Creating the first scholarly dictionary of the English of Trinidad and Tobago

An analysis of the style and content of the South China Morning Post and the Hongkong Standard.

MICHAEL BULLEY is dubious about the prospects of computers ever acquiring the infinitely flexible human art of language.

A description and glossary of the ‘New English’ of Sierra Leone

A report on the history, formation and uses of such scientific terms as Homo sapiens and Hermerocallis aurantiaca.

A historical review of the vocabulary of warfare.

What would English be like if it completely lost its most contentious and troublesome punctuation mark?

The television cop series Miami Vice has had an impact at least on names used in Miami, Florida, where the action is. Some local officials were at first upset by the title of the show, arguing that it put the city in a bad light. However, neologistic entrepreneurs showed that the title had potential. As a result, there are now Miami Mice (a pest-control company), Miami Twice (a secondhand clothing store), Miami Spice (a shop for seasonings), Miamic Nice (a chiropractor), and Miami Slice (a luncheonette) – as reported by the New York Times Service, May 1989.

The British ‘Plain English Campaign’ (described in ET5, Jan 86) has produced a Plain English Course for people who need ‘good, cost-effective writing skills’. Costing £495, the course consists of: trainer's guide, 25 acetates for overhead projection, 48 folders and namecards, 48 sets of worksheets, 2 copies of ‘The Plain English Story’, and 48 ‘copysets’ for students' own work (which can also be displayed for discussion on the overhead projector). The Campaign organizers, Chrissie Maher and Martin Cutts, have created the course for managers and administrative staff in government and business. Below are the course's fifteen suggestions for clear writing.

An Englishman looks at what English idioms say about the nations of Europe and their citizens.

An account of the curious impact of the study of English on the use of Korean.

According to Michael Richardson in the International Herald Tribune, Singapore is suffering from ‘a Cultural Tug-of-War’ (29 Sep 88).