I’m having breakfast as I write this. There’s nothing terribly unusual about that: it is the morning after all. But do you know what that word breakfast means?
word origins
Alma Mater
What was your old school like? Have you ever gone back there, to your alma mater?
For Crying Out Loud!
Usually, when people cry, they cry out loud. But of course you can cry silently, can’t you? That hasn’t always been the case though.
Indiana
I was reading the blurb on the book I’ve just started reading, Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut, when I got a little surprise.
Alienist
I’ve come across this word a few times recently, while reading “The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, by H.P Lovecraft.
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?
No, I Don’t Mind
Carrying on from yesterday: all native speakers of English are quite used to the phrase I don’t mind… But why do we use mind in this case? Continue reading
