January 2005
Bog standard
January 31, 2005
I am currently working on a fascinating document dealing with education in Britain. It mentions Blair calling comprehensive schools bog standard, or ordinary, in 2001, causing a public outcry. Whilst this is a phrase that we're all familiar with, I...
Logos universal conjugator
January 27, 2005
Language Hat (via Songdog) has a knack for finding fascinating and useful resources, like the Logos universal conjugator. Enter (almost) any verb and you'll not only get the full conjugation for that verb, but it also gives a definition, examples...
Lexilogos
January 26, 2005
First seen over at Language Hat and rediscovered thanks to Transblawg, I had great fun on lexilogos, a brilliant resource about languages, French names, etc. I discovered that Céline was a very popular name to be given in France between...
Liberty and freedom
January 24, 2005
"President Bush promised to bring liberty and freedom to the world." What is the difference between liberty and freedom? There is only one word in French, liberté, to express the right to "express any political or religious opinion and live...
Wanted: Spanish to English translator
January 19, 2005
Submissions for this job opportunity are now closed. Many thanks to all those who expressed an interest. I had an unusual request yesterday that prompted me to consider the other side of freelance translating: how do you find the translator...
BBC Voices
January 17, 2005
The BBC website has a Voices section with lots of interesting resources for language-lovers. By clicking on the coloured dots on the UK map, I discovered the existence of polari or gay slang language. You learn something new every day....
A load of cobblers
January 14, 2005
"That's a load of cobblers." I'm not sure where I heard this expression recently, but it's common and I thought that it probably was rhyming slang (slang in which a word is replaced by a phrase which rhymes with it)....
Dooced
January 12, 2005
This article in today's Guardian about a man who lost his job for criticising his employer in his blog reminded me that I had read about a new word for this phenomenon. So I checked Urban Dictionary, and there it...
Chugger
January 11, 2005
chugger n. A professional fundraiser who approaches people on the street to ask for money on behalf of a charity. Composite word created from charity + mugger. The earliest citation of this word (according to Word Spy), is: Is it...
Hubris
January 7, 2005
I learnt a brand new word over the holiday, linked to the David Blunkett story. He was repeatedly accused of behaving with hubris. This word of Greek origin is often used in conjonction with Greek tragedy, to describe the attitude...
My ancestors the Gauls were scared of one thing…
January 3, 2005
… and one thing only: that the sky may fall on their heads. Well, it (almost) happened to me on new year's eve. The photo shows the ceiling of my study as it now looks; my desk is exactly...