Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton In at least one part of the world, people with disabilities are called “people of determination.” Have you ever heard of that? I had not. But I found a story about an expo where devices for the disabled were on display. (I include part of that story below).That story referred to …
Continue reading “Here’s Yet Another Label For The Disabled”
by Kevin Burton The second offering from today’s word list from Merriam-Webster strikes me as something Bob Dylan might slip into a song to confuse the matter. The dictionary mentions that “epithet” has a meaning without negative connotations. I say that meaning has been completely swallowed up and that using it in the …
by Kevin Burton Who doesn’t love a good rhyme? We’re serving up a full platter of them today with rhyming words, courtesy of our friends at Merriam-Webster. They are called reduplicative words. Some are hyphenated, some are compound words, some separated into two words. But they are all fun. Hocus-Pocus: nonsense or sham …
by Kevin Burton Have there been more impassioned articles written about the evil of alcohol or the evil of algebra? Who can tell really? But these twin menaces are linked in today’s word list from Merriam-Webster, words borrowed by English from Arabic: Algebra Anyone who has unpleasant memories of slogging through this …
by Kevin Burton Hindi and Urdu are two of the languages spoken in India. Today, a list of words borrowed from those languages, courtesy of Merriam-Webster. You can thank the dictionary and me today, if you are sleepy, or need to wash your hair: Pajamas: a loose usually two-piece lightweight suit designed especially for …
by Kevin Burton Today’s post is kind of a follow-up to yesterday’s story about the best countries for expatriates. The BBC did that story, based on a survey of people who had left their home country and settled elsewhere. My wife read it and asked “What about health care?” The story didn’t mention …
by Kevin Burton Separate an Oreo cookie into its two elements and you’re going to find out, it’s all good stuff. So it is when you start peeling apart words. They’re all sweet to the taste for some of us, even if at times they are bittersweet. Merriam-Webster served up a particularly …
Continue reading “The Sweet Elements Of The English Language”
by Kevin Burton Yesterday we brought clarity to numerical words and phrases which are indefinite, in some cases to the point of mystification. And you have come back for more. Thanks! And here is a bonus number-word definition: If I say “thanks a bunch” or “Thanks a million” it’s all the same. …
by Kevin Burton I can still hear Rosa, one of my English as a Second Language students trying out a new word, “seldom.” I was a reasonably good teacher without having had any training. She was a very good student, having had better teachers in the earlier levels of English study. “Seldom.” …
Continue reading “Helpful Hints For Tricky Words And Phrases”
by Kevin Burton Today we touch on two stories about braille being produced from unexpected sources. NBC Connecticut ran a story about female inmates at York Correctional Facility becoming certified as Braille transcriptionists. Five inmates completed the program Aug. 24. I wish NBC had quoited some of them. But here is part …
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