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 …
Category Archives: human relations
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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Words To Live By, Words To Die By, Words
by Kevin Burton I bury my mother today. Can you imagine such a thing? Life is a coin flip, with love on one side and pain on the other. Pain, in some measure, is the residue of love. Live. Love. Toss the coin. Do it. “There’s a sad day coming, and …
Make Time For Mom, You’ll Be Glad You Did
by Kevin Burton One day my mother received a letter. The people who owned the house she was renting were going to sell it, and she had 30 days to get out. It was ridiculous to expect her to move that quickly, and my brother successfully negotiated an additional six weeks. But we …
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Bye For Now, Evelyn Marie, Bye For Now
by Kevin Burton Mom started it. I followed suit right away. We both understood though we never discussed it. Somewhere, maybe six or seven years ago, we began ending a phone conversation or one of my visits to her at assisted living or in the nursing home with “bye for now!” We’ll …
Pleasures And Benefits Of Soaking In The Rain
by Ally Hirschlag BBC It was the sixth straight day of the heat index topping 100F (38C) in New Milford, Connecticut, when the sky turned a sickening shade of puce. I was leading an outdoor theatre workshop, and noticed campers gawking at an ominous, miles-long shelf cloud advancing overhead. Then a thunderclap shook …
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Baby On Board! Woman Gives Birth On Flight
by Kevin Burton Chances are you’ve heard this story by now, of a baby being born mid-air on a Portland, Oregon-bound flight April 24. Page 7 is hardly a breaking news outlet, so I’m guessing you’ve read about it somewhere. But here’s my question: Did Delta Airlines try to charge the mother …
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Our Getaway In Beautiful Downtown Newton
by Kevin Burton “There are no boring towns, just boring people,” said my first editor. Not all his nuggets were golden. That one was, and is. My wife Jeannette and I are not boring people Thus we were in no danger of being bored, though we made the curious choice of Newton, Kansas …
Staying (Tornado) Safe In The Neighborhood
by Kevin Burton All’s well that ends well when you are dining out. And that doesn’t always mean having a tasty dessert. Things do tend to end well when we’re hearing from the Good News Network. Today GNN’S Andy Corbley writes of a restaurant manager whose quick thinking saved lives when severe weather …
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Quibbles And Bits: B-Side Fortune Cookies
by Kevin Burton I list these songs below, and chances are you’ll pick up right away where I am going with them: “Laughing” and “Undun” by the Guess Who, “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel The Earth Move” by Carole King “Who’ll Stop The Rain” and “Travelling Band” by Credence Clearwater Revival, “Something” …
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