This evening I was at my parents’ house, watching a little TV after Sunday dinner. I don’t really watch much TV anymore, at least not in the conventional broadcast sense, apart from Sunday afternoons at home. Gaelic football matches are the usual background noise to Sunday-afternoon dinner, but we had it a bit later today, so I found myself watching an interesting nature programme.
It’s hardly complimentary to refer to something as mundane.
Yet if I referred to someone as worldly, that would be a compliment. Which is odd, because mundane and worldly basically mean the same thing.
What are the first six letters of the word secretary?
I was thinking about this word today. I’m not sure what made me think about it. Perhaps, passing a mirror, I noted how nonchalant I was.
Reading about Anglish yesterday, I realised that one of the most useful methods for proponents of this form of English is creating calques.
What’s a calque, I hear you ask?
No, not English. Anglish.
Good question. And I think it’s one I’ve answered here and there across different posts, if not all in one go. It’s a question I’ve been asking myself more often recently.
English-Language Thoughts 