Spicks and Specks is my "quasi-blog" about Chinese, Japanese, Monglian, and occasionally Vietnamese. Originally dating back to 2003, it now incorporates posts from my old Wordpress blog, A Thousand Miles of Moonlight, and from my previously separate Parsesnips quasi-blog. It is named after the Bee Gees hit song Spicks and Specks (1966).
Articles are colour sorted for language-related (blue background) and other topics (orange background).
Articles
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Present participles in Harry Potter
6 Sept 2020
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Switch-Reference in Mongolian
26 August 2019
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Ruminations of a mediocre translator
9 August 2019
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J. K. Rowling's writing style in Harry Potter: a glaring mannerism
10 May 2019
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Survey of the grammatical treatment of embedded Dative/locative clauses in Mongolian
27 Feb 2019
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Translating Ishigami's letters in 容疑者Xの献身 ('The Devotion of Suspect X') into Chinese
8 Sep 2018
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Translating Ishigami's letters in 容疑者Xの献身 ('The Devotion of Suspect X') into English
5 Aug 2018
➣ Article arguing for the resignation of the Erdenebat government
An occasional translation
An occasional translation
6 Oct 2017
➣ The strangeness of Ishigami's letters in 容疑者Xの献身 ('The Devotion of Suspect X')
15 Sep 2017
➣ 'Donald Trump' in Mongolian
13 Apr 2017
➣ More Mongolia vs Inner Mongolia vocab differences
22 Mar 2017
➣ 的时候 as a hypothetical counterfactual
Currently a 'stub'
Currently a 'stub'
14 Mar 2017
➣ Google Translate and the Fox's Secret
Results compared
Results compared
24 Dec 2016
➣ Google Translate and the Basilisk
Results compared
Results compared
24 Dec 2016
➣ Mongolian-Language Names for International Organisations as used in China
8 Dec 2016
➣ Thoughts on the Universal Dependencies proposal for Japanese
The problem of the word as a linguistic unit
The problem of the word as a linguistic unit
18 Sep 2016
➣ Overkill in English journalese
Clumsy use of hackneyed devices
Clumsy use of hackneyed devices
8 Jun 2016
➣ 成 indicating a change of state in Chinese
6 May 2016
➣ "Choppy Japanese": dramatic journalistic prose
22 Apr 2016
➣ 是-sentences indicating the content of news in Chinese
19 Apr 2016
➣ 是-sentences expressing the content of memory in Chinese
16 Apr 2016
➣ An interview about Chinese accents
How cross-cultural differences led to a conversation conducted totally at cross-purposes
How cross-cultural differences led to a conversation conducted totally at cross-purposes
24 Mar 2016
➣ The verb 保护 in Chinese
7 Mar 2016
➣ Vinegar museums of the world
2 Mar 2016
➣ Reported speech in Chinese
17 Feb 2016
➣ When borrowing from Chinese isn't "Sinoxenic"
7 Feb 2016
➣ The 的 conditional: an unusual construction in legal Chinese
23 Jan 2016
➣ Valency of 上报 and verbs requiring passive in English
3 Dec 2015
➣ The place of 成语 in sentences, and an interesting 是-sentence construction
26 Nov 2015
➣ The Bell Miner
How orthography and ornithology conspired to create a new folk etymology
How orthography and ornithology conspired to create a new folk etymology
9 Aug 2015
➣ Bones of the Living, Bones of the Dead (Chinese and Japanese)
7 May 2015
➣ Global Times stance on Xi's Mongolia visit
An occasional translation
An occasional translation
31 Aug 2014
➣ What is a 'sheep station'?
With reference to 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
With reference to 'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo'
16 Jun 2013
➣ Searching for Gladys
'The Inn of Eight Happinesses'
'The Inn of Eight Happinesses'
6 May 2013
➣ Learning Inner Mongolian (3)
Learning the script
Learning the script
27 Jan 2013
➣ Use of numbers in Chinese slogans
15 Jan 2013
➣ Learning Inner Mongolian (2)
Spelling pronunciations as a method of teaching
Spelling pronunciations as a method of teaching
2 Dec 2012
➣ Learning Inner Mongolian (1)
24 Oct 2012
➣ Shots of Tokyo
City views from Myogadani
City views from Myogadani
3 Oct 2012
➣ Suppositories
12 Sep 2012
➣ The culture of drinking in China -- a Japanese view
28 Jul 2012
➣ Chinese grunge band in Mongolia
22 Jul 2012
➣ The culture of drinking in China
22 Jul 2012
➣ 布鞋 and шаахайтнууд
6 Jul 2012
➣ 素质 / 素質, quality, and natural endowments
23 Jun 2012
➣ 写真 / 寫眞
22 Jun 2012
➣ Days of the Week in Mongolian and Buryat
23 May 2012
➣ 貨車 / 货车
6 Mar 2012
➣ Mongolian/Inner Mongolian vocab differences
2 Mar 2012
➣ Raccoons
25 Feb 2012
➣ Shares for shares
Share swaps in Chinese and Japanese
Share swaps in Chinese and Japanese
9 Feb 2012
➣ Where to buy Mongolian-language books in Ulaanbaatar (including second-hand books)
7 Feb 2012
➣ The word 候机楼 ('airport terminal building')
5 Jan 2012
➣ Where to buy Mongolian-language books in Hohhot
16 Oct 2011
➣ Level up
25 Jul 2011
➣ Stress test
11 Jul 2011
➣ Монгол хэлний зурагт толь бичиг (Pictorial Dictionary Mongolian)
Jan 2010
➣ Transliterating "Pringle" into Chinese
24 Aug 2008
➣ The Chinese Mentality
An occasional piece
An occasional piece
22 Jul 2008
➣ Translating 'Commodities Boom' into Chinese
20 Jul 2008
➣ The Export of Chinese Coking Coal
An anonymous piece
An anonymous piece
30 Nov 2006
➣ Anti-Japanese Puns
Humorous text messages
Humorous text messages
30 Oct 2006
➣ Sino-Japanese Energy Game
An occasional translation
An occasional translation
3 Mar 2005
➣ Translation and Rewriting
Translating a Speech on 'The Post-Cancun Multilateral Trading System and Asian Economic Integration'
Translating a Speech on 'The Post-Cancun Multilateral Trading System and Asian Economic Integration'
28 Jan 2005
➣ The Perils of Translating Via a Third Language
2003
➣ 'Mind the Gap' in Japanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin
Undated
➣ Style Plaza or Amorous Square?
2003
➣ Year of the Sheep or Year of the Goat?
2003
➣ The CJV Translation of 'Weapons of Mass Destruction'
Undated
➣ Don't Forget to Flush...
Undated