Jamie’s Blog – Word of the Week #05
This week’s word is: Lacklustre ˈlækˌlʌstə adjective lacking force, brilliance, or vitality français = terne
An Average Blog Post.
Hello again, In English “average” translates directly to the French “moyenne” meaning the result of the addition of two or more amounts and dividing by the number of amounts. Simply, it’s the middle of a certain set of quantities. In English we use the terms “mean”, “median” and “mode” to describe different types of “middle” […]
Back to the Future – “Will” or “Be Going To”?
Hello everyone, Today’s post is about how to use “will” and “to be going to” correctly when we talk about the future. I hope to give you a technique that will help you so you can use it in conversation easily. First it’s important to understand the principal difference between the two. Let’s start […]
Jamie’s Blog – Word of the Week #04 – SPECIAL EDITION!
SPECIAL EDITION!! This week’s word is the longest word in the dictionary! Try saying this: Antidisestablishmentarianism /ˌæn.ti.dɪs.ɪˌstæb.lɪʃ.mənˈteə.ri.ə.nɪ.zəm/ noun Opposition to the belief that there should not be an official relationship between a country’s government and its national Church. Good luck!!
Hello! Hi! Hey!
Hello! Hi! Hey! I was wondering about the origin of these salutations and it took me on an interesting etymological journey which I thought I’d share with you. “Hello” I remembered reading a long time ago that the word “hello” arrived in the lexicon at the same time as the telephone was invented. It turns […]
Jamie’s Blog – Word of the Week #03
This week’s word is: Discombobulate ˌdɪskəmˈbɒbjʊleɪt verb To throw into confusion. francais = condondre
Splendid or Awesome. BrE. vs. AmE.
‘We have really everything in common with America nowadays except, of course, language’ The Canterville Ghost, Oscar Wilde (1887) ‘England and America are two countries separated by the same language’ George Bernard Shaw (1942), [attributed] It may have come to your attention that there are some small differences between British English (BrE) and […]
Beards: Facial Hair and Language.
I will begin by admitting that I can’t grow a beard, no matter how hard I try, so this is a bizarre* choice of blog-post for me. So, put on your seatbelt for another etymological roller-coaster ride. As so often with such matters we begin with Latin and the word “barba” which itself has much […]
Crazy English Spelling – Doubt
Doubt /daʊt/ v: to question, to waver or to hesitate n: uncertainty, confusion français: doute Why is there a silent “B” in the word “Doubt”? It seems unneccesary, doesn’t it? The French word “Doute” arrived into English in the 13th Century from the original Latin word “Dubitare”. Later, sometime in the 14th Century, […]
Jamie’s Blog – Word of the Week #02
This week’s word is… Gobbledygook ˈɡɒbəldɪˌɡuːk noun If you describe a speech or piece of writing as gobbledygook, you are criticizing it for seeming like nonsense and being very technical or complicated. français = charabia I’ll be back next week with another word. See you soon!