Grammar / Spelling / Punctuation Discussion and Appreciation (questions welcome!)

[SF_and_Coffee]

Oh, I make plenty of use of the OED myself, online or otherwise.

[Goose]

Whilst on the subject of dictionaries, I'm going to geek out for a bit:

I find Swedish dictionaries very interesting. The most commonly sold dictionary in Sweden isn't so much a dictionary as it is a list of words. The dictionary lists pretty much every single word or word combination possible in the Swedish language, and is considered to be the definitive guide for Swedish spelling, yet it doesn't list definitions!

That's left to the Swedish Academy's dictionary which, despite being worked upon 1786 is still only up to the letter T (and Swedish has three more letters than English). It's now up to just over 450,000 words and is by far and away the largest work of reference published in the Scandinavian countries. It's quite a fascinating piece of linguistic history, and is in many ways comparable to the OED. It just hasn't been completed yet!

[Professor_S]

<snip>
On a side note, I still have not found my "Eats, Shoots and Leaves".

This is sad, indeed!

I'm a traditionalist: I prefer the Oxford English Dictionary. Of course, being 20 volumes long, it's a bit... big, not to mention expensive, so unless I'm in a library, I stick to the Concise and Shorter versions.

Oh, I make plenty of use of the OED myself, online or otherwise.

I'm dying to invest in a copy of the complete OED!! Reading it through completely is *definitely* one of the things on my Bucket List. I've started reading a book by a fellow who did just this called Reading the OED; it's an absolutely fantastic book so far!

Whilst on the subject of dictionaries, I'm going to geek out for a bit:

I find Swedish dictionaries very interesting. The most commonly sold dictionary in Sweden isn't so much a dictionary as it is a list of words. The dictionary lists pretty much every single word or word combination possible in the Swedish language, and is considered to be the definitive guide for Swedish spelling, yet it doesn't list definitions!

That's left to the Swedish Academy's dictionary which, despite being worked upon 1786 is still only up to the letter T (and Swedish has three more letters than English). It's now up to just over 450,000 words and is by far and away the largest work of reference published in the Scandinavian countries. It's quite a fascinating piece of linguistic history, and is in many ways comparable to the OED. It just hasn't been completed yet!

Wow. This is so cool!! How old is the Swedish language compared to English?

Oh, and speaking of the OED, anyone else enjoy their word-a-day emails??

[Whytewytch]

This is sad, indeed!

I agree!

Oh, and speaking of the OED, anyone else enjoy their word-a-day emails??

What? What word-a-day email? I get the weekly grammar email from The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, but that's it. I want a word-a-day email! **pouts becomingly--well, it would have been becoming 20 years ago**

[Professor_S]

I agree!




What? What word-a-day email? I get the weekly grammar email from The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, but that's it. I want a word-a-day email! **pouts becomingly--well, it would have been becoming 20 years ago**

There, there, Whytewytch. You can get one too. If you go to http://www.oed.com/, you'll see the Word of the Day in the sidebar. Underneath the word and definition is a link to sign up for the daily email.

[Whytewytch]

Thank you, Professor_S! *Goes off to steady nerves with a word-a-day email*

Oh, and even worse about the book? One of my favorite bookmarks was in it--the one with the quote "You are never too old to be what you might have been"

[Goose]

Wow. This is so cool!! How old is the Swedish language compared to English?

It's difficult to say. Modern Swedish as we know it today is from the around 1750 (with large spelling reforms at the turn of the last century), and from 1526 in terms of "early" modern Swedish. Nevertheless, it's still possible to read (with some difficulty) to read Swedish before this, and Swedish in a recongnisable form dates from the early 1200's; sort of like Middle English. Before then, Old Norse was spoken, which has a lot in common with Old English (in fact, Old English is heavily influenced by Old Norse due to the Viking invasions of the 8th and 9th century).

[Professor_S]

That's really interesting, Goose! I remember learning about the history of the English language in middle school; when I saw Old English for the first time it blew my mind. I take it you study languages, then?

Oh boy, Whytewytch... I can see why it's one of your favourites, too! I really like that quotation. To whom is it attributed?

[Goose]

That's really interesting, Goose! I remember learning about the history of the English language in middle school; when I saw Old English for the first time it blew my mind. I take it you study languages, then?

Old English really is quite fascinating, especially when compared to Old Norse and Icelandic (which is essentially just Old Norse with a few minor tweeks). I no, I don't study languages. Yet. I've applied for an MA in sociolinguistics; I've always been fascinated by two things: languages and society. I've already got a degree in sociology so I'm hoping to get one in sociolinguistics! But so far, all my language studies have been for fun!

[Whytewytch]

Oh boy, Whytewytch... I can see why it's one of your favourites, too! I really like that quotation. To whom is it attributed?

Apparently it's George Eliot, although I've mis-quoted (thanks to missing book/bookmark for 2 months). The actual quote is, "It is never too late to be what you might have been." Found it here.

[Whytewytch]

Old English really is quite fascinating, especially when compared to Old Norse and Icelandic (which is essentially just Old Norse with a few minor tweeks). I no, I don't study languages. Yet. I've applied for an MA in sociolinguistics; I've always been fascinated by two things: languages and society. I've already got a degree in sociology so I'm hoping to get one in sociolinguistics! But so far, all my language studies have been for fun!

I love studying old languages, too--Old and Middle English, Latin, Greek. So far, mine's been just for fun or for fan fic research, but that's it. Would love to study Swedish in general. My 10 year old decided to listen to my "Learn Irish" tapes the other day. He got a real charge out of it. LOL

[mathpiglet]

This is cute.

[Professor_S]

This is cute.

LOL! Abstract usage! I do love it!

This stuff drives insane when I edit work for people... I don't even understand how one can confuse 'then' and 'than'!!

Thanks for the link, mathpiglet!

[mathpiglet]

I'm tempted to buy a poster for my classroom, but some of it is a little iffy.

[Professor_S]

I'm tempted to buy a poster for my classroom, but some of it is a little iffy.

LOL!! Yeah.... Have you browsed the other grammar comics? They're all quite a lot fun.

What grade(s) do you teach, mathpiglet?