I’m going to wear a suit tomorrow. I don’t often, so it’ll be a rare treat, no doubt, for the general public who might be passing by. When I say suit, you probably think of a man wearing a matching jacket, trousers, and shirt, with optional tie. But if you think about it, there are many other ways to use the word suit, aren’t there…? Continue reading
I usually listen to music while I write, and sometimes while I’m thinking about what to write (usually I know long beforehand what I want to write, but sometimes I like to sit and let the ideas come. I think the music helps, and sometimes it gives me very specific ideas. Like this evening, for example. I was listening to the album Songs of Leonard Cohen (on vinyl, for extra hipster cred), and specifically the song “So Long, Marianne,” which of course made me think: why do we (well, Americans mainly) use so long to say goodbye? Continue reading
I was sitting here watching the rain, and thinking about those two words, quite and quiet. Obviously they’re… rather confusing for a lot of people, given how similar they look and sound. I wondered if there might be some link between the two. Surely not, I thought. Their meanings are so different: surely this is just one of those cases of words evolving to be similar independently. Surely… Continue reading
I was enjoying some French conversation last night, on Bastille Day, when someone tried to think of the French translation for sensible. This is a tricky one because there is a French word sensibilité, but it’s a common false friend for French speakers, as it actually means sensitive in English.
That might seem odd to you, because sensible and sensitive are quite different in meaning in English. However, if we take a little trip into the past, we can see that the difference wasn’t always so marked. Continue reading
I’ve recently moved apartment again. One of my housemates in my apartment had always planned to move in with his wife at the end of the lease. I didn’t want to be a third wheel (or a fifth wheel), so I’m moving on.
Another way to refer to being a person who accompanies a couple, usually awkwardly, is to say they’re a gooseberry. Which seems quite unfair to gooseberries, as they’re just innocent fruit. Where does this association come from? Continue reading
This is a pretty common preposition, along with the slightly more formal in spite of. It’s not a word you might use every day, but it’s common enough, especially in written English.
Still, when you think about it, it’s a bit odd, isn’t it? Continue reading
This is a post. Like the the 706 others before it. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 