Category: Language

Binge Watching Binged Culture Language Movies Tv Shows

We really need a new word for binge-watching

sudshr47 January 27, 2019

TwitterFacebook

In Binged, Mashable breaks down why we binge-watch, how we binge-watch, and what it does to us. Because binge-watching is the new normal.

If you were born a working-class kid near the English city of Leicester before Queen Victoria’s reign, then you may have been one of the first people in the world to use the word “binge.” Which, back then, meant “soaking wood so it swells and won’t leak in the rain.”

The first writer to record the word, in 1848, also mentioned Leicestershire locals had started to use “binge” for another kind of soaking: getting wasted. And that’s how it spread around the world — from alcoholism (binge-drinking) to excessive food consumption (binge-eating, introduced around a century ago), until finally, around 2014, largely thanks to Netflix, we began to talk of binge-watching.   Read more…

More about Language, Binge Watching, Binged, Culture, and Movies Tv Shows

View More We really need a new word for binge-watching
Artificial Intelligence Conversations Google Assistant Language technology

Google Assistant on Home devices now speaks and understands Spanish

sudshr47 June 26, 2018

Google Assistant on certain Google Home devices (Android 6.0 Marshmallow and up) can now speak and understand Spanish.
The update comes on the heels of Google Home’s product launch in Spain last week and coincides with its rollout in Mexico today. Th…

View More Google Assistant on Home devices now speaks and understands Spanish
Australia Emmanuel Macron French Language Translation

Emmanuel Macron’s ‘delicious wife’ comment leaves people scratching heads

sudshr47 May 2, 2018

TwitterFacebook

There’s no doubting French President Emmanuel Macron’s excellent grasp of English.

But given French and English share numerous words that sound similar but have different meanings, there’s bound to be some expressions that get lost in translation.

Macron, who is currently visiting Australia, left people scratching their heads when he referred to the Australian prime minister’s wife, Lucy Turnbull, as “delicious” at a press conference on Wednesday. 

“I want to thank you for your welcome, you and your delicious wife,” he said.

Sometimes translation is tough
“I want to thank you for your welcome, you and your delicious wife” @EmmanuelMacron says to @TurnbullMalcolm pic.twitter.com/bIn6kokiYW

— ABC Sydney (@abcsydney) May 2, 2018 Read more…

More about Australia, French, Language, Translation, and Emmanuel Macron

View More Emmanuel Macron’s ‘delicious wife’ comment leaves people scratching heads
Culture Internet Language linguistics Millennials

Millennials destroyed the rules of written English – and created something better

sudshr47 April 2, 2018

TwitterFacebook

The spelling and grammar rules do not apply on the Millennial Internet™. 

That’s because millennials have created a new rulebook for a variant of written English unique to social media. A rulebook which states that deliberately misspelled words and misused grammar can convey tone, nuance, humour, and even annoyance. 

Dr Lauren Fonteyn, English Linguistics lecturer at University of Manchester, told Mashable “something exciting” is happening with the way that millennials write, and it goes far, far beyond our proclivity to use acronyms and “like.”  

Fonteyn says millennials are “breaking the constraints” of written English to “be as expressive as you can be in spoken language.” This new variant of written English strives to convey what body language, and tone and volume of voice can achieve in spoken English.  Read more…

More about Internet, Millennials, Language, Linguistics, and Culture

View More Millennials destroyed the rules of written English – and created something better
Amazon Language Tech Translator Voice Assistants

Alexa is already multilingual but Amazon wants to make her more fluent, report says

sudshr47 March 2, 2018

TwitterFacebook

Every product here is independently selected by Mashable journalists. If you buy something featured, we may earn an affiliate commission which helps support our work.

Alexa is brushing up on her language skills.

Amazon’s voice-enabled digital assistant will reportedly soon become an on-the-go real-time language translator.

Alexa’s English, German, and Japanese skills will need to be rounded out when she becomes what Yahoo reports as a “multilingual assistant who can help in almost any situation.” 

An Alexa “skill” already translates short sentences in English into 36 languages including Arabic, Hindi, Indonesian, Polish, Thai and many more — but just short phrases and words. Context and a more sophisticated take on culture will make the assistant useful in real-time moments, as Yahoo reported based on several unnamed sources close to the project. Read more…

More about Amazon, Language, Voice Assistants, Translator, and Tech

View More Alexa is already multilingual but Amazon wants to make her more fluent, report says
Communication knowledge Language News reporting semiotics TC

Tech4Reporters pitches a new hub for journalists to connect with tech experts

sudshr47 February 6, 2018

 Technology reporting has become a function of every single major news beat these days. From politics to crime, business and finance to entertainment, it’s increasingly important that reporters get a good grounding in the technology that’s transforming their beats to avoid basic errors. For John Biggs, an editor-at-large here at TechCrunch, the problem became so acute in the… Read More

View More Tech4Reporters pitches a new hub for journalists to connect with tech experts