On the 2nd of April 2016 at Edge Hill University in Lancashire, England, a conference on corpus studies at the lexis-grammar interface (CLS12) will be held. Interested language researchers with a specialty in lexicography are invited to submit paper abstracts that address grammatical questions using a synchronic or diachronic approach. The deadline for abstracts is the 29th of February 2016.
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The Weird Science of Naming New Products
What do the names SoyJoy, Lytro, Kixx, Scribe, Spontania, and Yum! all have in common? They are all the brainchild of naming guru, Anthony Shore.
Read this New York Times Magazine article about the legendary man behind these brand names as well as the other companies that participate in this quirky (and lucrative!!) world of product naming.
About Names: Jesse is a gold medal name
Jesse James
Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. This week’s column explores Jesse.
UND changes team name to “the Fighting Hawks:
The University of North Dakota (UND) has joined a growing number of American institutions deciding to end their use of potentially disparaging Native American names. According to university officials, the team once known as “the Fighting Sioux” will now be called “the Fighting Hawks”. In an interview with the local news, UND President Robert Kelley explained that the change in name policy expresses “our state spirit and the fact that UND continues to ascend to newer heights.”
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Toponyms that become disease names
The Zika virus of the Flaviviridae family derived its name in 1947 from the Zika Forest in Uganda where it was first identified in a rhesus monkey. Since that initial isolation, viral outbreaks among humans have been tracked in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and most recently the Americas and Europe.
Given the spread of the virus and the possible link to life-threatening birth defects, African residents of the Zika Forest are worried that negative onomastic associations will endanger their vital tourist industry. Other toponyms which have served as the basis for disease monikers include the West Nile; and Lime, Connecticut.
Djokovic Names His 2016 Goal the Djoker Slam
Number one ranked tennis star, Novak Djokovic, is using the power of names to prepare himself for the upcoming French Open. As a part of his motivational strategy, the winner of 11 Grand slam trophies has devised a name for his goal to take the French Open: “the Djoker Slam”. Djokovic, or “Djoker” as he is called by friends, is not the first player to use this linguistic technique. Tennis legend, Serena Williams, called her 21st Grad Slam title, the “Serena Slam”.
Name Stories: Actor Harry Belafonte
Legendary singer and actor Harry Belafonte did not always find that his name opened doors. In the 1950’s, he, like many African Americans, was routinely refused housing in segregationist America. An ardent supporter of the Civil Rights Movement, when Belafonte found his dream penthouse apartment in Manhattan’s Upper West, he did not take no for an answer. In a clever move, Belafonte sent his White publicist to pick up the rental agreement and then signed the lease in his own name. When the landlord discovered the name “Belafonte” on the agreement, he demanded the singer give up the apartment. Not only did Belafonte refuse, but he went on to buy the entire building!
Names for those Thingamajigs
According the Merriam Webster Dictionary, thingamajig is the name given to any object for which the namer “either does not know or cannot remember” the name. In other words, a thingamajig is what you call a doohickey when you forget what that infernal whatchamahoosit is called. How many names do you know for a whatsit? Test yourself against this list of than 60 different synonyms for a thingumaboobee.
Conference: Landscape and Place Names, UK, March 18, 2017
The Essex Place Names Project Group will be holding a one day conference at the Essex Record Office on Saturday, the 18th of March 2017. The key note speaker will be Professor Stephen Rippon from Exeter University. The thematic focus of the conference will be Landscape and Place Names.