Language Lovers

Divining the hallmarks of Gothic literature

Spooky season is rapidly approaching. With dark nights, cold weather and the golden hues of the season to look forward to, it’s the perfect time of year to curl up with the works of Bram Stoker, Edgar Ellan Poe and H.P. Lovecraft. Nothing marks this turn of the seasons –… Read More

National Radio Day

20 August marks National Radio Day, a celebration on the calendar since the early 1990s. Its organizers enjoin us to savour to the full this overlooked everyday miracle of science. Many readers of this blog will have their favourite programme(s). I certainly do; I wake up every morning to the… Read More

Lucky number 7! Exploring the language of superstition

Are you very superstitious or do you take bad luck with a pinch of salt? Superstition is defined as a belief in things that are not real or possible, from bringing misfortune upon yourself by accidentally breaking a mirror to throwing salt over your shoulder to… Read More

Brummie and proud of it: 15 bostin words

With the Commonwealth Games taking place there between 28th July and 8th August, the UK’s second city finds itself in the glare of the international spotlight, a place where it has never felt very comfortable. Brummies, as the city’s inhabitants are commonly… Read More

Let the games begin: Tracking the etymology of the Commonwealth Games

It’s a year of sport ahead! We’re kicking off with the Commonwealth Games, an annual multi-sport international competition held every four years. This year, the event will be held in Birmingham, and it has grown from 11 countries and 400 athletes to over 4,600 people across 72 nations and territories… Read More

Brush up! 5 archaeological gems

Whether your first introduction to the world of archaeology was the classroom or Jurassic Park, the ability to study the past remains a fascinating endeavour for academics and hobbyists in the present. Archaeology is the study of societies and peoples of the past through examining the… Read More

Bastille Day

Allons enfants de la patrie… July brings us two major celebrations of liberty: the Fourth of July for U.S. independence and ten days later, French Bastille Day, 14 July, known in France as le quatorze juillet and never as Jour de la Bastille. But what exactly does it commemorate? And… Read More

Global Beatles Day

This Saturday 25 June is Global Beatles Day. Yes, that’s right: such a worldwide influence have the Beatles had that a day in the year is devoted to them and their legacy. They were the soundtrack to the lives of many people… Read More

Cheers! 4 unforgettable literary wines

Virginia Woolf once said, ‘language is wine upon the lips’, and we are very much inclined to agree. After all, is there a more classic pairing than a good book and a glass of wine? In literature, it seems absolutely not. For centuries, writers have written of gourmet feasts and… Read More