I was reading a novel recently in which a character speaks a language which doesn’t have the concept of the first and second person, basically no concept of I (or me) and you. As a result of this, the character himself cannot conceive of these concepts. Continue reading
Have you ever thought about how strange that term, human being, really is? Continue reading
It’s hard to avoid Brexit at the moment. I don’t intend to add to the commentary that’s already out there. Suffice it to say it’s a colossal mistake.
Anyway, I was listening to the news on the radio this morning, and the expression no-deal Brexit was mentioned (probably already for the fifth time today). As any innocuous word or phrase tends to do, this got me thinking. Continue reading
I was writing an email at work today (I’ll spare you the details) which included a pretty basic phrase. As soon as I’d written it however, I immediately deleted it and rewrote it, changing it only slightly, but in a way that, to me in the moment, made it correct. What was that phrase?
Copy and pasted. Continue reading
I saw the word predicament recently, and thought that it would be an interesting case for a little bit of etymology figuring-out. It looks so Latin, with such clearly separate sections, each of which could have its own meaning, and which could all be added up to clearly show the meaning of the word as whole. Continue reading
A lot.
It’s two words. This one’s easy.
But of course, a lot of people make the mistake of writing alot instead of a lot. And I’m curious as to why. Continue reading
1. “There’s a plug under your table. Yeah, just there, yeah!”
2. “Sorry, is there a plug beside you there?”
“Yeah.”
I heard both of these utterances at the weekend: the first in a pub on Saturday, and the second on a bus on Sunday. Nothing strange about that, except for one thing: in both cases the people were lying!!! Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 