This sentence is one any English teacher working online has possibly heard quite often recently. Or, more likely, We don’t listen you!
Of course, We don’t listen you is clearly not the correct sentence to use if your teacher’s been rendered momentarily inaudible. But what about We don’t hear you!? To a native speaker, that’s clearly not correct either. But why? Continue reading
Until recently, I would probably have told you that easier is the only correct version. Now though, I’m not sure it’s quite so simple. Continue reading
While reading a recipe recently, I paused for a moment and thought about the cooking term seasoning. How is it, I wondered that to season can be a verb, and how is it related to the four seasons of the year? Continue reading
What type of pasta!?
Creepypasta!
If you’re relatively internet savvy, you might currently be nodding and stroking your chin wisely, saying, Ah yes, creepypasta!
The rest of you though, might well be asking yourselves, well, What type of pasta!? Continue reading
If I asked you to define the word assassination, you probably wouldn’t have much difficulty. You’d probably say something like the killing of a famous or important person.
And that would be perfectly fine.
But recently I wondered if there’s a specific distinction between murder and assassination. Continue reading
By now, you’re probably well aware that I’ve always got time for an interesting etymology.
You’re also probably equally aware that I’m always wary of an apparent etymology that just seems too good to be true.
Yesterday, I came across what I assumed was a case of the latter. Continue reading
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
English-Language Thoughts 