Yesterday, I picked up a bargain at a Record & CD Fair: an old vinyl copy of Pink Floyd‘s The Wall for €38. Considering it’s a double album, that’s not such a bad deal. The second-most famous song on the album is probably “Comfortably Numb.” Listening to it last night reminded me of how odd that word comfortably sounds… Continue reading
TEFL
No One Will Believe This of Vast Import to the Nation
This line, the final one of William Carlos William’s poem “Pastoral,” has always been fixed in mind.
It’s an effective and arresting line, poetically speaking, which is the main reason. But it was also the first time I’d seen the word import used in that way. Continue reading
The Horn of Plenty
Lots of animals have horns. Cows have horns. Rhinoceroses, goats, antelopes, all have horns.
Buildings though, generally don’t have horns. Continue reading
Mocking
It’s strange that we live in a world in which I can write that the President of the United States mocked an alleged sexual-assault victim, and that’s not a lie. Continue reading
Flotsam and Jetsam
These two always go together, don’t they? Whether used literally or figuratively, they basically form a binomial pair, an expression made up of two words commonly joined by and or or. But what exactly is the difference between flotsam and jetsam? Continue reading
When Life Gives You Lemons…
…make lime juice.
Wait… no… what!? Continue reading
Sonder
You might have come across this word recently, possibly tweeted by a dictionary or trivia account as a word of the day. It refers to the profound and sudden realisation that complete strangers have rich and complex inner lives.
It’s a popular word to share because it often elicits two reactions: Wow, that’s something I’ve experienced now and then but never really thought about, and other people experience it too, cool!, and Wow, I didn’t know there was a word for that! It’s not surprising that a lot of people didn’t know about this word though, considering it’s only six years old. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 