by Kevin Burton I am guessing you are like me and had no previous idea what “fly tipping” is. Fly tipping is “the activity of illegally leaving waste or unwanted objects next to a road, in a field, in a river, etc.” according to the Cambridge Dictionary. According to wordhistories.net, here’s how …
Category Archives: Europe
Strangers Build Community Via Co-Housing
by Charlotte Cox BBC When Nikki Little and John Porter retired, they considered buying a bungalow for just the two of them. Instead, they invested in a one million-pound ($1.33 million US) house tucked away on Devon’s rugged and remote Hartland Peninsula – and looked for a community of like-minded people to join …
‘Miracle Tree’ Removes Plastics From Water
by Angela Symons Euronews.com A millennia-old purification technique could be the cure for Europe’s microplastic-riddled drinking water. In a recent study, seeds from the ‘miracle’ moringa tree were found to match or outperform their chemical counterpart in filtering out aged PVC microplastics – one of the most harmful plastic types for human health. …
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Common Things Once Worth More Than Gold
by Dictionary Scoop Many of the things we take for granted today were once the stuff of dreams for kings, aristocrats, and the wealthy few. From basic household staples to everyday technology, these now-common goods were once markers of status and privilege. Here’s a look at ten items that were once nearly unattainable luxuries. 1-Sugar Once called …
“Cat Island” Japan And Other “Animal Towns”
by Dictionary Scoop Traveling to foreign cities and towns is a great way to interact with different people and their cultures, but have you ever thought about visiting an animal town? Scattered around the world, some of these places are the result of natural reserves set up to protect endangered species, while others …
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Ten Surprising Foreign Language Enclaves
by Dictionary Scoop Migrations, trade, and other historical events have contributed to the spread of languages to regions far from their origins. But sometimes, we arrive at a new location expecting to hear a particular language, only to be surprised by the use of a language we wouldn’t expect. Here are ten places in …
What The British Mean When They Say ‘Sorry’
by Mike MacEacheran BBC In the UK, sorry is not simply an apology, it’s a cultural reflex – a five-letter pressure valve used to soften requests, smooth over awkwardness, fill conversational gaps and avoid the national horror of seeming rude. It is perhaps no coincidence that such famously polite characters as Paddington and …
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Ten Words That Came From Nordic To English
by Dictionary Scoop Romance languages, led by French, have had such a lasting influence on English that we sometimes forget that it is actually a Germanic language, and as such, a relative of the Nordic languages. However, Nordic languages had left their mark on English centuries before the French-Normans even attempted to conquer England, and they …
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Ten English Words Borrowed From Dutch
by Merriam-Webster Dictionary Caboodle: all of a group of things So, you’ve gone and got yourself a kit. Very nice, very nice. Looks like a sewing kit, or maybe a first aid kit. Okay, now we see it’s a model airplane kit. Congratulations. But do you have the caboodle that, we presume from the phrase …
Dave Mason And A Place That’s Far Away
by Kevin Burton There was just one song that brought Dave Mason into my top-40-based musical awareness in the 70s, but that was enough to keep him there. Mason died April 19, and tributes began to pour in from people who knew him as I didn’t, as a co-founder of the British rock …
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