history

You’re Unfriended, Amigo!

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

Or perhaps enemigo would be more appropriate!

I’m not an expert in Spanish by any means. But recently I found myself watching a brief clip from Toy Story 3 (I can’t for the life of me remember the context, but it was a YouTube video of some sorts). The clip was from when Buzz Lightyear’s accidentally had his voice (and personality: I have seen Toy Story 3) changed to Spanish. From this very brief clip, and memory of watching the film, I recognised that he was saying Are you a friend or an enemy!? Which was very interesting. Continue reading →

Bohemian Rhapsody

Niall O'Donnell 3 Comments

Why do we call a free-spirited artistic type a bohemian? Continue reading →

Secretary

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

What are the first six letters of the word secretary?

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Guys and Gals

Niall O'Donnell 6 Comments

Why is it that gal is the feminine equivalent of guy?

And what’s the story with guy, for that matter?

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Sent to Coventry (with Captain Boycott and Peeping Tom)

Niall O'Donnell 10 Comments

I’ve often wondered about this expression: to send someone to Coventry. It’s a little old-fashioned, so you may not have heard of it. It means to deliberately ostracise someone, by ignoring them, refusing to talk to them. The obvious question about this phrase is: why Coventry?

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Red-Letter Day

Niall O'Donnell 4 Comments

A red-letter day is a day of special significance for some reason or another. Why do we call it a red-letter day?

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Don’t be so Patronizing!

Niall O'Donnell 17 Comments

I really feel like people should say this to me more often, because I do like to explain things, and that can come across as very patronizing! The curious thing about the verb to patronize by the way, is that, like many English words, it can have more than one meaning.

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