Language and the book of life

During the final rallies of her election campaign, US presidential candidate Kamala Harris drew on one metaphor time and time again. She said that she was determined, or she saw a nation determined, ‘to turn the page on hatred and division’. It’s an effective rallying call. It certainly sounded positive,… Read More

Spanish words of the week: manzana or manzano?

It’s time to peel the layers off another pair of Spanish nouns which look similar in form but mean different things depending on their ending and gender. This week it’s the turn of feminine manzana and masculine manzano. Read More

French word of the week: si

This series of weekly blogs takes a closer look at words from our French dictionaries. The word we're focusing on this week is the French word 'si'. Read More

British Pudding Day

Pease pudding hot… Saturday 9 November marks British Pudding Day. It’s at the weekend, giving anyone who likes cooking the leisure to prepare a proper pudding. Puddings are central to British culture. So central that we plonk them in nursery rhymes (see the heading above) and in proverbs (the proof… Read More

Spanish words of the week: seto or seta?

Here we examine a new pair of Spanish nouns whose form is deceptively similar but whose meaning is quite different depending on their ending and gender.  This week’s masculine and feminine pair are 'seto' and 'seta'. Read More