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Lisa Lim
Lisa Lim
Lisa Lim is Associate Professor in the School of Education at Curtin University in Perth, having previously held professoriate positions at universities in Singapore, Amsterdam, Sydney and Hong Kong, where she was Head of the University of Hong Kong's School of English. Her interests encompass multilingualism, World Englishes, minority and endangered languages, and the sociolinguistics of globalisation. Books written by Lim include Languages in Contact (Cambridge University Press, 2015) and The Multilingual Citizen (Multilingual Matters, 2018).

Graphic T-shirts – shirts with slogans or phrases – can often pack a political or social punch even when they do not mean to. The tees Taylor Swift wears on stage on tour are just the latest example of that.

A staple of Japanese cuisine, mochi actually comes from China, and while the character used in Japanese has a different meaning in Chinese, similarly named snacks in Asia point to a common history.

Curiously, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals do not explicitly include language. Unesco’s International Mother Language Day recognises the links between language and sustainability.

Ahead of Lunar New Year celebrations to ring in the Year of the Dragon, find out the origin of the English word for ‘dragon’, how the Chinese pictogram was formed, and the beast’s varying symbolism.

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The 2024 Taiwan elections offered much to observe with the island’s languages, which now indicate identity and political affiliation and include phrases involving frozen garlic and radishes.

From Greek letters (Alpha, Delta Omicron) to mythological creatures (Kraken) and now astronomical names (Pirola, Eris), Covid-19 variant naming systems have evolved along with new strains.

As the Israel-Gaza war rumbles on, we look at how the meaning of the word ‘hostage’ in 13th century Old French encompassed kindness and hospitality, as well as residence, compensation and pledge.

A delicacy in some parts of the world, banned in others over cruelty concerns, foie gras’ history starts in ancient Egypt and Rome, where geese were force-fed dried figs.

Macau has been a cross-cultural hotspot and trading post for centuries, and the languages used in business and at home have evolved, from Portuguese and Cantonese to the Patua of Macanese, and pidgin.

Words to describe acts of killing such as homicide, infanticide and suicide entered English from the 13th century onwards. Genocide, with similar Latin, as well as Greek, roots was coined much later.

The name of the all-American drink ‘Coca-Cola’ is a compound formed from its two essential ingredients – known for providing cocaine and caffeine – with origins in other languages.

Many mythologies feature moon goddesses – from the Greco-Roman deity Artemis to Chinese mythology’s Chang’e – and homage has been paid to them in several lunar missions.

At the 2023 G20 summit in New Delhi, host India referred to itself as Bharat. Both that name and India have roots in the ancient Sanskrit tongue, so why might one be favoured over the other? History.

When you look up at the full moon, or contemplate the recent success of India’s Chandrayaan-3 moon-landing mission, do you wonder why the English call the star moon and Indians say Chandra? Here’s why.

Indonesia’s capital will move from Jakarta to the new city of Nusantara, in Borneo, in 2024. Its name dates back to the 14th century, when the word meant all of maritime Southeast Asia beyond Java.

When UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said ‘the era of global boiling has arrived’, he underlined how serious climate change has become. And boiling was an apt word to choose.

While most agree the word ‘mangrove’ derives from Portuguese, there is debate as to what its exact origin is. What is more crucial, in any case, is the tree’s future conservation.

Pro wrestler and actor John Cena’s video of him saying ‘ice cream’ in Mandarin became a viral meme, while the phrase has been adapted in different ways in Chinese, Japanese and Singaporean languages.

It’s a big month for the letter Q – think Pride Month and LGBTQ – here’s how it doesn’t follow English conventions when languages such as Mandarin are transcribed into the Latin script.

Gin is a distilled spirit whose name derives from the juniper berries that flavour it. Called genever by the Dutch, its name was shortened when it was embraced by the British, who created the gin and tonic.

It is generally accepted that doughnuts evolved in America, but why the ‘nut’? As National Doughnut Day approaches, here are the origins of the word for the fried dough product.

Turtles, tortoises and terrapins all belong to the taxonomic order Testudines, originating in the Latin word for ‘shell’. Here’s a history of the words ahead of World Turtle Day.

Machiavellian and gerrymander are examples of eponyms – words derived from people’s names. Lisa Lim considers some recently coined eponyms, and how their meaning can quickly evolve.

The word from which the English ‘fast’ comes didn’t originally mean to abstain from food or drink, while its Arabic equivalent encompassed all that and more.

TikTok users are sharing traditional, indigenous or less mainstream languages on the platform, and thereby helping to preserve and promote cultures in danger of dying out.

American conceptual artist Mel Bochner’s text-based works prompt critical reactions about language and communication. So too, in its own way, does the graffiti of Hong Kong’s “King of Kowloon”.

Pangolins are said to travel all around the world underground in Chinese legend. They are now the most trafficked mammals worldwide, their greatest threat lying in traditional Chinese medicine.

The orange’s history starts in the Himalayan foothills, with citron the first species to head west and mandarin oranges the last major one to, arriving in England from China in 1805.

The legendary kraken lives on: a new Covid-19 variant, thought to be the most transmissible yet, has been named after the creature, but how was the ocean terror created?