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Phobias: where they come from (linguistically)

Phobias "Phobia: an extreme or irrational fear of or aversion to something" The form -phobia comes from Greek phóbos, meaning “fear” or “panic”, although phobias are more acute than fears. They develop when a person has an exaggerated…
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Etymology corner: Retirement - Why all retirees should be jubilant!

Why do we say 'to retire'? How is 'retirement' treated in other languages? What are the connotations of 'retirement'? Retirement is an interesting word. Unsurprisingly, retirement it is one of the words which the English language appropriated…
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Look at that 'S' car go! Sorry, I meant 'escargot' [French food derivations]

The French influence on the English language Think you're not very good at languages? Well, almost 1/3rd of English words come from French, which means that you're already conversant...in fact semi-fluent if you were to chose to stick to…

How to turn a memorable phrase

What's in a memorable phrase? It's all in the adjective really - consider these three very different phrases:   1. The audacity of hope This was the keynote address given by Barack Obama at the 2004 Democratic National Convention.…
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2017 Word of the Year: Fake News

There were 10 words on the shortlist for inclusion in the latest edition of Collins' Dictionary, and the 2017 Word of the Year was....fake news!               On the shortlist for…
John Milton

Paradise Lost.....Words Found

The Greatest English Author? John Milton, rather than William Shakespeare, was actually the greatest neologist (*) of the English language, according to Gavin Alexander, lecturer in English at Cambridge university. (*) neologism. n. 'practice…
Last words

Famous last words....or what you'd like to say when the time comes

Last words. It would be nice to think that, when the time comes,  we'd be able to depart this mortal coil with some style and wit, beyond a gurgled 'urgghhh' or an exclamatory 'arghhh'?! However, maybe that is a privilege extended only to…
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Flesch Reading Ease - is 'Readability' such a good measurement?

How do you measure 'Readability'? Flesch Reading Ease is the standard measure of readability used in Wordpress sites, which helps articles to rank higher on search engines (i.e. Google to all intents and purposes). It measures textual difficulty…
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George Orwell, Newspeak

Don't you see that the whole aim of Newspeak is to narrow the range of thought? Newspeak was George Orwell's fictional language, invented for the book 1984. It was created by the totalitarian state Oceania, and allowed only a narrow range…
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Banjaxed - Wogan's favourite word

The great maxim at the BBC is, if it ain't broke, break it Dear old Terry - the man who introduced 'banjaxed' into the English vocabulary (or at least popularised it) - was a wordsmith of heroic proportions, and hence somewhat of a hero of…