Category: English

Oct 02

The mysterious origins of punctuation

A nerdy, fascinating read from Keith Houston for BBC Culture: The mysterious origins of punctuation

May 30

Ten better ways to say: lucky

fortunate blessed charmed auspicious favored golden holding aces providential felicitious sitting pretty

Feb 15

Ten better ways to say: tired

Keep awake long enough to consider these options. (The sixth was completely new to me.) bleary prostrate nodding tapped out enervated logy (or loggy) bushed drowsy torpid bone-weary

Jan 24

port·man·teau 1: a large suitcase. 2: …

If the weather has you huddled indoors today, have a quick look at Mental Floss: 10 Words You Might Not Know are Portmanteaux

Jun 12

A quick review of basics: write more professionally

Most of us will graciously overlook a rare spelling or typing mistake. But be warned: if your messages to clients or colleagues are frequently littered with these basic errors, you’re likely harming your professional image. From Daily Muse, Inc: 16 Spelling Mistakes You Need to Stop Making — Now

May 19

The whole nine yards

From BBC Magazine: “Lexicographer Jonathon Green selects the slang words and expressions that encapsulate the age in which they were coined.”

Feb 14

Ten better ways to say: sweet

Whether it’s cake, a rose garden, a sonata, or the girl next door one of these should fit: syrupy cloying saccharine honeyed toothsome nectarous delightsome endearing dulcet redolent

Feb 08

The international word trade

An interesting exploration by BBC News Magazine about the passage of words between English and other languages: Does English still borrow words from other languages?

Jan 09

Old words imbedded in our idioms

An interesting list (at least to fans of English) from Mental Floss of old words that linger in our language by merit of inclusion in idioms.  See if you know the word meanings within these expressions: http://mentalfloss.com/article/51150/12-old-words-survived-getting-fossilized-idioms

Aug 20

Lost in translation

Usually I don’t judge too harshly when I see translation errors while traveling. I appreciate the effort to provide information in English and can overlook misspelling and other sometimes-cute errors. However this caught my eye and deserves some criticism because it’s an awkward translation that a major international hotel chain is using. They clearly have …

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