English

Beware the Ides of March!

Niall O'Donnell 10 Comments

What is an Ide anyway, and why should I be scared of it? Continue reading →

Toe the Line

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

Did you know that the phrase is toe the line, and not tow the line? It’s a very common mistake, largely because to toe isn’t commonly used a verb in English, whereas to tow can be found more frequently. Plus, you can tow a line, but what does toeing a line even mean? Continue reading →

One for the Road

Niall O'Donnell 8 Comments

After looking at the differences between the English words for animals and the meat we get from them, I was curious about the words we use for alcoholic drinks, and whether they display a similar Germanic/Latin divide. Continue reading →

Doing Dutch with Duolingo

Niall O'Donnell 5 Comments

It seems like a long time ago when I decided to give a language-learning app a try. I’ve been busy since then, but finally this week I decided I’d download Duolinguo. I thought quite a bit about which language to choose. I knew right away that I already know enough French and Italian to make it difficult to know how much I was actually learning from the app. I thought about choosing a language as far from English as possible, but decided against this as, generally, we tend to learn languages with at least some basic similarities to our mother tongue. Most Europeans will learn another European language, which mostly have some basic links with each other. Continue reading →

Chicken – The People’s Food

Niall O'Donnell 16 Comments

Cow – Beef

Calf – Veal

Pig – Pork

Deer – Venison

Sheep – Mutton

Chicken – Chicken

Not hard to spot the odd one out, eh? Forgetting about chicken for a moment, have you ever noticed that in English, we have special names for the most-commonly consumed meats, separate from the names of the animals themselves? Continue reading →

The Future is Now

Niall O'Donnell 6 Comments

How much money have you put aside for a rainy day? Actually don’t answer that: I’d never really ask such a question anyway. But have you ever considered that your native tongue might influence your ability to save money? Continue reading →

Kiwi

Niall O'Donnell 3 Comments

It’s that age-old question which has long puzzled philosophers – which came first: the kiwifruit or the kiwi bird? Continue reading →