This is Language Log

The folks at Language Log use an amusing phrasal template in some of their posts:

This is Language Log, not X Log.

where X is a seemingly unrelated and often obscure topic.

This is usually employed when, after briefly discussing X, they introduce a linguistic angle. It is used often enough to be familiar to regular readers, but not so often as to be annoying.

As far as I can tell, it was coined by Mark Liberman way back in July 2005, with the innocuous This is Language Log, not Cycling Log. But then Geoff Pullum took the ball and ran with it as only he can.

Here are some examples.

• This is Language Log, not Baltic Tourism Log.
• This is Language Log, not Church Dogma And Sexual Repression Log.
• This is Language Log, not Fruit Bat Sex Log.
• This is Language Log, not Open Marriage Lifestyle Log.
• This is Language Log, not Scottish Soft-drink Industry Advertising Log.
• This is Language Log, not Women's Undergarment History Log.

This is not an exhaustive list; just a few of my favourites. But this is The World According to Sroyon, not the Let’s All Obsess Over Language Log Blog.