It’s pretty common to refer to the United States of America as simply America, or anyone or anything from the country as American. This however, can be somewhat controversial.
America
grammar
The Game’s Afoot
I had a really great idea today, at about 08.00am, while I was half asleep. I’ve no idea now what it was, just a vague sense that it was about some words with different meanings that have a shared etymology. Whatever it was, it was interesting (to me), but it’s gone now.
Currency
A little while ago, I briefly mentioned the word currency. That’s got me thinking about the names we have for currencies: where do they come from?
Give up the Ghost
This phrase, meaning to die or stop working, is probably a lot older than you think. A famous variation on the line is in the King James translation of the Bible from 1611:
Total Recall
Recall is an interesting word by virtue of how simple its etymology is.
Kind Regards
A lot of us write a lot more than we used to. If you work in a office, or even from home, there’s a good chance that your job requires you to send at least a few emails a day. I sent 34 work emails on Wednesday, for example (I also sent a lot on Thursday and Friday, but as the school I work in was closed because of the severe weather, I won’t count those). And this is still a relatively quiet period. Even if a lot of us are used to sending emails though, there’s something of an art to writing one.
Cryptocurrency
You’ve probably heard this term a lot recently, referring to digital currencies such as Bitcoin. What does that prefix crypto- mean though?
English-Language Thoughts 