something to chew on

Just back from Rome, where some delightful menu translations gave me pause. Not sure whether I was more taken aback by "Dread topped with tomatoes" or "Fried cud"!

No doubt about it

A very common error is to write or say "undoubtably". The word is "undoubtedly". If you really want to impress people, you could also use "indubitably".

Oh for heaven's sake

I am getting more than a little annoyed by bend-over-backward attempts to avoid words that mean "Christmas". First it was the "Holiday Tree", and now I just saw in the grocery store a cake traditionally called a "Yule Log" rebaptized a "Festive Log". Considering that Yule was a pre-Christian festival (and the real yule logs part of that), who do we think we are offending by using the word?

Talk about giving your all for your art

Saw this on a plaque at Canada's National Ballet School tonight:
"Batik is an art form that involves outlining a picture with wax, dying, and then drying".
What they meant, of course, was "dyeing".