Writing about the word magazine yesterday made me think of another word with a similar range of meanings: canteen. Continue reading
Canteen
linguistic evolution
Magazine
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
Goosebumps!
Did you know there’s a scientific, very Latin-sounding term for the experience of getting goosebumps? Continue reading
Alright, Alright, Alright!
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
Big Issue!
Do you want to keep track of some the most important issues in the world today? Maybe you could pick up an issue of the magazine The Big Issue to read about them.
Issue. Continue reading
He Walked Through the Door
‘OW!! That hurt!’ he said.
A little earlier, the song “Pure Shores” by All Saints came on the radio. Amid the waves of turn-of-the-millennium nostalgia, one section struck me: Continue reading
In Concert
I was thinking about the word concert recently. A very common word, but it struck me that, like so many others, we use it in different ways without really noticing. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 