‘Sadboy’, ‘angsta’, ‘pogonophile’ and ‘aweld’ – Lucy Mangan’s back with your new word submissions

RobertG submits, possibly aptly, “word gap” for our consideration. It refers to the difference between the number of words some less fortunate children hear at home (about 600 an hour) and the number heard by those higher up the socioeconomic scale (up to 2,100 an hour) – which amounts to… Read More

Author Carmel Harrington on hilarious Irish words

Still reeling after St Patrick’s Day this week? HarperImpulse’s Carmel Harrington tells us about her favourite Irish words, along with some hilarious situations in which you might find them necessary… Our language in Ireland is wonderful, unique and lyrical. To ears not accustomed to our speech pattern, it… Read More

Everyone’s a little bit Irish: Irish words in the English Language

St Patrick’s Day is here again, and you know what that means. Throughout the United States, people will be dressing in green, pinching those who don’t dress in green (bizarre but true), wearing green plastic derby hats, drinking green beer, and putting on very bad Irish accents. Of course St… Read More

How is Mother’s Day celebrated around the world?

In our first Mothering Sunday article, we looked at the difference between British and American ‘Mother’s Day’. Let’s find out some other ways people around the world celebrate their mums. In Bolivia, Mother’s Day is celebrated on 27th May every year. Called El Día de… Read More

Happy Mother’s Day… or Mothering Sunday?

Mother’s Day and Mothering Sunday are commonly thought of as being the same thing. How often around this time of year do you hear an English person ask, with more than a hint of panic, when Mother’s Day is? But it’s not Mother’s Day they’re actually asking about. It’s Mothering… Read More

Lucy Mangan talks gender jargon for International Women’s Day

Happy International Women’s Day (on Sunday)! Or Happy International Wimmin’s Day, if you are either a) one of the tiny minority of radical second wave feminists who adopted the aberrant spelling as a means of protesting against the word’s apparent derivation from ‘men’, thus mimicking and enshrining women’s supposed derivation… Read More

‘Dressgate’, ‘Propose Day’, and ‘Bennettesque’: February’s Words in the News

As if February didn’t have enough to be getting on with. Candlemas and Groundhog Day (in North America at least) start the month with their predictions about the weather. Then there’s Valentine’s Day, which is great if you’ve got a date, and not so great if you don’t. And this… Read More

Avast! Lucy Mangan gets nautical with your recent word submissions

The submission “jackspeak”, from Tommy, has sent me off on such a voyage across the seas of knowledge that it is only with the greatest effort of will and hauling on the mainbrace (or something) that has allowed me to return to dry land with my findings. “Jackspeak” means… Read More

Collins A to Z of cricketing words and phrases

With the Cricket World Cup in full swing, you might feel stumped by all the talk of googlies, wides and wicket maidens. To help you out, we’ve put together an A to Z of key cricketing terms so you don’t get caught in the slips, run yourself out, or… Read More