Without getting too political, I’ll just say that this word has been in the news quite a bit today. After seeing it a few times, I began to wonder if there perhaps were an interesting story behind it.
And of course there is! Continue reading
Writing about the word magazine yesterday made me think of another word with a similar range of meanings: canteen. Continue reading
I often write about false friends and various other confusing words for learners of English. But one of my recent French lessons reminded me of a word that often confuses Anglophone learners of French: magasin. Continue reading
No, not more classic pop.
I was doing my French homework this evening, and one of my tasks was to find the reflexive verbs in a Youtube video about French clichés. What’s that? What’s a reflexive verb? Good question. Continue reading
I’ve been listening to the album Armed Forces by Elvis Costello & the Attractions a lot recently (and currently listening to Kate Bush while drinking a glass of red wine: I think at some point I became someone’s mother without noticing). The album’s best-known song is undoubtedly “Oliver’s Army,” and every time I hear the song on the radio, I think, You never have that song much anymore. Continue reading
Did you know there’s a scientific, very Latin-sounding term for the experience of getting goosebumps? Continue reading
I wrote before about alright and all right. But it occurred to me today that we use alright (or all right: for simplicity’s sake I’m just going to use alright from now on) as an exclamation, meaning great! Which is a little odd when you think about it. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 