The word “commoner” was in the news at the start of this month and has been on my mind ever since. Here’s a typical headline from the Guardian: “Royal Wedding: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle invite 2,640 commoners”. The subheading explains: “People chosen from across UK to join staff and local schoolchildren in Windsor Castle… Continue reading Word of the week: commoner
The word “spy” has been in the news a lot this month. A former Russian spy, Sergei Skripal, and his daughter Yulia “remain critically ill in hospital after being poisoned by a military-grade nerve agent”, in the words of this Guardian piece from earlier today. The piece is headlined “Russian spy poisoning: police release picture… Continue reading Word of the week: spy
Laetare means “rejoice” in Latin. Last weekend the Catholic Church celebrated Laetare Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent. It’s meant as a small, brief respite from the sacrifices of Lent. If you’re off booze, chocolate or crisps, you could take the day off, indulge yourself a little. Two things came to mind while hearing a… Continue reading Word of the week: Laetare
HHeLiBeBCNOF: you can say it out loud (H-heli-beb-cnof) to learn, or to remind yourself of, the first nine elements in the Periodic Table. They represent hydrogen, helium, lithium, beryllium, boron, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine. The next 11 elements can also be said out loud: nee-nam-gall-sips-clark-ca (NeNaMgAlSiPSClArKCa). The elements in question are: neon, sodium, magnesium,… Continue reading Word of the Week: HHeLiBeBCNOF
Two weeks ago, in this Word of the Week piece, I was looking forward to cheering Elise Christie to her first medals at a Winter Olympics, from several thousand miles away. We were able to see her semi-final and final in the 500m speed skating event the following day, during the children’s half-term, but her… Continue reading Word of the week: gutted
Aegilops is “an abscess or ulcer of the inner canthus of the eye, especially when involving a lacrimal duct or the lacrimal sac”. It is also “any grass of the southern European genus Aegilops, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern varieties of domestic wheat”. Like many of the definitions in these Word of… Continue reading Word of the week: aegilops
After last week’s featured word (Superbowl) here’s another with a sporting theme, prompted by the start of the Winter Olympics from Pyeongchang in South Korea. “Luge” is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries website as a noun (“A light toboggan for one or two people, ridden in a sitting or supine position”), a mass noun (“A… Continue reading Word of the week: Luge
I didn’t get enough sleep last night. Like many other sports fans here in the UK I stayed up late to watch the Superbowl, Philadelphia Eagles winning their first title against defending champions the New England Patriots. Unlike most other sports fans I hadn’t planned to spend the early hours of Monday morning this way,… Continue reading Word of the week: Superbowl
“Egregious” is a word that I have never heard in day-to-day conversation, or on the radio or on TV. I have seen it in print and didn’t know what it meant until looking it up last Friday. It came up in this Guardian piece about racism by the always excellent Gary Younge, in the following… Continue reading Word of the week: egregious
You are probably familiar with “Vogue”, Madonna’s worldwide hit from 1990. If not, here’s the official video from YouTube, which shows the accompanying dance moves. Vogue, as a verb, is defined by the Oxford Dictionaries website as, “Dance to music in such a way as to imitate the characteristic poses struck by a model on… Continue reading Word of the week: Vogue
The Compartments 