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Son of a Bitch

Niall O'Donnell 20 Comments

Yeah, I mean, I don’t want to get too political. Every Tom, Dick, and Harry’s got their hot take on Donald Trump, so I want to keep things focussed on language: grammar, etymology, stuff like that. Hang on, let me just have a quick look at Twitter before I write… He’s said what!?…

On Friday, Donald Trump, somehow President of the United States, weighed in on the controversial issue of professional American-football players protesting against racial injustice and police inequality towards African Americans. He naturally employed all the gravitas and diplomacy one would expect of his office, and said the following:

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Riding the Gravy Train

Niall O'Donnell 6 Comments

Did you ever wonder where this odd expression comes from? Why would gravy be associated with having an easy time of it? And where does the train fit into it?

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The Dotard Vs. Rocket Man

Niall O'Donnell 20 Comments

Dotard (n.) an elderly person suffering from senility or other mental infirmities

By now you’re probably well aware that a few days ago, Kim Jong Un called Donald Trump a dotard, in the long-running name-calling spat between the two obnoxious, hateful children, which could also lead to the deaths of millions.

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Equinox

Niall O'Donnell 3 Comments

I’m not very good at being topical (watch out for a hot take on the word dotard some time before the end of the week!) This is largely due to the fact that I write my posts the day before I publish them. You see, I used to publish them as soon as I wrote them, but some days I was tired, or it was a little difficult to write exactly what I wanted to, and I felt pressured and annoyed and just wanted to get it done.

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He/She/It: They all Float Down Here

Niall O'Donnell 16 Comments

I saw IT last week, only it was actually Ça, considering I saw it in a cinema in Liège. English-language films are generally dubbed here, but as it was a somewhat arty cinema, they were proud to offer the VO (version originale) with French and Dutch subtitles. Having two sets of subtitles taking up space on the screen is quite distracting, but it’s an interesting opportunity to compare English, French, and Dutch at the same time.

Watching a film with subtitles in a language you know is always a little odd, as they never translate things exactly, largely because such a thing is basically impossible. Even so, there are always one or two choices the subtitler makes which boggle the mind. I don’t recall anything like that in this case, but there was one necessary difference in translation that intrigued me.

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Hold the Cilantro

Niall O'Donnell 11 Comments

The differences between American and British English are of course numerous, and I’ve touched on them before. One area that’s always intrigued me though is food. 

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A Parliament of Owls

Niall O'Donnell 31 Comments

While watching the news yesterday, I was suddenly struck with an epiphany about the etymology of the word parliament.

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