A Burns Day round-up
Today is Burns Day, when Scots (here in Scotland and just about everywhere else in the world) celebrate the life and work of Robert (Rabbie)
Category: Language
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Who’s not happy with “selfie” as Word of the Year?
What do you think of the Oxford English Dictionary’s choice of “selfie” as Word of the Year for 2013? I’m not mad about the word
Happy burger day!
Today is apparently National Burger Day. For those of us more interested in words than in food (who am I kidding?), here’s the etymology of
Language learning in decline? Spread the language love!
Gary Muddyman of Conversis has written an interesting blog post – Is Britain becoming a nation of monoglots? – on the decline in language learning in
Apostrophes: everything you ever wanted to know, just about.
Yesterday, 16 August, was International Apostrophe Day, and the cue for lots of apostrophe articles and Twitter posts. The following quick guide to when and
Ba(nne)d words: the GOV.UK style guide
I love a good style guide. And I applaud anyone encouraging the use of clear English. But the GOV.UK style guide, produced by the United Kingdom’s
The name game (1): Prince George Alexander Louis
Wee Prince George is one week old today. I dug out my baby-name bible, “Choose Your Baby’s Name” by Rosalind Fergusson, first published in 1987 but
Hard times bring new words
The New York Times has published an interesting article on the new words and terms being used by Europe’s citizens as a result of the
How good is your grammar?
Primary-school pupils in England have been sitting a new grammar, spelling and punctuation test (check out the specimen questions) as part of their final year
Language learning. What’s it good for?
Language learning is good for quite a lot, by the looks of it. What’s your favourite benefit? Are there any more you would add? With