Vocabulary
Origin of the word ‘selfie’
It seems almost certain the selfie originated in Australia with a young drunk first using the word to describe a self-portrait photograph more than a decade ago. Oxford Dictionaries revealed this week the earliest known usage is from a 2002… Read More ›
Swearing in English
Swedish swearwords (or profanities or cursing if you prefer) tend to seem quite mild compared to the English. They tend to reference hell and the devil whereas the really bad English swearwords tend to reference sex. When hearing very… Read More ›
Why does biweekly/bimonthly have two meanings?
The unfortunate answer is that it means both “twice a week” and “every two weeks,” and there is no “right” meaning. The situation is the same with “bimonthly,” which can mean “twice a month” and “every two months.” It all… Read More ›
Puns, feck and other minced oaths
I love the word feck. It is a very common minced oath in Ireland and is considered less sweary than the other F word.
My favourite English word: niddy-noddy
I have many favourite English words – serendipity, discombobulated, mellifluous, for example – but my favourite word is niddy-noddy!
