A pretty easy answer for most of us nowadays, but one that’s obviously changed over time. In fact, a lot of devices which were originally called telephones might not be recognisable as such by today’s standards. Continue reading
thoughts on the English language
What Won’t Meatloaf Do for Love?
It seems to be one of rock’s greatest mysteries. In the chorus of “I’d Do Anything for Love,” Meatloaf states repeatedly that he would do anything for love, but that he won’t do that. But what exactly does that refer to? Continue reading
St. Patrick’s Day
Happy St. Patrick’s Day! Millions of people around the world today are drinking Guinness and wearing green, even if they’re not of recent Irish heritage. As usual I forgot to wear anything green, though I did have a pint of Guinness and a whiskey. Though the Guinness wasn’t great, probably due to the journey from Dublin to Liège. Continue reading
Beware the Ides of March!
What is an Ide anyway, and why should I be scared of it? Continue reading
Toe the Line
Did you know that the phrase is toe the line, and not tow the line? It’s a very common mistake, largely because to toe isn’t commonly used a verb in English, whereas to tow can be found more frequently. Plus, you can tow a line, but what does toeing a line even mean? Continue reading
One for the Road
After looking at the differences between the English words for animals and the meat we get from them, I was curious about the words we use for alcoholic drinks, and whether they display a similar Germanic/Latin divide. Continue reading
Doing Dutch with Duolingo
It seems like a long time ago when I decided to give a language-learning app a try. I’ve been busy since then, but finally this week I decided I’d download Duolinguo. I thought quite a bit about which language to choose. I knew right away that I already know enough French and Italian to make it difficult to know how much I was actually learning from the app. I thought about choosing a language as far from English as possible, but decided against this as, generally, we tend to learn languages with at least some basic similarities to our mother tongue. Most Europeans will learn another European language, which mostly have some basic links with each other. Continue reading
English-Language Thoughts 