I was reading this afternoon, when the word gingerly made me pause. It’s a word I’ve come across countless times before, but today was the first time I asked myself – What does it have to do with ginger? Continue reading
What’s the Difference Between a Language and a Dialect?
You might have noticed yesterday that when I mentioned the word bairn, I referred to its use in both Scots and Scottish English. And you might have asked yourself: what’s the difference?
I’m not an expert, and not going to go into all the details, but suffice it to say that they’re quite distinct. Continue reading
Vikings
I was reading about a Viking hoard discovered in York in England this morning, and learned something quite interesting. Continue reading
Come and See. Or Watch…
A common question that comes up in the English-language classroom is, what’s the difference between seeing and looking? And sometimes watching is thrown in there for good measure.
Explaining them is pretty straightforward. Continue reading
Infectious Laughter
I might not write that expression many more times in my life. I might actually have never written it before to be honest, but I’m probably less likely to use it from now on.
Just as I might not mention that yawning, for example, is contagious very often. And that would of course be due to the current coronavirus pandemic. Continue reading
Lazaretto
Not a word you come across every day, this one.
If you’re understandably unfamiliar with it, it’s a term for a building reserved for the quarantine of lepers or poor people with other diseases. I was reminded of it while writing earlier about the word quarantine and its Venetian origins. Continue reading
Quarantine
Hello from quarantine!
Yes, I’m currently under quarantine here in Palermo, as part of the national lockdown in Italy to curb the spread of COVID-19. Continue reading
