reading

Fire and Fury

Niall O'Donnell 6 Comments

You may have heard of this book, an insider’s look at Trump’s chaotic White House. I have some doubts about how true all the book’s revelations are, but some of them sound convincing, like Trump going to bed at 6.30pm with a cheeseburger.

You might known that the title comes from a speech earlier this year in which Trump threatened to “unleash fire and fury” on North Korea. Fury was an interesting choice of word. You could tell that it was one of Trump’s scripted speeches, because he normally wouldn’t have the vocabulary to come up with such a word spontaneously.

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Make Up

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

I’ll have to make up some excuse for why I’m late.

They often argue, but they always make up soon afterwards.

Let me just finish putting on my make-up and then we can go.

I’m often impressed by the economy of the English language.

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One Little Mistake

Niall O'Donnell 9 Comments

I alway say that making mistakes is a vital part of learning a language,  to the point of tedium, I’m sure. Making mistakes is also, however, a key aspect of the formation of a language.

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2018

Niall O'Donnell 2 Comments

Welcome to 2018! 

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Maiden Name

Niall O'Donnell 9 Comments

You may never have thought much about this term. It probably seems fairly logical to you. It’s the name your mother had when she was a younger woman, before she was married, and maiden is an old word for a young woman, isn’t it? Yes, but as always, there’s a little more to it than that.

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Can I Get a Coffee?

Niall O'Donnell 9 Comments

There are many things that annoy us about how others use our native tongue. That’s just the way our brains work. There’s one interesting example though, that’s often mentioned by British-English speakers: Can I get…?

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Playwright

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

First of all, if you want to know about why today is called Boxing Day, I wrote about that here last year. If you didn’t read it then, I encourage you to do so. Even if you did read it last year, why not read it again? You might have forgotten all of the details. I know I have.

If you’re looking for something new though, how about a few brief lines about that curious word playwright?

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