Two cartoons in my feed recently: a One Big Happy on Ruthie’s interpretation of an expression unfamiliar to her; and an xkcd with a new story of the Tower of Babel.
Archive for the ‘Linguistic diversity’ Category
OBH and xkcd
February 6, 2021Odds and ends 5/26/15
May 26, 2015Linguistic diversity on the tube
November 1, 2014Fascinating story on The Atlantic CityLab site on October 27th: “Mapping London’s ‘Tube Tongues’: An interactive map shows what languages — apart from English — are most spoken at each underground stop” by Tanvi Misra:
Step out at the Oxford Circus stop in London and your ears are immediately assaulted by several different languages at once. That’s understandable, considering Oxford street is usually quite crowded—tourists and Londoners alike buzz in and out of the shops and restaurants the street is known for.
One of the languages I heard most in that region was French. I thought this was because, in general, London has the most French nationals living there of any other city outside France. A more targeted review shows it’s also because a lot of French speakers live in that area.
Linguistic diversity is one of the most striking things about London. If you’re like me and enjoy the playing “What Language Are Those Strangers Speaking?,” this interactive map can help inform your guesses.