Shake it like Shakespeare

8th Oct 2015

Think modern pop music is missing a little poetry? Prefer rhyme schemes to the club scene? If so, you’ll love Pop Sonnets, an anthology of Shakespearean spins on your favourite songs. To celebrate its publication on this National Poetry Day, author Erik Didriksen reveals… Read More

‘Cereal café’, ‘Corbynomics’ and ‘Kill list’: September’s Words in the News

2nd Oct 2015

The start of September looked quite serious, with breaking news of a kill list (a list of high-profile targets) for drone attacks against ISIS. And as the migration crisis continued, August’s “ring of steel” was joined by Fortress Europe, a reference to border closings and other measures to curb immigration… Read More

Etymology Corner – ‘Festival’

1st Oct 2015

Book-lovers are emerging from their paper cocoons in their book-and-mortar houses, in order to attend the Cheltenham Literature Festival and feed their desire for exciting, new reads. Here at Etymology Corner, we’re feeding your love of words. By no coincidence, this month we explore the origin of ‘festival’. Read More

‘Farquhar’, ‘Sangry’ and ‘Thighbrows’: Lucy Mangan avoids the pig-shaped elephant in the room with your new word submissions

25th Sep 2015

I am resisting the temptation to fill this blog with the pig puns and other pieces of porcine wordplay that have been filling the internet since #piggate occurred. Or #Hameron happened. I shall not ask whether any PM has ever been rasher, or if he should get the chop and… Read More

It’s Written in the Stars: Explore the Universe in 20 Words

24th Sep 2015

Stargazers everywhere looked to the skies during the early hours of Monday 28th September to catch the Total Lunar Eclipse, as the moon passed completely through the Earth’s dark shadow and became a blood red colour. To celebrate this beautiful phenomenon, and the publication of his… Read More

‘Biophobia’: a fear of studying life… Lucy Mangan gets Gothic with your new word submissions

11th Sep 2015

“Come round for dribbles!” The mind doesn’t so much boggle as run immediately for shelter and stay there cowering until it can be sure all danger has passed. Nothing good can come of such a phrase, and this is particularly true when you become aware – as I am now,… Read More

Etymology Corner – ‘Blitz’

4th Sep 2015

‘Blitz’ comes from the German word for lightning. Its arrival in the English language can be traced to the German military strategy of Blitzkrieg (literally ‘lightning war’), which used tanks and bombers to secure rapid victories at the start of World War II. When a similar strategy was used in… Read More

‘Dismaland’, ‘ring of steel’ and ‘pansexual’: August’s Words in the News

4th Sep 2015

The Summer holidays are over and schools are back in session. For any parents who took their kids to abroad to Paris, Orlando, or California during the past couple months, the Disneyland parks may already seem terrifying beyond belief. The credit card bill certainly will be. But, the elusive artist… Read More

‘Crushed it.’ Lucy Mangan does a great job with your new word submissions

28th Aug 2015

Thank you, moneill, for submitting “crush it” – meaning “do exceptionally well” – as it gives me an excuse to quote one of my favourite moments from the second season of my favourite sitcom of recent years, Silicon Valley (Mike Judge’s latest and A Joy Forever). Richard and Jared, founder… Read More