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
A Word for All Seasons
language thoughts
Creepypasta
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
Assassination or Murder?
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
Don’t Panic!
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
Gingerly
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
What’s the Difference Between a Language and a Dialect?
You might have noticed yesterday that when I mentioned the word bairn, I referred to its use in both Scots and Scottish English. And you might have asked yourself: what’s the difference?
I’m not an expert, and not going to go into all the details, but suffice it to say that they’re quite distinct. Continue reading
Vikings
I was reading about a Viking hoard discovered in York in England this morning, and learned something quite interesting. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 