From filk to derp: discover the latest words added to the Collins Dictionary

Why do we need to keep adding new words to the English language? Can’t we just make do with the ones we have already? These are reasonable questions, but the fact is that new words do keep entering the language. To illustrate why this happens, let’s look at a cross-section… Read More

New hope for the New Year

New Year’s Eve is traditionally when we fix our gaze firmly forward in hope, having cast a backward glance at the year just ended. Which, despite the negatives, saw a healthy increase in good-neighbourliness and kindness as demonstrated, for instance, by caremongering. I feel hopeful that… Read More

Spanish word of the week: chimenea

This week’s Spanish word of the week is  la chimenea NOUN chimney; fireplace Una chimenea can mean either a chimney or a fireplace. The context will generally show which meaning is intended: Sale humo por la chimenea. There’s smoke coming out of the chimney. una hermosa perspectiva de tejados… Read More

Food for thought this Christmas

I don’t know about you, but I’m already salivating at the prospect of Christmas food. The first pangs start early in December with the nostalgia rush I get upon spotting dinky net bags of mixed nuts for sale. Perhaps folk are deterred by the faff of cracking them open to… Read More

Eight Gaelic words from the Collins English Dictionary

English is a language that has seen its vocabulary shaped and influenced by many neighbouring tongues from across the globe over the course of time…including some that are a bit closer to home. There are several native Celtic languages spoken in Ireland, Scotland, and the Isle of Man that have… Read More

International Volunteer Day

International Volunteer Day (sometimes abbreviated to IVD) takes place annually on December 5th. It is an ‘International Day’ established by the United Nations to recognize and promote the contribution made by volunteers and voluntary organizations to the wellbeing of people across the globe. And, as it… Read More

11 words and phrases from Nottingham

Eh up, me duck! Here are a few words and phrases you might hear in Nottingham and the surrounding areas: 1. Eh up! Eh up is a friendly way of greeting someone: Eh up, Sam. Where are you off to? 2. cob A cob is a… Read More

Spanish word of the week: sanidad

This week’s Spanish word of the week is la sanidad NOUN (public) health Though ultimately coming from the same root as English ‘sanity’, sanidad has a very different meaning. It refers to different aspects of  health: ¿Qué ofrecemos para resolver problemas que le importan a… Read More

World Kindness Day

This Friday, 13 November is World Kindness Day, an awareness day launched in 1998 with the aim of encouraging benevolent acts by individuals, organizations, and countries. Coming at a time of international crisis, when demonstrations of kindness – from the never-ceasing selflessness of frontline… Read More