Text and cartoons by Linda Thompson The Philogelos, typically translated as “the joker” or “the one who loves laughter”, is an ancient Greek collection of approximately 265 jokes. Dating to the 4th or 5th century CE, it typically bears the title of the world’s oldest surviving collection of jokes. After reading Dan Crompton’s translation of […]
The Philogelos: Joke #99 Read More »
Interview conducted by Greg Nedved, Secretary of the National Museum of Language. Several CONLANGS have visible symbols such as flags, e.g., Esperanto, Volapük. What, if any, positive role can flags or symbols play in developing CONLANGS? Is there any value to creating flags or symbols for natural languages, e.g., English, German, French? They probably play
Talking Constructed Languages with Arika Okrent Read More »
We are pleased to introduce you to our newest Board of Trustees member, Leslie Grahn. Leslie is the Coordinator of World Languages for the Howard County Public Schools in Maryland. She has twenty-seven years of language teaching experience at the middle and high school levels. She has been on the Board of Directors of the Maryland
National Museum of Language Announces New Board of Trustees Member Read More »
Some of the most familiar words in the English language had dramatically different meanings when they first started their journeys. Here we share a few professions and their unexpected etymological roots. Doctor: from the Latin docere, meaning “to teach, to show”. Until the 1700s, being a doctor typically entailed providing religious advice or scholarly teachings.
The Surprising Word Origins of Popular Professions Read More »
The Linguistic Society of America held its annual conference in Washington DC this week. It was the site of votes on the names of the year and words of the year. Linguists looked at the names and words that were in the news and decided which ones will be used and remembered beyond 2015. Article
American Linguists Get the Last Word – of the Year Read More »
Text and cartoons by Linda Thompson The Philogelos, typically translated as “the joker” or “the one who loves laughter”, is an ancient Greek collection of approximately 265 jokes. Dating to the 4th or 5th century CE, it typically bears the title of the world’s oldest surviving collection of jokes. After reading Dan Crompton’s translation of
The Philogelos: Joke #188 Read More »
Author and linguist Michael Erard, a former National Museum of Language trusteem was honored by the Linguistic Society of America for his work. Dr. Erard received the 2016 “Linguistics, Language, and the Public” Award, joining the ranks of Steven Pinker, Deborah Tannen, Geoff Nunberg, and Language Log. Congratulations, Michael!
Former Museum Trustee Receives LSA Award Read More »
Earlier this month, a new study conducted by Axiell confirmed an idea that we at the National Museum of Language have been promoting for some time: a digital footprint is key for today’s museums. The survey, which the IT systems supplier conducted in cooperation with Museums and the Web, examines the digital strategies, approaches, and attitudes
New Study Examines Digital Trends and the Modern Museum Read More »
Text and cartoons by Linda Thompson The Philogelos, typically translated as “the joker” or “the one who loves laughter”, is an ancient Greek collection of approximately 265 jokes. Dating to the 4th or 5th century CE, it typically bears the title of the world’s oldest surviving collection of jokes. After reading Dan Crompton’s translation of
The Philogelos: Joke #173 Read More »
