TEFL

Lady

Niall O'Donnell 1 Comment

I’m often curious about the word lady. Especially the fact that sometimes it’s Lady. Continue reading →

To

Niall O'Donnell 2 Comments

How do you pronounce that word? Continue reading →

I Cannot Sanction Your Buffoonery

Niall O'Donnell 7 Comments

Yesterday I wrote about how the word confessor can refer either to someone who hears or makes a confession. While the word might seem unusual in this regard, there are a surprising number of words in the English language which have contrary meanings. Consider the following sentences: Continue reading →

Confess!

Niall O'Donnell 1 Comment

I was reading The Devils of Loudon this afternoon, when the word confessor made me stop for a moment.

Hang on, I thought, logically you might assume a confessor is someone who makes a confession, who confesses to something. A teacher teaches, a writer writes, so logically a confessor confesses, no? Continue reading →

Erskine May

Niall O'Donnell 3 Comments

Who?

Or what?

A lot of people were talking about Erskine May recently, mainly along the lines of those two questions above. So who, or what, is Erskine May? Continue reading →

Kangaroo Words

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

I learned recently about the existence of kangaroo words: words that contain the letters of a synonymous word (in the correct sequence) within themselves. Continue reading →

Jogging

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

I heard this word today, and I realised how strange it sounds. Especially when you could also say running. And I continued thinking: does jogging, the exercise, have anything to do with jogging your memory? Let’s see. Continue reading →