Old-school news, just in time
by Dictionary Scoop Have you ever noticed how many everyday words go back to Greek mythology? Sure, we have the more obvious ones—like “narcissist” or “nemesis”—but you might find in this list terms that you didn’t know were so old. 1-Tantalizing Remember the story of Tantalus? He was a king who tried to fool the gods and …
Continue reading “How Greek Mythology Slips Into Everyday Life”
by Interesting Facts With the right combination of words and expressions, we can communicate anything our hearts desire. That’s the power of language. But what about those times when you’re looking for a single word rather than an entire sentence to sum up a thought or feeling? For that, we can look to …
by Kevin Burton Been reading with joy, a small flood of stories about people having sight restored through gene therapy. Voretigene neparvovec, sold under the brand name Luxturna, is a gene therapy medication for the treatment of Leber congenital amaurosis, according to Wikipedia. The US Food and Drug Administration approved Luxturna, in December of …
Continue reading ““Life Changing” Gene Therapy Restores Vision”
by Kevin Burton The Wednesday before Valentine’s Day I posted a story about a cruel and unusual dating ritual that came from ancient Rome. The cruel part was men beating women with animal skins as part of a Valentine’s Day tradition. The unusual part was the women were eager for this! It was …
Continue reading “Long-Lasting Innovations From Ancient Rome”
by Kevin Burton What would you say to Sir Elton John if you could have a moment’s conversation with him today? Now that question may be absurd, or at least rhetorical. If you’re like me and grew up with Elton John in his prime all over the radio, as part of the fabric …
Continue reading “Of Sir Elton John And Seeing Things Clearly”
by Megan Dausch Helen Keller Services The Louis Braille Museum in Coupvray, France, smelled like history—aged wood, old paper, and the faint mustiness of time. It was a small house, but it held the weight of a remarkable legacy. I remember running my fingers over the dominoes Louis Braille played with as a …
Continue reading “Braille Gives Literacy, Independence, Access”
by Kevin Burton Our cat Ronnie is “food-motivated.” The manager of Save The Kitties in Derby said so and she wasn’t lying. Ronnie was obviously supplied with people food in large quantity by her previous owners because she clung to our feet when we opened the refrigerator. She knew exactly what the apparatus …
by Kevin Burton Just a sampling today, as you carry on with life, of what blind people face every day when they dare go into the workforce. Our first look is in New Jersey, the second, across the Atlantic in Wales. I could string all the news like this into a blog …
Continue reading “The Blind At Work: Two Stories, Two Traumas”
by Dictionary Scoop Coming from the Indo-European language family, Danish has some funny idiomatic expressions. Some will leave you scratching your head. For example, “reading a horse.” What’s that all about? Continue reading to learn nine Danish expressions and their meaning translated. 1-Mind the cows When life gets a bit hard, we all need …
Continue reading “When In Denmark, Speak As The Danish Speak”
by Tim Ott interestingfacts.com The ubiquity of holiday songs on television, radio, and social media from Thanksgiving through Christmas ensures that we’ll be able to sing these anthems in our sleep. But lesser known are the backstories behind these famous tunes, which share common themes but draw from vastly different sources. From centuries-old …
Continue reading “The Origins Of Six Classic Christmas Songs”
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