Number of Posts: 6
Posts 1 - 6
I can't be trusted with Google's texting app
Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 19.5.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Google, language threat, texting, word/writing, youth
Summary | Google's new Allo app is supposed to make you save time while you're texing, but it can sometimes lead to misunderstandings. The author of the article doesn't really like emojis and doesn't know how to use them well. She doesn't follow young people's digital habits. Their generation favors brevity, which can have a negative impact on language.
Image Description | Photograph of two young girls on their smartphones, two smartphones displaying chat conversations, and a man standing in front of a screen displaying "Allo" and "Duo".
Image Tags | female(s), male(s), smartphone, text
Facebook granted patent for post-scanning software that identifies slang before it becomes popular
Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 9.3.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | Facebook, word/writing
Summary | Facebook has been granted a patent for a software that can identify users' new words and slang. Facebook wants to identify those new "cool" words before they become popular and create a glossary of those terms.
Image Description | Hand holding a smartphone displaying the Facebook app, photograph of man's face (nose and mouth), and diagram showing how the new software would work
Image Tags | Facebook, hand(s), male(s), smartphone
Words are getting shorter due to social media as 'Jomo' and 'mic drop' feature on word of the year list
Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 3.11.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | social media, spelling, texting, word/writing
Summary | With social media and texting, it seems that words are getting shorter. For instance, “jomo” stands for the “joy of missing out”; the acronym has been included on the Collins list of words that have seen a significant rise in usage. Other terms are: mic drop, throw shade, sharenting, uberisation, or dude food.
Image Description | Photograph of a group of people cheering, video of Obama dropping his mic, and photograph of Trump smiling
Image Tags | female(s), male(s)
Boaty McBoatface shows we shouldn’t always listen to the public, says Bank of England chief economist
Newspaper | Telegraph
Date | 31.3.2017
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | politics, word/writing
Summary | The public should not always be asked. In the public poll about the name for a new research ship the name Boaty McBoatface won with 80 per cent of the votes - this as an example of how internet crowds can develop "madness". Similarly, the public should not be allowed to vote on financial politics they do not understand. Bankers also have to learn to break down their language so that common people understand what they mean. "Prices and jobs" will resonate much better with the broad public than "inflation and employment". Also, the fewer adjectives and adverbs there are, the easier the message is to understand.
Image Description | Image of a ship, a banker, and an empty marmite shelf.
Image Tags | male(s)
Emoji is named as Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year
Newspaper | Mirror
Date | 17.11.2015
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | emojis, word/writing
Summary | The "face with tears of joy" emoji was named word of the joy by the Oxford Dictionary. Emojis are symbols of today's culture and communication, and are replacing traditional forms of communication. There is nowadays a focus on visual communication. Emojis are a new form of communication that allow people to express their emotions, and to go beyond linguistic barriers.
Image Description | Digital image of the "face with tears of joy" emoji, and photograph of a man reading the Oxford Dictionary of English.
Image Tags | dictionary, emojis, male(s)
How English Became English by Simon Horobin review – ‘OMG’ was first used 100 years ago
Newspaper | The Guardian
Date | 31.3.2016
Language | English
Country | UK
Topic Tags | word/writing
Summary | Simon Horobin's new book is about language change. He traces the history of the English language while explaining the notions of language standard and prescriptivism. Horobin argues that some linguistic forms such as "OMG" are not new; for instance, the acronym OMG first appeared in 1917. Horobin also praises the possibility of being linguistically creative, which is something new technologies offer.
Image Description | Photograph of British comedian Jack Whitehall wearing a Hooters t-shirt and a bra.
Image Tags | male(s)
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