Is language like fashion, or the weather? (David Shariatmadari, The Guardian)

Some argue that changes in the way we speak are like changes in the way we dress or do our hair. If only it were that simple.

‘Trend-setters play a huge part in shaping fashion.’ Gareth Pugh’s 2014/2015 autumn/winter collection. Photograph: Patrick Kovarik/AFP/Getty Images.

People get upset about language change. The innocent use of the word “less” where a shrinking faction insist on “fewer” is enough to earn a bad grammar award nomination and spark a national debate. If you use “enormity” to help you describe something enormous, like Barack Obama did, you’ll have the likes of Simon Heffer on your back, and a few others besides.

Sounding Gay, Punk, or Jock: What Language Says About Your Social Group (DS Bigham, Slate)

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People tell me I sound gay. And I totally do.

Eh? What does “gay” even sound like? Really, when you think about it, how could there possibly be a correlation between who we sleep with and how we talk?

The way someone uses language can tell us a lot about who they are. When you hear a person talk, before you even see them, you can probably guess their age, gender, ethnicity, social class and level of education, and maybe even where they’re from (or at least whether they’re from the same place as you or not).

Study shows that people who speak two languages have more efficient brains (Tanya Lewis, The Washington Post)

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People who speak two languages may have brains that are more efficient at language processing and other tasks, new research suggests.

Scientists have long assumed that the “bilingualism advantage” — the enhanced ability to filter out important information from unimportant material — stems from how bilingual people process language. The new study confirms that assumption and goes on to suggest that bilingual people are more efficient at higher-level brain functions such as ignoring irrelevant information, said Ellen Bialystok, a psychologist at York University in Toronto, who was not involved in the research.