Old-school news, just in time
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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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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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 …
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 …
by dictionary Scoop Geography, like all academic disciplines, has its own vocabulary and terminology. Concerned with everything from physical phenomena of the planet to social interactions, geographers have many specialized terms and concepts. You’ve probably used some of the words in this list. Yet, do you know exactly what they mean or where …
by Dictionary Scoop Measuring the world is a human necessity, and throughout history, we’ve used some truly strange units. Here are 10 of the weirdest—and funniest—measures ever recorded. Not the most practical, but undeniably fun! 1-Beard-second A beard-second is the distance a beard grows in one second, roughly 5 nanometers. The unit originated in physics as a …
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by Ellie Cobb BBC When Emily Hill, a novelist from Everett, Washington, heard about the recent changes to Canada’s citizenship-by-descent rules, she immediately wondered whether a family connection might make her eligible. “I felt like I’d been struck by lightning,” she says, explaining that her grandmother was born in Montreal. “This possibility was …
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by Oana Ghita and Rodica State Agerpress Romania’s First museum dedicated to the history, culture and contributions of blind people opened Thursday in Bucharest. The ‘Regina Elisabeta’ Technological High School in Bucharest, in partnership with the Light into Europe Foundation, inaugurated the ‘Regina Elisabeta’ Museum of the Blind Community and Education. According to …
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by Hugh Schofield BBC France is one step from enshrining in law the end of so-called “conjugal rights” – the notion that marriage means a duty to have sex. A bill approved on Wednesday in France’s National Assembly adds a clause to the country’s civil code to make clear that “community of living” …
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by Kevin Burton Happiness is a sunny place to be on a slow and sweet Saturday morning. Happiness has its shadings and degrees. Happiness observes no borders, but it is expressed differently and more specifically in the various parts of the world. This we explore today with a list from Merriam-Webster dictionary. …
