Today was Good Friday for Christians, the day on which Jesus Christ was crucified and died. What’s so good about it then?
Why is Good Friday Called Good Friday?
language thoughts
What does Shakespeare Mean?
It’s funny. I’ve thought a lot about what words mean, particularly names. Even more particularly, names which are clearly interesting or unusual. And I’ve thought a lot about William Shakespeare. But I’ve never thought about his surname before.
Having a Field Day
Having a time of great success or achievement.
This is a pretty common phrase in English, but what does success have to do with fields? (apart of course from the farmer who was outstanding in his field)
Well it doesn’t really have that much to do with fields.
Joined-Up Writing
When I was young, I was often curious when characters on American TV would occasionally mention cursive. I could never figure out what they meant, and it was mentioned rarely enough that I never really got enough context to figure it out. It also sounded quite strange as it sounded so much like the word curse (and a joke in a classic Simpsons episode is based on this resemblance).
The Gym
Some of you might go to the gym regularly, to keep fit. Good for you, if you do. You might know that gym is short for gymnasium, which would be quite a long word to say all the time, so the abbreviation makes sense.
Red-Letter Day
A red-letter day is a day of special significance for some reason or another. Why do we call it a red-letter day?
Give Someone an Inch…
… and they’ll take a mile. Or, how about…
Give someone a centimetre, and they’ll take a kilometre.
Only one of these is an actual phrase in English, but it doesn’t make reference to the system of measurement in use in every country except three.
English-Language Thoughts 