Language Lovers

10 weird and wonderful language facts from Paul Noble

1. Learning another language makes your brain function more effectively. Recent studies have shown that it helps increase intelligence, empathy and attention span. It has also been shown to slow down the brain’s ageing process and so reduce the risk of dementia – a good reason to sign up for… Read More

Brexit, Trump, and celebrity deaths: the perfect storm of 2016’s Words in the News

On 28 December 2016, an independent comedy production company called Friend Dog Studios produced a mock-trailer of the year 2016 as a horror film. Though not everyone will agree, 2016 was a pretty bizarre year on the world stage. At the start of it, David Bowie, Prince, Carrie Fisher, Alan… Read More

‘Beagled’, ‘stagmin’ and ‘judgementality’ – Lucy Mangan’s back with your new word submissions

Sometimes you can feel contributors’ pain in their submissions. This week my heart goes out to Wilhelm81 and Scania143ab, who have sent in stagmin and beagled respectively. Stagmin is the admin associated with organising a stag weekend. I have visions of Wilhelm going quietly demented at the kitchen… Read More

Etymology Corner – ‘Scrabble’

With the holiday season approaching, it might be a good time to get some board-games out of the cupboard so that the family can while away a winter’s evening in friendly (or not-so-friendly) competition. One of the world’s most popular board-games is Scrabble™. However, Scrabble™ has not always been called… Read More

Toblerone, Melania Trump, and Electoral College: November’s words in the news

On Tuesday, 8 November 2016, the world witnessed an unanticipated disaster of the highest possible magnitude. Toblerone, the beloved triangular chocolate bar, reduced in size to avoid having to raise its price. This caused chocolate bar’s name to show up basically everywhere, from mainstream news headlines all the way to… Read More

‘Crafternoon’, ‘shrinkflation’ and ‘Trumpocene’ – Lucy Mangan’s back with your new word submissions

So, here we are in the very first days of the Trumpocene era. Submitted by AustinAllegro, there are currently many ways to define it, most of which share a certain apocalyptic quality we need not dwell on here. I note with interest and a little gratitude that thomas_dreiling has… Read More

Etymology Corner – ‘Surprise’

The election of Donald J Trump as the forty-fifth president of the United States certainly came as a surprise to many people. But why do we call an event that was not expected to happen a surprise? ‘Surprise’ is one of five common English words that ends… Read More

Collins Word of the Year 2016 Q & A

What is Collins’ Word of the Year? Collins’ Word of the Year is a word that our lexicographers have identified as having been notably more visible in the last year. It may be a brand new word or an existing one that has seen its popularity increase because of current… Read More

‘Brexit’, ‘Hygge’ and ‘mic drop’ – Lucy Mangan’s take on Collins Word of the Year 2016

My goodness – is it that time of year already? It is! It is indeed already time to unveil the 2016 shortlist and winner of the coveted title Collins Word of the Year. First on the list of contenders is hygge (pronounced a bit like hoo-gah, a… Read More