Language Lovers

A year when hedonism and anxiety combine

Lacking in confidence? Feeling a bit sub-par? I have just the mindset for you, and it’s encapsulated in a single word: brat. Brat is different things to different people; a spiky attitude, a garish aesthetic, even a campaign slogan (the phrase “Kamala IS Brat” proved snappy enough to go politically… Read More

Spanish words of the week: arco or arca?

It’s time to target another pair of Spanish nouns which are similar in form but whose meaning is entirely different depending on their ending and gender. This week it’s the turn of masculine 'arco' and feminine 'arca' . Read More

Formula One™ and the vocabulary of motor racing

This year is a major one for Formula One racing. There’ll be more Grand Prix (GP) races than ever before – twenty-four in twenty-one countries – including the final of the series in Abu Dhabi this December. In the British Grand Prix on the legendary Silverstone circuit in… Read More
world hearing day

The lazy, hazy days of summer

During August – which in some luckier parts of Britain is finally producing seasonable weather – two ‘days’ encourage us to switch off, dial down and generally ease off on normal activities. National Lazy Day falls on 10 August, followed cold on… Read More

Paris 2024™

Between 26 July and 11 August sports fans the world over will be abuzz as France hosts what is officially the twenty-third Olympiad™ – in Paris, in sixteen other sites across France and on French Tahiti, where the windsurfing competition will take place. In French, the games are… Read More

Welcome to the ton: 7 new Bridgerton words

Dear reader, we are honoured to welcome you back to the ton! Last time we spoke, we gave you 9 words to sweep you into the world of Bridgerton, and now, with season 3 streaming on Netflix, we thought it was high time to return to everyone’s favourite Regency-era… Read More

International Day of Yoga and Sanskrit words

Get those yoga mats out! The twenty-first of June is, to say the least, a rather different ‘day’. It’s not just one of those (*sigh* or *yawn*) ‘Everything has a day these days’ days. It’s the International Day of Yoga as officially endorsed by the United Nations (UN). It… Read More

It’s a Taylor Swift blog, baby, just say yes

There’s a brand-new fever sweeping the UK and Europe. That’s right, Taylor Swift’s Eras tour has officially made its way across the pond, and we are all enchanted. Having visited Edinburgh, Liverpool and Cardiff, and with her sights now set on Dublin and London, Taylor has also been debuting performances… Read More

Environment Day 2024: a world of vocabulary

World Environment Day – 5 June – is a United Nations (UN)-designated day to raise awareness of the manifold environmental problems our world faces. Given the scope of the word ‘environment’, those problems include a broad swathe of often interconnected issues. This year the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, together with… Read More