Archive for April, 2009
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Posted by Michael Rundell on April 29, 2009
Which is the more difficult word: take or encephalomyelitis? Most people would pick the second one – but a lexicographer wouldn’t. For dictionary-writers, words like encephalomyelitis are easy because they only have one meaning, and it can be defined with complete accuracy. The really difficult words are go, take, get, and similar high-frequency items which [...]
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Posted by Susan Jellis on April 27, 2009
That somebody might find raising funds difficult in these problematic financial times is certainly not beyond belief. That they might say, describing their plight, that ‘Getting the financing was beyond difficult’ may be more surprising. We’re used to things being beyond recognition, beyond a doubt/beyond reasonable doubt, beyond a joke, beyond expectations or beyond our [...]
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Posted by Jonathan Cole on April 24, 2009
This post contains a weekly selection of links related to English language today. These can be items from the latest news, blog posts or interesting related websites. A new weekly review post will be posted every Friday. Please contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to include. News Email language [...]
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Posted by Shane Rae on April 22, 2009
I was recently visiting a primary school and had the great pleasure of sitting in on an assembly that was to be a celebration of some of the children’s fantastic work. It was also a chance for the pupils to bring in things to show to their peers as well. In a nice clear voice, [...]
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Posted by Kati Sule on April 20, 2009
The countdown for the annual Webby Awards, aka the Oscars for the Web, has started: there are ten more days left to cast your vote. (Voting stops at the end of April.) This year, one of the more interesting nominees, in the category of ‘Best typography’, is Wordle. Wordle has been created by Jonathan Feinberg, [...]
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Posted by Jonathan Cole on April 17, 2009
This post contains a weekly selection of links related to English language today. These can be items from the latest news, blog posts or interesting related websites. A new weekly review post will be posted every Friday. Please contact us if you would like to submit a link for us to include. News An Amazon [...]
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Posted by Stephen Bullon on April 15, 2009
If you’re like me, you’ll have spent many years labouring under the misapprehension that Jimi Hendrix sang ’Scuse me while I kiss this guy in his 1967 hit, Purple Haze. But in fact he didn’t – what he actually sang was ’Scuse me while I kiss the sky. There’s a word for this sort of [...]
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Posted by Shane Rae on April 08, 2009
Why is it that journalists seem to think that they are allowed the greatest licence when using the English language? Why do they not feel bound by the same linguistic restraints as the rest of us? Often they make up brand new words to describe something in a way they feel that no existing word [...]
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Posted by Michael Rundell on April 02, 2009
First, a little history to set the scene. We think of cricket as a very ‘English’ game, and nowadays it’s mainly played in parts of the former British empire: Australasia, the Indian subcontinent, South Africa, and the Caribbean. But its history is more complex. In a recent novel, Netherland, the protagonist is a Wall Street [...]
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