Well, when it’s pestering/annoying/badgering someone.
But also, when it’s French.
Or French-speaking, at least.
Let me explain.
When is a Badger a Verb?
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Word Stress
This post is inspired by two common and related questions I often see posed online:
- Can an English word have two equally-stressed syllables?
- Can an English word have no stressed syllables?
Before answering (and mercifully, the answer to both questions is the same, and quite simple), let’s have a look at what word stress actually is. Continue reading
Blogger Recognition Award
A big thank you to Payal Tyagi for nominating me for this award! You can find her fascinating blog here.
Here are the rules:
The English Alphabet
Carrying on from yesterday’s look at the NATO phonetic alphabet, I thought today I’d spend a little time thinking about the regular English alphabet in general. It’s something we take for granted, but there are plenty of interesting things about it. Continue reading
“‘M!’ As in ‘Mancy!'”
It’s easy to forget that there are other alphabets other than one’s own. Not just languages which use different characters, or languages which use the same Latin alphabet as English, but without some letters or with some additional ones. There are other alphabets which we come across a lot which we don’t think too much about. Like the International Radiotelephony Spelling Alphabet, or as it’s more commonly known, the NATO phonetic alphabet. Continue reading
Red Herring
A red herring is a piece of information designed to distract or mislead one. It’s most often found in murder mysteries, specifically of the whodunit variety, in which the primary interest lies in figuring out the identity of the murder. A red herring in such cases is usually an apparent clue designed to make you think that someone apart from the actual murderer is the killer. All well and good, but what does any of this have to do with herrings? Continue reading
Lemur
Lemurs are pretty cute, aren’t they? With their big eyes, long ringed tails, and cheeky little hands: what’s not to love? Interestingly enough though, the story of their name is not so cute. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 