Old-school news, just in time
by Kevin Burton Here’s one subject that never came up when I was teaching English in Mexico – thank God! In English, when you see the vowel combination “ae” how do you pronounce it? This was brought to my attention on an otherwise glorious Saturday morning by our friends at the Merriam-Webster …
Continue reading “Wobble Talk And Fighting Words In English”
by Kevin Burton Let’s face it, love isn’t usually something you can analyze scientifically. Some of our words and phrases of love don’t make sense either. In honor of Valentine’s Day and with the help of Merriam-Webster dictionary, we looked yesterday, at where our love and romance words came from. We continue today …
by Kevin Burton My love of words brings us to words of love today, courtesy Merriam-Webster dictionary. Just in time for Valentine’s Day, words and phrases about romantic relationships. Once we get over being lovestruck and tongue-tied, here’s why we say it the way we say it: Goo-goo Eyes “The term ‘goo-goo eyes’ …
by Kevin Burton The friends you make later in life might be surprised to learn what you were like as a youth. You’re older, we hope wiser, different is many ways for sure. Some of the words we use go through a similar metamorphosis. Just as you might not be able to …
by Kevin Burton Last Friday I presented some of the words about thinking compiled by Merriam-Webster. Today I bring you the rest of their list. Call this overthinking if you like. It wouldn’t be my first visit to that particular boulevard. Whereas all the words I included Friday are useful, most of …
by Kevin Burton My friend and co-worker on my college newspaper Tim, once suggested that thinking become a new sport. That’s something that should really be pursued. In this thinksport, there should be a penalty for speaking without thinking. Maybe I’ll continue this thought later. For now, I want to share …
by Kevin Burton Surely you’ve heard this old joke: What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Trilingual. What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bilingual. What do you call a person who speaks only one language? American. A wicked, sweeping generalization that. Not entirely fair. But …
by Kevin Burton If you read this column often you know I’m a Scrabble player. Guess I’ve become an old Scrabble player. I used to laugh at my mom because she objected to some of the new words in the Scrabble Players’ Dictionary. I’m not laughing anymore. I have the sixth edition …
by Kevin Burton When I travel to foreign lands such as Mexico or Mississippi, I bring back souvenirs. I’m sure you do too in your travels. Some of the souvenirs we bring back are words and phrases. Today we look at some favorites from the Merriam Webster dictionary. Their list is of words …
by Kevin Burton Not smashing, not daft, something mid-table I’d say, to use a football analogy. I thought I was ready, so I had a go, with middling results. Every day Merriam-Webster sends me an e-mail to help me watch my language. A few weeks ago they announced “The Great British Vocabulary …
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