Yes, as usual, I’m a day late. I know, but it’s because I’m writing this on April Fool’s Day, and publishing it tomorrow. Which is today for you. Anyway, April Fool’s Day. What’s the story with that?
April Fool!
The Bible
The Bible
The Bible.
I’m not an expert on the Bible by any stretch of the imagination. I did read a few passages of the Book of Revelations as a younger man, out of sheer curiosity, but that’s about it. Still though, it’s a very interesting name, even if you haven’t read any of it.
The Writing’s on the Wall
The signs are there that something bad is going to happen. Its meaning isn’t hard to figure out, and there’s a logic to it (writing on a wall is a pretty visible sign). But where does this expression come from?
Don’t be Afraid…
Yes, it’s Hallowe’en again! Time to have a look at an appropriately spooky word. But first, a challenge:
What’s in a Name? Part II
As it’s been a while since I did a post like this, and lately I’ve been thinking about some interesting names, I decided that once more I wanted to look at the meaning and origins of some common English-language names. So then…
… what’s in a name?
Scapegoat
An innocent person deliberately blamed for wrongdoing, usually by the guilty parties.
This always seemed like a strange word to me: why a goat? The concept originally comes from the Bible, from the Book of Leviticus, when a goat is designated to take on the sins of the people and be cast out into the desert, thus freeing the people from their sins.
The actual word scapegoat seems to have entered the English language in the 16th century, with scape deriving from escape, i.e. the scapegoat allows the guilty to escape punishment. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 