Tag Archives: English

Word of the Day: Crutch Words

Word of the Day, , ,

What are Crutch Words?

Crutch words are words or expressions that that we use far too often when we speak in order to give ourselves more time to think, to emphasize something we are saying or just because we use them so often that we don’t even realize we are using them. They are like tics but verbal and as such, more often than not, they don’t even add meaning and we often use them incorrectly .
Some of these crutch words are :

Think about it, when you use To be fair, honestly or seriously … do you really mean it? 🙂

Guess What! Some cool things about the English language

The English language,

Would you like to know some cool things about the English language?

♥Guess what! The English language as we now know it began to emerge in the 14th century from a variety of dialects including Old Norse and Late West Saxon.

♥Guess what! Mandarin Chinese is the only language spoken by more people around the world than English. There seems to be , at  least, a quarter of a million distinct English words, excluding inflections, and words from technical and regional vocabulary not covered by the Oxford English Dictionary.

♥Guess what! The English language grows at a rate of about one new word every two hours

♥Guess what! The oldest word in the English language is ‘town” followed by ” I” and “two”

♥Guess what! The longest one syllable word in the English language is ‘screeched‘ .

♥ Guess what! The longest word in the English language, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis

♥Guess what! The word “queue” is the only word in the English language that is still pronounced the same way when the last four letters are removed.

 

♥Guess what! “Rhythm” is the longest English word without a vowel

♥Guess what! The word “set” has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

♥Guess what! “Go” is the shortest complete sentence in the English language

♥Guess what!  The sentence “He believed Caesar could see people seizing the seas” has seven spellings of the sound [ i ].

♥Guess what! The “sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick” is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.Give a try!!!

I hope you have enjoyed reading these facts about the English language?

What on earth is a palindrome?

The English language, ,

What’s a palindrome?
Although you might not have realized yet what a palindrome is what you cannot deny is that the word is beautiful. It comes from the Greek “palin”= return and “dromes”= path; but this won’t probably enlighten you as regards its real meaning.

All right, I know you are all on tenterhooks waiting for me to tell you but first of all, I’m going to give you an example … or several to make you rack your brains. I know, I know you’ve nearly finished exams and they have been hard enough but we don’t want you to put your mind at rest just yet, do we? Enough of beating about the bush …here’s the example: “no lemon no melon”.

Can’t see it? Not a clue? Really? Ok, I’m going to give you another example. It is said that the first sentence uttered by a human being was a palindrome. First and second human being? Adam and Eve. So when they met for the first time the gentleman in Adam said to Eve: “Madam, I’m Adam”. Although some people think that Adam was more talkative than this and that what he actually said was “Madam in Eden, I’m Adam”.
Now the penny’s dropped and you know!

A palindrome is a word or a phrase which is the same when read from the start or the end. Mystery solved!!


Can you think of any palindromes? Please do and then send me a post … you can even write a song. You think this is far-fetched? Have a look at this video

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How do you say 2010?

Córcholis or it is raining cats and dogs

I am feeling generous

Unusual jobs

The English Language

The English language,

Have you ever wondered why foreigners have trouble with the English Language?
Let’s face it
English is a stupid language.
There is no egg in the eggplant
No ham in the hamburger
And neither pine nor apple in the pineapple.
English muffins were not invented in England
French fries were not invented in France.
We sometimes take English for granted
But if we examine its paradoxes we find that
Quicksand takes you down slowly
Boxing rings are square
And a guinea pig is neither from Guinea nor is it a pig.
If writers write, how come fingers don’t fing.
If the plural of tooth is teeth
Shouldn’t the plural of phone booth be phone beeth
If the teacher taught,
Why didn’t the preacher praught.
If a vegetarian eats vegetables
What the heck does a humanitarian eat!?
Why do people recite at a play
Yet play at a recital?
Park on driveways and
Drive on parkways
You have to marvel at the unique lunacy
Of a language where a house can burn up as
It burns down
And in which you fill in a form
By filling it out
And a bell is only heard once it goes!
English was invented by people, not computers
And it reflects the creativity of the human race
(Which of course isn’t a race at all)
That is why
When the stars are out they are visible
But when the lights are out they are invisible
And why it is that when I wind up my watch
It starts
But when I wind up this observation,
It ends.

… a pescatarian!!!

The English language, , ,

Yes, exactly. This is what I am .
You surely remember that some time ago I wrote something about the different kinds of vegetarians , namely, vegan , ovo-vegetarian , lacto-ovo… and I remember that I didn’t know what to call myself, although it was crystal clear to me that I was not a vegetarian.
Well, I am a pescatarian . New word , by the way. So new, that some British people don’t even know what it means, at least , yet.
It was my teacher in London who taught me this new word. I was so happy with my new acquisition that I jumped at the first opportunity to use it. So, there I was, at a cafe asking for a sandwich.
“What is in there?” I asked the waiter, pointing suspiciously at a sandwich.
“Chicken” he said .
“And this other one?”
“Ham”
Every single time he told me the contents of the sandwich I said “no, no..”
I imagine he was getting quite tired of me when he asked :
“What the hell are you… a vegetarian?
“No, I am a pescatarian.” I happily admitted.
“What on earth is this? “he snapped at me
And, there was a girl behind me, probably as angry at me as the waiter who explained to the man behind the counter that a pescatarian is someone who abstains from eating all meat and animal flesh with the exception of fish.
So this is it… you already know what a pescatarian is.

Now , this is homework …. What is a flexitarian??

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