Devo Manc, investigoogle and factronise: Lucy Mangan takes on your new word submissions

2nd Oct 2014

Let us begin, before the last whispers of the winds of topicality depart, with AustinAllegro’s submission of “Devo Manc” – the name given to the notion of an independent Manchester. It’s a play, obviously, on the “Devo Max” that David Cameron… Read More

Learn Game of Thrones’ weird words and curious constructed languages

29th Sep 2014

Fans of the HBO TV series Game of Thrones will be well acquainted with its unique vocabulary and the various terms of the Valyrian, Braavosi and Dothraki languages. However, had you only ever read the novels in the series A Song of Ice and Fire, then your… Read More

iScotland v the rUK: trending words in September

24th Sep 2014

There’s an elephant in the room, and we all know what it is. Many things happened in September 2014, but the biggest event in the UK has to be the Scottish Independence Referendum, or the “indyref” as it became known on Twitter and beyond. Read More

Golfing Slang! Tee off for the Ryder Cup with our Top Golfing Terms

18th Sep 2014

Golf fan? Know the golf jargon? Make sure you know all these golfing terms before the Ryder Cup tees off! Golf as we know it is of Scottish origin, with the first known rules of the sport put down in writing in Edinburgh in 1744. Read More

Are you having a nice fakeation? Lucy Mangan takes on your new word submissions

18th Sep 2014

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone”, reckoned Blaise Pascal when he was composing his Pensees. Alas, he was doing so in the mid-seventeenth century and didn’t know the half of it. D’you know what a “fakeation” is Blaise,… Read More

How ‘Adorkable’ Pipped ‘Felfie’ and ‘Fatberg’ To The Post

16th Sep 2014

adorkable (əˈdɔːkəbəl) adj slangsocially inept or unfashionable in a charming or endearing wayETYMOLOGY C21: blend of ADORABLE and DORK Winning out against ‘felfie’ (farmer selfie) and ‘fatberg’ (giant lump of fat found in London’s sewers) with 30%… Read More

Weather Words – The Great British Fascination with Forecasting

10th Sep 2014

According to The Telegraph newspaper, talking about the weather is the ‘top British trait’ – a habit that dates back to when Julius Caesar blamed his failed invasion of Britannia on gale-force winds. This obsession is unsurprising, given the unpredictable nature of the UK’s weather. In fact… Read More

The Highland Games: Why Do We Toss the Caber and Where Do Bagpipes Really Come From?

5th Sep 2014

It is thought that the Highland Games originated from ancient Scottish clans competing against each other in various sporting events, with chiefs selecting their strongest, fastest, fittest and most entertaining men to represent the clan. Similar sporting contests were also staged at… Read More

From offendicles to plorker: Lucy Mangan takes on your new word submissions

3rd Sep 2014

I’ve just been on holiday to north Norfolk and paid a visit to the shrine in Walsingham with my friend, a fellow lapsed Catholic, to buy (it’s free if you take your own bottle, but we’re so lapsed we forgot) for still-practising members of our families what she refers to… Read More