I heard someone use this expression the other day, and of course the first thing I thought was: Who’s Larry? Continue reading
As Happy as Larry
languages
I Smell a Rat…
Oh my!
I was about to write a post, in fact I’d already started it, about the following tweet:
Neither a Borrower nor a Lender Be
At least not until you’re sure which one’s which. I often think about the two words to lend and to borrow, and how even native speakers often get them mixed up, even though they’re opposites.
Can I lend a pen from you?
Can you borrow me your pen?
I’ve often wondered why people would get them mixed up. But then these aren’t the only pair of opposites that are surprisingly close in the English language. Continue reading
Surplus to Requirements
I used the word surplus when I was writing the other day, and as soon as I saw it on my screen I thought, How have I never noticed that before? Continue reading
You’ve Got Mail
Another little detail I noticed on the poster that inspired yesterday’s post: FOR BOOKING MAIL…
Nothing really remarkable there, but I was curious about the use of to mail as a verb. Again, that’s not really revolutionary, but I did notice the lack of an E. Just mail, not email. Continue reading
Animator Wanted
I saw the above poster today and naturally my eye was drawn to that word: animations.
It needs to be said that this poster probably wasn’t written by a native English speaker, and by animations they probably didn’t mean cartoons, which is what most English speakers would take it to mean. So with that in mind: what do you think animations means here?
Inhibition
OK, so as per yesterday, inhibition isn’t really the opposite of exhibition. Of course there’s still a basic relationship of contrast between the two. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 