Basil isn’t a name you hear much nowadays. Not in English at least, though it’s a little more popular in its French form. Perhaps it would be more popular if people knew what it meant. Continue reading
Basil!
language
The Marque of the Beast
Are you brand conscious?
Do you wear lots of designer brands?
What’s your favourite brand of shampoo?
Obviously, brand is a very common word we use without much thought. But as a glimpse at the image above will remind you, it also has a second meaning most of us know about, but don’t use too often: Continue reading
Double Dutch – the History of English
If you have a spare four hours or so, have a look at all parts of this ITV documentary The Adventure of English. Or the first part of it anyway: Continue reading
Carnival
Carnival! Continue reading
Film or Movie?
Do you want to catch a movie? Or maybe you’d prefer to watch a nice film? Of course they’re the same thing, objectively, but they’re not really the same, are they?
Strictly both movie and film are synonyms, but in reality, the word film has a much greater sense of sophistication than movie. Why is that? Continue reading
Trump’s Triumph?
So Donald Trump is being hailed in some quarters as “presidential” for his address to Congress last night. And fair enough. Though there didn’t seem to be much substance to it, his tone was noticeably more measured than any of his public appearances to date. Not that that was particularly hard mind you. When you think about it though, describing his as presidential seems like something of a back-handed compliment, and at best damning him with faint praise. The word presidential means like or related to a president, so isn’t that the least that would be expected of him? Surely he should be presidential by default? But I understand people being pleasantly surprised. Regardless of whether you agree with his policies or not, it’s hard to deny that he’s had a very direct, blunt style, in contrast to his predecessors. Continue reading
Right to the Heart
Affairs of the heart are always complex; I think that goes without saying. The English language has a few words which demonstrate this complexity. Bittersweet is a fairly straightforward, literal one. Another similar word is poignant, meaning evoking a keen sadness and regret. Even that definition doesn’t quite convey all of its connotations, as it refers to a nostalgic, gentle kind of sadness. It’s not exactly positive, but it’s a soft, contemplative type of sadness. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 