Defacing a Flag

I was watching Wales play New Zealand in rugby yesterday when I saw the New Zealand. That reminded me that New Zealanders had voted on changing their flag last year, and I hadn’t kept up with the result of the vote.

Seeing the old flag flying, I knew that they’d obviously voted to keep it, but I was curious for more detail, so I googled New Zealand flag. And that’s when things got really interesting…

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How Many in a Couple?

Two.

Or more.

It depends really.

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Le Grand Chelem

Watching Roland Garros this summer, I learned a new French term: Le Grand Chelem. Not that it was very new, as it’s not different from an English term I was already aware of.

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Harvey Weinstein: Doesn’t Sound Right to Me

Obviously there’s been a lot of reports of sexual harassment lately, largely because of the initial reports about Harvey Weinstein.

I don’t really have anything to add to everything that’s already been said and written. I am curious about that name Weinstein though.

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An Historic Occasion or A Historic Occasion?

I’ll tell you before the end, I promise (I bet he just says that both are correct, he always does). But you can see already, can’t you, how the letter H isn’t so simple even for native speakers.

In fact, it can be quite a controversial letter, sparking more arguments than perhaps any other.

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H is for Honesty

While listening to the radio today, the DJ introduced the song “Honesty,” by Billy Joel. Only, being a French speaker, he pronounced the H as we do in words like house and happy. This might seem odd though, because the letter H is always silent in French.

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Why is the Word Pants Plural?

Or trousers for that matter, if you’re from the UK. I went with pants for the title simply because most of you, dear readers are American. Anyway, the burning question: why are these words so brazenly plural when they clearly refer to a single garment?

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