February 5, 2012 at 6:38 pm (Uncategorized)
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.
Here’s an excerpt:
A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 7,500 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 6 trips to carry that many people.
January 2, 2011 at 4:18 pm (Uncategorized)
The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:
The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Wow.
A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.
A Boeing 747-400 passenger jet can hold 416 passengers. This blog was viewed about 5,400 times in 2010. That’s about 13 full 747s.
In 2010, there were 20 new posts, growing the total archive of this blog to 30 posts. There were 2 pictures uploaded, taking up a total of 2mb.
The busiest day of the year was May 4th with 102 views. The most popular post that day was New York’s Language Ark.
The top referring sites in 2010 were ladypoverty.blogspot.com, mail.yahoo.com, facebook.com, search.conduit.com, and rootedincalifornia.blogspot.com.
Some visitors came searching, mostly for danza negra translation, danza negra, kono hentai, regional expressions, and ouistiti.
These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.
New York’s Language Ark May 2010
6 comments
Danza Negra August 2009
3 comments
How many ways to say “How YOU doin’?” ? January 2010
9 comments
Say “Ouistiti!” for the camera! March 2010
6 comments
Word of the Week: Umoja March 2010
2 comments
June 6, 2010 at 3:47 pm (English)
Tags: Dictionaries, Exile, Hoosegow
Dear Loyal Dialect Readers,
This note was smuggled into the country and is reprinted here at great potential risk. From information that we have gathered, the note was written clandestinely and while in custody of the authorities. It is clear that the writer did not have access to Spellcheck or a thesaurus and from this we infer that the writer was in grave danger. By a turn of fortune, we do have confirmation that the writer has been spirited to relative safety and is now being habored by local Dialect online blog followers near the beach on an undisclosed, inexpensive, semi-tropical island.
Be well and stay informed,
Dialect Support Committee
May 3, 2010 at 1:00 am (Aboriginal Languages, Caribbean Languages, English, Indigenous Languages, World Languages)
Tags: Endangered Language Allaince, Linguistics, NYC
Below is an article from the New York Times found and suggested by Brad B., a pre-eminent language expert and a Dialect regular.
Enjoy!
***
by Sam Roberts – published April 28, 2010
The chances of overhearing a conversation in Vlashki, a variant of Istro-Romanian, are greater in Queens than in the remote mountain villages in Croatia that immigrants now living in New York left years ago.
April 26, 2010 at 4:10 pm (English, Filipino, Tagalog)
Tags: Bongga ka day, Laban, Pilipino
[Laban hand gesture]
I’ve been interested in Tagalog/Filipino for a while and I wanted to find a rousing political slogan in the language. A guy came into my line at work and he mentioned that he was a professor in the Philipines. Frank was his name. I asked him, “So does that mean you speak Tagalog (or Filipino)?” to which he answered in the affirmative. I then asked him for some good political phrases for “Let’s go!” or “Let’s do it!” using raised-fist gestures to convey the sentiment.
April 19, 2010 at 1:00 am (English, Welsh)
Tags: Cymdeithas, Cymraeg, Osian Jones
Just a little follow up on the previous post regarding Welsh language activist Osian Jones. The campaign to achieve a New Welsh Language Act and make Wales officially bi-lingual is on-going and remains strong.
April 12, 2010 at 1:00 am (English, World Languages)
Tags: Dictionaries, WMD
After months of behind-the-scenes arm twisting and agonizing negotiation, a series of decisive moves made on the part of The Dialect has brought nearly a dozen new acquisitions under their sole proprietorship. Nervous insiders describe the transferred materials as “a frightening arsenal of linguistic technology.” While official statements from the now-infamous online language website blog dismiss these moves as ‘utilitarian’ and ‘inconsequential’, there is reason to believe that unilateral domination of the language world remains the covert objective.
April 5, 2010 at 1:00 am (British English, English, Newspeak)
Tags: crimethink, George Orwell's 1984, Government phraseology, Slogans
I just got finished re-reading one of my most formative books, George Orwell’s 1984. I wanted to go back and re-read it after having started The Dialect in order to discuss ‘Newspeak.’ In this classic dystopian novel, Orwell invents ‘Newspeak’, a regressive language introduced by the Party to prevent resistance by restricting thought.
1984′s social vision and historical prediction resonates with those who distrust government and fear a future of repression. Sadly, though, its easy to find 1984 fans upon whom Orwell’s powerful message is utterly lost.
March 29, 2010 at 1:00 am (American English, English)
Tags: Bill Mauldin, Greatest Generation, Military jargon, WWII cartoons
“Ya don’t git combat pay ’cause ya don’t fight.”
My dad and I went to a military vehicle and gear ‘swapmeet’ one weekend and I came across a book that I just fell in love with. I really like politically-oriented cartoons and art and this book struck many beautiful chords with me. It’s called Up Front and its written and illustrated by WWII’s famous rank ‘n’ file cartoon genius, Bill Mauldin. It was written in 1944 while Mauldin was in Italy and France. It’s essentially a long political and social diatribe to accompany 161 of his cartoon drawings, all of which give voice to the sardonic vignettes of ‘dogface’ infantry soldiers.
March 22, 2010 at 1:00 am (English, Swahili, World Languages)
Tags: Karenga, Kiswahili, Uhuru Furniture, Umoja
Swahili (or Kiswahili) functioned in the 1960s & 1970s as a symbol of ’Pan-Africanism’ and was employed by Ron Karenga* in the creation of the Kwanzaa holiday rituals.
In addition, Swahili now functions in US pop culture as a catch-all African language. The words below reflect both of these tendencies.
