TEFL

Foreign Words in English: Are we Getting them Wrong? (Not Really, No)

Niall O'Donnell 8 Comments

I think it’s only fair, after looking at the way the French language uses pseudo-anglicisms (a lovely term I came across earlier), it’s only fair that I take a corresponding look at foreign words we use in English, and how their use is different from in their original language. Unsurprisingly, we use a lot of foreign terms, and with most English speakers being monolingual, we don’t always use them as they were originally intended.

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Parking in the Zoning

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to write about English words which are used in French in a slightly different way to how we use them. And this morning I thought, as I’m still using an AZERTY keyboard, I might as well do that today.

I’ve already written about some English words that are used in French, but today I want to focus on three that are a strange combination of seeming logical yet slightly odd to an English speaker’s ear. I should also state that I’m not criticising or mocking French speakers for using these words. Their use makes enough sense for non-native speakers, and once a word enters another language it doesn’t have to follow the rules of its original language. Anyway, the three words are:

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What’s for Tea?

Niall O'Donnell 21 Comments

Would you like tea? You would? Great! But please, take a seat, because this is going to get complicated.

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Guns N’ Roses

Niall O'Donnell 13 Comments

Mentioning Guns N’ Roses yesterday, I realised something: their use of punctuation in their name is perhaps not strictly correct!

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Live and Let Die

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

The song “Live and Let Die” came on the radio this morning, and it made me think: is this phrase now better-known than the original phrase (live and let live) that it references?

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From QWERTY to AZERTY

Niall O'Donnell 13 Comments

I left my laptop in to be repaired today, which was a pretty smooth operation until I realised I don’t know the French word for hinges. All this means that I’m currently typing this on an AZERTY keyboard.

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Blond on Blonde

Niall O'Donnell 12 Comments

You may have noticed yesterday, that I wrote the following, ungainly looking thing:

blond(e)

Why put the E inside parentheses, some of you might have furiously asked? Or perhaps you slammed your fist on the table and angrily wondered why I even bothered including the E at all. Well, as always, I had my reasons, because blond and blonde are in fact two distinct words.

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