Last Sunday I had a trip on the Tube to old London town. It started off relatively quiet until after two stops, a young and seemingly well dressed and respectable lady sat down on the seat behind me. You could not hope for a seemingly more peaceful traveller until one stop down the line and… Continue reading Overusing the word ‘Like’
Tag: Language
Portmanteaus from Brangelina to Brexit
Admittedly there isn’t much of a journey to along the alphabet from Brangelina to Brexit but these two events, which seem to have defined the summer illustrate just how much we use Portmanteaus from the important things in life to the whimsical. For those who are not sure what exactly is a Portmanteau, it is… Continue reading Portmanteaus from Brangelina to Brexit
How Shakespeare has influenced Pop Culture
How can I be British, a writer, yet have never really written about Shakespeare in over 3 years of blogging. Would you believe that when I was at Secondary School (High School), it was politically incorrect for us to learn Shakespeare as part of the generally, we can’t be proud of any of the good… Continue reading How Shakespeare has influenced Pop Culture
U and Non-U
U, or should I say you, might think I am off my trolley with this blog title or maybe my carefully worded prose has finally given way to text-speak. However U and Non-U is actually a book title from the 1950’s written by a legendary aristocrat Nancy Mitford that was all the rage amongst certain… Continue reading U and Non-U
Languages with no vowels
Hv y vr wndrd abt vwls? Or should I say, have you ever wondered about vowels? We use them all the time and they make up the first words that we learn at school. Nearly all our words have vowels except for some short ones like “dry” or “sky” or “hymn” and those languages that… Continue reading Languages with no vowels
102 great words that aren’t in English but should be!
I spent 4 years at a college in London University studying Africa and Asia. It was the most wonderful place due to the exposure of various languages and cultures and when I say various I mean hundreds. I remember one day on the train thinking to myself how many countries I had friends from. Given… Continue reading 102 great words that aren’t in English but should be!
Stephen Liddell 