A lot.
It’s two words. This one’s easy.
But of course, a lot of people make the mistake of writing alot instead of a lot. And I’m curious as to why. Continue reading
A Lot or Alot?
linguistic evolution
Do Re Mi Fa Sol La Ti Do
Do Ti La Sol Fa Mi Re Do!
Beautifully done! (and yes, it is Sol, not So!)
Even if you haven’t seen The Sound of Music, you’re probably quite familiar with this little method of assigning syllables to the seven major musical notes.
It’s known as solfège, and is used to help a musician distinguish between different pitches of notes. It’s not something I’d ever given much thought about until one day, likely while I was living in Belgium, I saw The Sound of Music dubbed into French… Continue reading
Mancino
Yesterday, I learned that I’m mancino. I’d actually already known that for a long time. Just not in Italian. For mancino, you see, is the Italian for left-handed. Continue reading
What’s the Longest Word in the English Language?
You’d imagine that’s an easy question, wouldn’t you? Which word has more letters than any other? Done!
Well, you’d think so, but this is a surprisingly debated question. Continue reading
Si Vis Pacem, Para Bellum
If you want peace, prepare for war.
An ancient, but enduring adage, first found in the 5th century De re militari (Concerning Military Matters) by the Latin writer Publius Flavius Vegetius Renatus.
I was thinking about this phrase recently, inspired by the subtitle of the latest John Wick film – Parabellum. Continue reading
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Hitchhiking
I was in Italy for a few days recently, and near my hotel I noticed a sign indicating that autostop was not permitted. You might have figured out that autostop is the Italian word for hitchhiking. Continue reading
The B-Team
What’s so bad about being on the B-Team? I mean, sure, they’re obviously not as good as the A-Team, but they’re still better than the other 24 teams! Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 