Here are the online resources I use to create my monthly newsletter on the development of the English language. They include my own subjective, biased opinion, which I encourage you to ignore.
English in Progress is a newsletter about the English Language, and where it is headed. New words, new writings, new research findings, interesting titbits, fascinating lexicography. If you work with English, or just love languages, this newsletter is for you! You can subscribe in the below widget-thingy, or go here to take a look first.
What does this list not include?
This list does not include any blogs meant for learners of English, or blogs with language tips for (beginning) writers. It also doesn’t include podcasts, which have their own list.
Are there any websites or blogs that I have missed? Please let me know in the comments!
List categories
- English in the news
- World Englishes, and how they influence each other
- Lexicology (words and their meanings)
- Accents & Dialects
- Slang & Swearing
- Editors’ personal blogs
- Style guide blogs
- Etymology (history of words)
- Linguistics (language science, not only English)
- English in education
- Social Justice Linguistics
- Other
Symbols:
🔥 – great website for English in Progress, updates regularly
💀 – this website no longer updates (but has been included because it is important to my subject: evolving English. Most dead blogs on English have not been included, a long list can be found here)
English in the news
Dictionary Society of North America: News
Quite a bit of internal news, but also includes new books coming out etc. (Dec 22)
American English
Updates: four newsletters a year
Link: https://dictionarysociety.com/news/
🔥ELEXIS: News from the Lexicographic World
This automatically generated list updates daily. It includes lexicographic news in other languages, too, but it is worth scrolling through for the English stuff. ELEXIS stands for the European Lexicographic Infrastructure. (Dec 22)
Mixed Englishes
Updates: every day
Link: https://elex.is/tools-and-services/lexicographic-news/
Harvard Business Review (Tag: business communication)
The articles on business communication in the Harvard business review will sometimes include interesting content about language, such as “Research: Men Speak More Abstractly Than Women”. (Dec 22)
American English
Updates: every few weeks
Link: https://hbr.org/topic/subject/business-communication
Language and Innovation
Tony Thorne, visiting consultant at King’s College in the UK, writes about linguistic and cultural change.
British English
Updates: every few months
Link: https://language-and-innovation.com/
🔥Languagehat
Steve Dodson is a retired copyeditor who uses his blog to respond to English and language in the news. Still going strong and very popular in a time when many language blogs lie abandoned. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: almost every day
Link: https://languagehat.com/
NPR (search: English)
NPR is the US’s National Public Radio. I love it, like most people do, for the excellent podcasts it produces. Many people won’t know that NPR also has a high-quality website with the kinds of articles you would normally find behind a paywall.
Searching for “English” on the NPR website will turn up a lovely human-interest story related to the English language every few months or so. (Dec 22)
American English
Updates: every month or two
Link: https://www.npr.org/search/?query=english&page=1
Screenrant (Search term: English)
A good source of what is happening concerning video games & movies and the English language. (Dec 22)
American English
Updates: every two weeks or so
Link: https://screenrant.com/ (search for “English”)
The Economist (search term: English)
I never understand the Economist’s paywall, but I know I sometimes get access. They don’t often write pieces on the English language, but when they do, they’re brilliant. (Dec 22)
British English
Updates: relevant to me? Like once a year
Link: https://www.economist.com/search?q=english&sort=date
The Grammarian
Paywall! Jeffrey Barg at The Philadelphia Inquirer looks at how language, grammar, and punctuation shape our world.
American English
Updates: once a month
Link: https://www.inquirer.com/author/angry_grammarian/
🔥The Guardian (Category: Language)
Up to now, every single one of my newsletters has included at least one article from the Guardian because it doesn’t have a paywall and writes about the English language often. (Dec 22)
British English
Relevant updates: a few times a week
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/science/language
The Harmless Drudge
Dave Wilton is building an impressive (and often funny) A-Z etymological list of interesting terms, but he also has a blog devoted to English in general, in which he sometimes comments on English in the news. (Jan 2023)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: every few months
Link: https://www.wordorigins.org/harmless-drudge
World Englishes, and how they influence each other
💀Dick & Garlick
A blog on Indian English, Hinglish and Slang which is unfortunately no longer being updated. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: India and world
This blog no longer updates
Link: http://dickandgarlick.blogspot.com/
Kel Richards’ Ozwords
Kel Richards has been reporting on the Australian language for more than 30 years. He has this blog, a podcast, a column in The Spectator Australia (mentioned below), and has written 9 books.
Aimed at: Australia and world
Updates: unclear, but is still active
Link: https://ozwords.com.au/
Language on the Move (Topic: English as a global language)
Language on the move is a peer-reviewed sociolinguistics research site devoted to multilingualism, language learning, and intercultural communication in the contexts of globalization and migration. (Dec 2023)
Aimed at: world
Updates: every month or so
Link: https://www.languageonthemove.com/category/english-as-a-global-language/
🔥Not one-off Britishisms
In his blog, Ben Yagoda collects British words and phrases that have become popular in the US. His writings are witty and (to world English nerds like me) interesting. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and UK (Yagoda is American)
Updates: two or three times a month
Link: https://notoneoffbritishisms.com/
🔥Separated by a Common Language
Lynne Murphy blogs about the differences between American and British English. It’s been going for a while, and doesn’t update as often as I would like (though with a book, an active Twitter account, and a university job, I understand why!). The old posts are a treasure trove of information. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and UK (Murphy is an American living in the UK)
Updates: once or twice a month
Link: https://separatedbyacommonlanguage.blogspot.com/
Ten Minutes past Deadline
Ed Latham, a sub-editor at the Metropolis Tribune* in London wrestling with page layouts and SEO, deadlines and late copy, Google News and anxious lawyers, and all the other things that fill a production journalist’s day. One of the things this blog does is look at frequent mix-ups between British and American media; when the UK picks up a news story that was meant for the US, or the other way round. That’s something that I, with my interest in the future of English, find really interesting. The Internet has our worlds converging, but journalists and editors aren’t quite keeping up. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: every week
Link: https://tenminutespastdeadline.wordpress.com/
The New European (tag: language)
This online newspaper has a paywall, but it is as interested in World Englishes as its name would suggest, and with so few sources I wanted to list it anyway. (Jan 2023)
Aimed at: Europeans
Updates: once a week or so
Link: https://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/tag/language/
The Spectator Australia: Language
Weekly column by Kel Richards (Feb 2023)
Aimed at: Australians
Updates: once a week
Link: https://www.spectator.com.au/author/kel-richards/
Lexicology (words and their meanings)
English dictionaries remain the authority when it comes to the development of the English language. Their lexicologists keep a close eye on the developing language, and update their dictionaries accordingly (assuming there’s enough money!). So when it comes to English in Progress, the dictionary blogs rank first in my sources of information.
💀American Heritage Dictionary Blog
This blog, like the website and the dictionary it belongs to, is no longer being updated. Such a shame! Bring it back! (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US, but more international than you would expect with that name
Relevant updates: never
Link: https://ahdictionary.tumblr.com/
BBC Future: Wise Words
This series of columns by various authors explores neologisms that might tell us something about our future. It’s often rather bleak, but well-written and always interesting. (Feb 2023)
Aimed at: UK
Relevant updates: about twice a year
Link: https://www.bbc.com/future/columns/wise-words
🔥Cambridge Dictionary Blog: New Words
When the Cambridge Dictionary staff observes a new word in written or spoken English, they add it to this blog. That does NOT mean these words are going to be added to the dictionary (though they might be).
I love this blog and I want to give the linguists that compile the words it features a big hug, as it is exactly the kind of thing my newsletter is about.
Cambridge does not publish any public lists of words that they actually added, which is a shame. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Relevant updates: once a week
Link: https://dictionaryblog.cambridge.org/category/new-words/
Collins Language Lovers Blog
I’m biased, because Collins is my online dictionary of choice as a translator. They usually have an entry for the word I need, they have a handy little graphic showing you how prevalent the word is, and they include both British and American English while making a clear distinction between the two. For writers like me who are dealing with an international audience, this is very important information.
The “language lovers” blog (for SEO purposes, I assume) is written for a general public by Rachel Quin and Jeremy Butterfield. It’s simple, well-written, but not exactly ground-breaking stuff. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: once a week
Link: https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/latest-language/
Collins Dictionary: new words
Collins gives an update on new words they have added to the dictionary every few months or so. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: every 7 months or so
Link: https://blog.collinsdictionary.com/latest-language/
Collins Dictionary: new word suggestions
Just a list of suggestions for new words that are made by users (Aug 23)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: almost daily
Link: https://www.collinsdictionary.com/submissions/latest
David Astle at Sydney Morning Herald
David Astle complains about words. Paywall after 5 articles or so. (Sep 23)
Aimed at: Australia
Updates: once a week
Link: https://www.smh.com.au/by/david-astle-p4yw3m
Dr. Metablog
“Vivian de St. Vrain, the pen name of a resident of the mountain west, writes about language, books, politics, or whatever else comes to mind.” Included here for their regular lists of “new words to me”.
Aimed at: US
Updates: every week or so
Link: https://www.drmetablog.com/
💀Harmless drudgery
Owned and operated by Kory Stamper, a lexicographer who has spent almost 25 years now slowly going blind while defining words like “take” and “blue plate special.” (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
This blog no longer updates
Link: https://korystamper.wordpress.com/
Macmillan Dictionary Blog
This blog no longer updates.
Link: http://www.macmillandictionaryblog.com/
Mental Floss (Tag: Language)
Mental Floss is a fun-fact online magazine that also regularly posts about language. The articles are usually about words and their meanings, slang, etymology etc. (Feb 2023)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: a few times a week
Link: https://www.mentalfloss.com/section/language
Merriam-Webster: New Words in the Dictionary
It appears that Merriam-Webster does not have an official time to write an article on the words they have added to their dictionary, but does so about once a year (but sometimes more often) and not at a set time. When they do get around to it, though, they write a wonderful article about it that makes me warm and happy inside. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: seemingly randomly on average every 10 months or so?
Link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/new-words-in-the-dictionary
Merriam-Webster: Words we’re watching
Merriam-Webster takes quite a different approach to Cambridge when it comes to neologisms and other potential new entries: it writes a whole fun blog post per word. Only thing I’m missing: the date! (July 2023)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: unclear
Link: https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-were-watching/see-all
🔥OED: quarterly update
The Oxford English Dictionary publishes a list of all the new words it has added every quarter. Hundreds of words to plough through, always a big moment for me 🙂 (Oct 23)
Aimed at: world
Updates: every quarter, in February, June, September and December
Link: https://www.oed.com/information/updates
OED: blog
Okay, okay, I appreciate the irony, but the OED blog is a bit too wordy for me. The paragraphs are so long! The point is so hidden! One of these days I’m going to sit down and actually read an entry. That day has not yet come… (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: every week or so
Link: www.public.oed.com/blog
Sesquiotica
Blog by James Harbeck, who writes about words, and also uses a lot of them. “Words are delicious and intoxicating. They do much more than just denote; they have appearance, sound, a feel in the mouth, and words they sound like and travel with. All of these participate in the aesthetic experience of the word and can affect communication. So why not taste them like a fine wine?” (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: once a week
Link: https://sesquiotic.com/
Shashi Tharoor’s World of Words
Politician, diplomat, writer and wordsmith Shashi Tharoor dissects words and language (Jan 2023)
Aimed at: India
Updates: once a week
Link: https://www.khaleejtimes.com/lifestyle/shashi-tharoors-world-of-words
The Good Word (The Atlantic)
A column by Caleb Madison. Paywalled. (Oct 23)
Aimed at: USA
Updates: once every week, but now irregularly, maybe he’s been on holiday?
Link: https://www.theatlantic.com/category/good-word/
💀Word Spy
“The word lover’s guide to new words”. Stopped updating in June 2018. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world
Last update: June 2018
Link: https://www.wordspy.com/
🔥Word through The Times
The New York Times discusses a word and how it has changed in usage from the past to today. Unfortunately, it is behind a paywall. (Sep 23)
Aimed at: USA
Updates: Once or twice a month
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/series/word-through-the-times
Accents & Dialects
💀Dialect blog
Dialect Blog was launched in 2011 as a place for hobbyists, actors, linguists and curiosity-seekers to learn about and discuss the dialects of the English language. Unfortunately, the last update was in 2015, but it can still be a good resource for those interested in dialects and accents. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and US
This blog no longer updates
Link: http://dialectblog.com/
English Speech Services Blog
Dr Geoff Lindsey writes well-informed blog posts on phonetics and accent, which are much less aimed at marketing his company than you would think by looking at the name. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: once every few months
Link: https://www.englishspeechservices.com/blog
Linguism
I’m including this blog under “accent” because Graham Pointon’s recent posts almost all talk about pronunciation issues on the BBC. Not sure if this blog is still updating, but if it is, it may have some interesting content every now and then.
Aimed at: UK
Updates: a few times a year
Link: https://www.linguism.co.uk/
💀Yale Grammatical Diversity Project
English in North America
Some really cool examples of idiosyncratic North-American grammar.(Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Last update: October 2020
Link: https://ygdp.yale.edu/
Slang & Swearing
Strong Language
A sweary blog about swearing. Gives a place for professional language geeks to talk about things they can’t talk about in more polite contexts. Posts written by various authors. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world
Updates: not very often
Link: https://stronglang.wordpress.com/
Urban dictionary ???
Amazingly, it would seem that Urban Dictionary does not have a blog, internal or external, and does not even have a way to filter for most recent additions. So this wonderful slang resource has no way for e.g. academics to monitor changes and developments. Surprising, and a pity. If anybody knows of a resource I have missed, please let me know! (Dec 22)
Editors’ personal blogs
There are a LOT of editors’ blogs out there. People love to write about how they feel English ought to be written, it seems. My interest isn’t in correct English, it is on how English lives and breathes, how it is developing. The blogs I have featured here are ones that will comment on the development of English every now and then. If you know of another one I should include, please let me know.
💀Apostrophe abuse
This blog no longer updates, but if you fancy an afternoon of being annoyed, you can scroll through the pictures. (Dec 22)
Link: http://www.apostropheabuse.com/
Arrant Pedantry
Linguist, editor, writer, and linguist Jonathon Owen blogs about editing, usage, prescriptivism and descriptivism, and other language issues. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Updates: every few months (very active on Twitter, though)
Link: https://www.arrantpedantry.com/
Grammar Girl (Podcast Transcripts)
I knew Grammar Girl Mignon Fogarty from her “quick and dirty tips”, which have helped me a lot in the past (and, let’s admit it, in the present, too). When I gave her podcast a listen recently, I was surprised to hear that it was much more about interesting etymology and other language facts than grammar tips.
The Grammar Girl website is, rightly, optimised for finding grammar tips, so for English language development stories I find these transcripts a better place to go. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world (Fogarty is American)
Updates: once a week
Link: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes (click through for the transcripts)
Grammar Guy
Curtis Honeycutt (excellent name!) writes a grammar and language column in his local newspaper. It is virtually unreadable on smartphone, but fine on desktop/laptop.
He also used to post the columns on his own website, but it looks as if he has stopped doing that now. (Oct 23)
Grammar Underground
Language tips from writer and journalist June Casagrande. Great sense of humour, as can be seen from the title of her first book “Grammar Snobs Are Great Big Meanies”. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Updates: once a week
Link: http://www.grammarunderground.com/
Iva Cheung
Iva Cheung is an editor who has a blog on her professional website with little comics about the life of an editor. She is also the author of the classic work “Angry Jelly Donut”, which can be downloaded for free from her website.
Aimed at: Canada & world
Updates: every month or so
Link: https://ivacheung.com/blog/
Madam Grammar
This grammarians blog does not update a lot any more, but she includes funny pictures in her posts which I applaud. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Updates: once a year
Link: https://madamgrammar.com/
May I have a word about…
Guardian editor Jonathan Bouquet uses this column to gripe about neologisms. He’s especially opposed to corporate English and politicians using wordy fluff to make their not-so-nice policies sound better. Despite the prescriptivist undertones, this column is good for monitoring the development of English. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK
Updates: every week
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/series/shifting-patterns-of-english
Sentence First
Scientist and writer turned editor and swivel-chair linguist Stan Carey writes about the English language: its usage, grammar, styles, literature, history, and quirks. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: Ireland, UK and world
Updates: once or twice a month
Link: https://stancarey.wordpress.com/
Stroppy Editor
Editor Tom Freeman writes lovely long pieces where he thoughtfully responds to English in the news. He also had the best list of other editors’ blogs, which I used to create this list, so thank you Tom! (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK
Updates: once or twice a year
Link: https://stroppyeditor.wordpress.com/
💀The “blog” of “unnecessary” quotation marks
This blog no longer updates, but if you fancy an afternoon of being annoyed, you can scroll through the pictures. (Dec 22)
Link: http://www.unnecessaryquotes.com/
You Don’t Say
John McIntyre, whom James Wolcott called “the Dave Brubeck of the art and craft of copy editing,” writes on language, editing, journalism, and random topics. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Updates: once every two weeks or so
Link: https://johnemcintyre.blogspot.com/
Style guide blogs
Publication style guides must (however grudgingly) adapt as the language changes, so they are a great source for monitoring language change.
Bridging the unbridgeable
An academic linguist’s look at usage guides. Ingrid Tieken aims to provide – but primarily to receive – feedback on all sorts of English usage questions. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world (the author is Dutch)
Updates: a few times a month
Link: https://bridgingtheunbridgeable.com/
Chicago Manual of Style Q&A latest
Frustratingly, the Chicago Manual of Style does not date its “recent additions to the Q&A”, but the latest one showed up in my Google Alerts in January 2023, so they are clearly still updating. (Jan 23)
Aimed at: US
Updates: no idea
Link: https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/latest.html
CMOS shop talk
This blog belongs to the Chicago Manual of Style. Goes into the nitty gritty details of editing. Great resource for editors, not so much for newsletter-on-developing-English writers. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Updates: every two weeks or so
Link: https://cmosshoptalk.com/
Open Door (The Guardian)
the Guardian and Observer’s global readers’ editor Elisabeth Ribbans discusses editorial issues. (Oct 23)
Aimed at: UK
Updates: every two or three months
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/profile/elisabethribbans
🔥Wall Street Journal: Style and Substance
The editors of the Wall Street Journal write a weekly update for their journalists on changes to the style guide and frequent mistakes. Includes a very difficult language quiz. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Updates: once a month
Link: https://www.wsj.com/news/styleandsubstance
💀The Guardian: Mind your Language
Updates on the Guardian style guide. Seems to have been replaced by an A-Z list which I guess gets updated when needed rather than doing it via a blog? (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
This blog no longer updates
Link: https://www.theguardian.com/media/mind-your-language
Etymology (history of words)
Where I like looking to the future, etymology looks at the past. Obviously, though, the one informs the other. I have therefore tried to include all etymology blogs. If I have forgotten one, please let me know!
Grammarphobia
Don’t be fooled by the name, this blog is 95% about etymology. Editors Patricia T. O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman answer etymological and English usage questions with admirable attention to detail. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: once a week
Link: https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog
In a word
Column in the Saturday Evening Post (USA) by Andy Hollandbeck about etymology. (Oct 23)
Aimed at: US
Updates: once a week
Link: https://www.saturdayeveningpost.com/category/in-a-word/
Oxford University Press Blog (category: Linguistics)
The OUP blog is a platform for authors of OUP books, which are sometimes about language, to write articles and thereby (I assume) get more people to buy their books. Except, most of them seem to have stopped doing this in 2018. The only person who actually seems to be still writing regularly is etymologist Anatoly Liberman, who writes in-depth articles weekly. (Well done, him!) (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: once a week
Link: https://blog.oup.com/category/language-words/linguistics-grammar/
Wordfoolery
Grace Tierney blogs about the history of unusual words. Reading her posts always teaches me something I didn’t know. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world (Tierney is Irish)
Updates: once a week
Link: https://wordfoolery.wordpress.com/
Word Origins
A newsletter rather than a website, but you can also read it online. Lovingly researched, Dave Wilton provides long passages to really dig into the context of of how and where a word or phrase first appeared. (Feb 2023)
Aimed at: world
Updates: every few days
Link: https://wordorigins.substack.com/archive
Linguistics (language science, not only English)
Aeon (Category: language and linguistics)
a unique digital magazine, publishing some of the most profound and provocative thinking on the web. We ask the big questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on science, philosophy, society and the arts. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world
Relevant content: every few months
Link: https://aeon.co/psychology/language-and-linguistics
Cambridge University Press blog (Category: Language and Linguistics)
A different Cambridge from the one above (same place in the UK, different institute), this blog features writings by its authors. Usually about a book of theirs that has just come out, but sometimes also just an interesting post about language. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK and world
Relevant updates: every two months or so
Link: https://www.cambridgeblog.org/category/language-linguistics/
Global voices (search term: language)
Global Voices is an international, multilingual, primarily volunteer community of writers, translators, academics, and human rights activists that reports on people whose voices and experiences are rarely seen in mainstream media. They tend to have lots of articles with a focus on language, I assume because translation is such a big part of their movement.
This is actually not a good resource for the English language, and rightly so – most English speakers do not need the help of this organisation. But for people interested in languages generally, this is a lovely resource to find articles on languages and cultures that could use more of a spotlight, so I am including it in my list anyway. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: whole world
Updates: about twice a month
Link: https://globalvoices.org/?s=language&se=internal
Johnson, The Economist
The Economist, a UK magazine known for its high standards of writing and of English, gives its language content the moniker “Johnson”, after the dictionary-maker Samuel Johnson. It’s kind of an inside joke, because they don’t explain it, the name is just there.
Unfortunately, there is no way to filter for “Johnson” on the Economist website. You have to filter on “culture” and then go through the articles manually looking for Johnson. It’s a shame, because this means I usually miss these pieces. The Economist doesn’t write about the English language often, but when it does, it is really good. (Oct 23)
Aimed at: UK and world
Updates: relevant updates every two or three months
Link: https://www.economist.com/culture
🔥Language Log
Linguists Mark Liberman and Geoffrey Pullum, with other contributors, post about language. A long-standing blog with a dedicated following. Often about English, but not necessarily (Victor Mair writes about Chinese, for example) the posts often appear to be quick notes, with the author just posting a quick research result or opinion on something that was in the news. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: almost every day
Link: https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/
💀Linguistics Research Digest
This blog no longer updates which makes me very, very sad. The Digest used to provide up-to-date reports on the latest research papers on language issues in an engaging, jargon-free way. Aimed especially at helping teachers of English Language keep abreast with cutting edge research. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK
Last update: June 2021
Link: http://linguistics-research-digest.blogspot.com/
Linguist Laura
Personal blog of linguist Laura Baily, Senior Lecturer in English Language and Linguistics at the University of Kent.
Aimed at: UK
Updates: once a month or so
Link: https://linguistlaura.blogspot.com/
🔥LinguistList
LinguistList is a website (and Twitter account) for academics working in the field of linguistics. This is where academics post when they have a job opening, wrote a book, are organising a conference etc. etc. It has EVERYTHING, and as a result, can be rather difficult to navigate. If you are only interested in news about the English language (like me), then using this site is like looking for needles in a haystack. I find searching on the Twitter account works better. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: whole world
Updates: a gazillion times a day
Link: https://linguistlist.org/
Matthew Veras Barros on Medium
Paywall! This Linguistics Professor at Washington University in St. Louis writes extensive posts on linguistics that are great for people coming into the field. Unfortunately, you can only read one or two with a free Medium account. (Sep 23)
Aimed at: world
Updates: once a week or so
Link: https://medium.com/@mattbarros_42186
Medium (Tag: linguistics)
Anybody can choose to write on Medium, which means the quality of posts is varied. You can also filter on “English” or “English language”, but I find this leads to too many junk articles for English language learners. Filtering on “linguistics” will sometimes offer up a few good articles. (Mar 23)
Aimed at: world
Updates: every day
Link: https://medium.com/tag/linguistics/latest
Monash University Lens (Tag: linguistics)
Monash university, based mostly in Melbourne, is Australia’s largest university with added locations in Malaysia and South Africa. It has an excellent blog with frequent additions about the English language focusing, unsurprisingly, on Australian English. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: Australia and world
Updates: every week or so
Link: https://lens.monash.edu/search?s=linguistics
Penn Today (subtopic: linguistics)
This page by Penn University is very readable and has some nice articles.
Aimed at: USA
Updates: every few months
Link: https://penntoday.upenn.edu/subtopic/linguistics
Sapiens (search term: language)
SAPIENS is a digital magazine about everything human, told through the stories of anthropologists. There are regularly stories from linguistic anthropology. Though these are never about English, just like with Glabal Voices, I still wanted to include the link. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: international audience (written in US English)
Updates: every month or so
Link: https://www.sapiens.org/?s=&category%5B%5D=language
Superlinguo
A blog about language and linguistics by Lauren Gawne, one of the presenters of the podcast Lingthusiasm. Currently not being updated much due to babies (something I know about, seeing as I have two of those myself). (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world (Gawne is Australian)
Updates: a few times a month
Link: https://www.superlinguo.com/
Technology and Language
Linguist and programmer Angus Grieve-Smith writes in-depth posts about the academic side of linguistics. (Jan 2023)
Aimed at: world
Updates: a few times a year
Link: https://grieve-smith.com/blog/
🔥The Conversation (Search term: language)
The Conversation is an online publication where academics publish accessibly written articles about their research. It’s getting more popular by the day and is a great resource for all sciences, including linguistics. (May 2023)
Aimed at: world
Updates: new linguistics content almost every day
Link: https://theconversation.com
TLS (Category: Languages and Linguistics)
TLS stands for “Times Literary Supplement”, but they don’t like you to know that, because they have not been part of the Times since 1916. There’s a paywall, but you can read an article for free once a month. They review new linguistics books whenever they come out. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US
Updates: once every few months or so
Link: https://www.the-tls.co.uk/categories/languages-llnguistics/
English in education
English & Media Centre blog
A British website for English teachers with a focus on books, films and education. Not much news on the English language. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK audience
Updates: a few times a year
Link: https://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/blog/
EngLangBlog
A blog by Dan Clayton aimed at British A Level English Language students and teachers. Also features guest posts by teachers. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK audience
Updates: a few times a year
Link: http://englishlangsfx.blogspot.com/
Language Magazine (category: English)
Education-oriented Language Magazine covers language related news while providing resources for teachers, students, and administrators. It is a US-based print publication that also has articles available online.
Less news on English than I would have liked, but then again it does not only focus on English. The articles that do appear are often quite “newsworthy”. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US audience
Updates: every two months or so
Link: https://www.languagemagazine.com/category/languages/english/
💀TeachRealEnglish
This website from Queen Mary University in London is not being updated anymore which is a huge shame. It offers teaching materials for UK A-level English based on the latest research (or, well, based on research until about 2019, I think) (Dec 22)
Link: https://www.teachrealenglish.org/
Social Justice Linguistics
I almost titled this “woke linguistics”. That title is funny to me, but in the end I didn’t choose it, because I don’t want to make anyone feel marginalised – which is exactly what this category is about, so yay me for being on point. (Please don’t take my jokes as a dismissal; I think this type of linguistics is valid and important. But I did truly struggle with how to name the category, so if anyone has a better idea, please let me know!)
Genders.wtf
This is just a funny little website with pictures of gender-choice boxes to make you think. I wish they would add dates and some context, but I guess that would take away from the simplicity of it. (Jan 2023)
Aimed at: world
Updates: no idea
Link: https://genders.wtf/
Language: a feminist guide
“This is a feminist blog about language (in fact, mostly the English language), written by a feminist who’s also a linguist. In this space I’ll try to address some frequently asked questions, debunk some common myths, and ponder some of the linguistic dilemmas confronting feminists in the 21st century.” I think it is anonymous, at least, upon a quick scan I can’t find an author mentioned… (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK audience
Updates: every two months or so
Link: https://debuk.wordpress.com/
💀Living Through Language
Lisa Casey is one of the presenters of the podcast Lexis. Her blog is no longer being updated. A quick look shows me it is a blend of politics, linguistics and language in the news. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK audience
No longer updates
Link: https://livingthroughlanguage.wordpress.com/
Other
Ace Linguist
“In a nutshell: Ace Linguist is a website dedicated to providing you with practical examples of linguistics in action.”I especially love their discussions of English in pop songs and on YouTube. Why do singers change their accents? Why do they pronounce “this” like “theees”? Why do they use certain terminology? I also LOVE the audio files, makes it so much more interesting! (Jan 2023)
Aimed at: world
Updates: every month or so
Link: https://www.acelinguist.com/
Dariusz Galasiński
Discourse analysis
Aimed at: world
Updates: every week or so
Link: https://dariuszgalasinski.com/blog
💀Evolving English
This blog did what I’m doing! I hope it died because the author found something better to do, and not because nobody is interested in how the English language is evolving… (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
This blog no longer updates
Link: http://evolvingenglish.blogspot.com/
Fritinancy
Nancy Friedman is the owner of Wordworking which names companies and products. In her blog she writes about names, brands, writing, and the language of commerce. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: primarily US
Updates: every few days
Link: https://nancyfriedman.typepad.com/
Namerology
This blog is not really about English, but about (English) names. It is, however, very well written and funny and I think you should take a look. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: US and world
Updates: two or three times a month
Link: https://namerology.com/category/articles/
The Ideophone
Mark Dingemanse sounds out ideas on language, vivid sensory words, and iconicity. It’s very much a blog for academics, and personally I only understand about 30% of it. But I understood his recent posts on AI (because that’s something I know a little about) and found them very interesting. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world (Dingemanse is Dutch)
Updates: every month or so
Link: https://ideophone.org/
Transblawg
Sounds like it might be by and about trans people, but is actually a blog by a German>English legal translator. Included here because the blogger notes changes in English legalese. (Dec 22)
Aimed at: UK (and Germany)
Updates: a few times a year
Link: http://transblawg.co.uk/
Visual Language Lab
Research into visual language (e.g. pictures in comic strips). (Dec 22)
Aimed at: world
Updates: a few times a year
Link: https://www.visuallanguagelab.com/blog
Heddwen Newton is an English teacher and translator. She is fascinated by contemporary English and the way English changes. Her newsletter is English in Progress. 1100 subscribers and growing every day!