Language Lovers

Lost in Translation?

A perennial favourite topic among word bloggers is the host of fascinating foreign words that have no direct translation in English. This topic has been covered in posts like this one. And this one. And even this newspaper article. What makes these words so interesting seems to… Read More

Potato/Potahto: a look at English across the pond

As the home language of an erstwhile globe-spanning empire, English has been exported nearly everywhere, and as the de facto official language of the most successful of the former British colonies, it continues to exert more influence around the world than any other tongue ever has. Traditionally, a friendly rivalry… Read More

Brexit v Bremain: the Language of the EU Ref

Before Brexit, there was Grexit. But while Brexit (from “Britain” or “British” and “exit”) refers to Britain’s potential departure from the European Union, Grexit only hypothesized Greece’s exit from the eurozone. Almost as soon as Britain joined the EU (then the European Economic Community) in 1973, there have… Read More

From ‘boggle’ to ‘Michilimackinac’, Lucy Mangan takes a look at your recent word submissions

I am writing this as a flotilla of boats full of men making rude gestures and shouting impenetrable insults at each other (“That dinghy is from Goldman Sachs!” being one we shall have to unpick at leisure once we reach calmer waters) in what they claim is an effort to… Read More

Lucy Mangan takes a look at some of your recent word submissions

I don’t know about you, but with still almost three weeks to go until the referendum I am already beginning to suffer from Brexistentialism. Contributor Beatrix111 defines it as “the belief that the UK would be better off leaving the UK and being a free agent in a deterministic and… Read More

“Mic drop”, “bigly”, and “unbound delegate”: May’s Words in the News

Mic drop, the act of dropping one’s microphone (literally or figuratively) as a dramatic gesture at the end of a speech, rap, or other vocal performance, gained a friend in high places in May when US President Barack Obama did it at the end of his speech to the final… Read More

The RHS Chelsea Flower show is in full swing so we take a look at the etymology behind the word ‘horticulture’

Horticulture The week of the Royal Horticultural Society’s Chelsea Flower Show seems like a suitable time to look into the origin of the word ‘horticulture’. This is formed out of two Latin words: hortus means ‘a garden’, and cultura means ‘cultivation’ or ‘tilling’. So horticulture is simply ‘the cultivation of… Read More

Lucy Mangan checks out our recent word submissions, from ‘maternity moon’ to ‘ackle’.

After last week’s “peternity/pawternity leave” (the time off granted by some super-civilised companies to people who need to settle a recently-acquired pet or care for a sick one) comes “meternity leave” and “maternity moon.” The former was coined by author (of a book entitled – ta-da! – Meternity) Meghann Foye… Read More

We take a look at the etymology behind the word ‘poll’

People across Britain recently went to the polls in local elections, which raises the question, why do we talk about ‘polls’ and ‘polling stations’ in the context of voting. The word ‘poll’ is of Germanic origin, and first occurs in English in the 13th century, when it meant ‘a head’. Read More