I was reading an Italian short story the other day (in an edition with English translations on the right-hand page) when I saw an interesting word: la persiana. Continue reading
Venetian Blinds
thoughts about English
You and I
I was reading a novel recently in which a character speaks a language which doesn’t have the concept of the first and second person, basically no concept of I (or me) and you. As a result of this, the character himself cannot conceive of these concepts. Continue reading
Sshhh!!!
OK, now we can begin.
I’m not sure what got me thinking about this word (or, ejaculation at least, I’m not sure it merits being considered a word). It’s certainly not one I like to use much. Still, it’s curious. Continue reading
I am a Human Being!
Have you ever thought about how strange that term, human being, really is? Continue reading
Joker
This morning, perhaps influenced by the current anticipation for the upcoming Joker film, it occurred to me that the word joker sounds very similar to the Italian verb giocare. Continue reading
Brexit Senza Accordo
It’s hard to avoid Brexit at the moment. I don’t intend to add to the commentary that’s already out there. Suffice it to say it’s a colossal mistake.
Anyway, I was listening to the news on the radio this morning, and the expression no-deal Brexit was mentioned (probably already for the fifth time today). As any innocuous word or phrase tends to do, this got me thinking. Continue reading
Copy and Paste
I was writing an email at work today (I’ll spare you the details) which included a pretty basic phrase. As soon as I’d written it however, I immediately deleted it and rewrote it, changing it only slightly, but in a way that, to me in the moment, made it correct. What was that phrase?
Copy and pasted. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 