The origin of “troll”
For most English speakers, the word troll, out of context, most commonly registers as a noun, perhaps due to the striking imagery it elicits. Cue short, hideous monster-men hiding under a bridge, waiting to capture unknowing passersby. The horror of this imagery is no doubt why the word most strikes us in this manner—as a […]
Difficulties of ‘sounding right’ when learning English or Spanish as a second language
When learners of any non-native language reach a level of intermediate-to-advanced comprehension, new preoccupations emerge. In English, we might describe one of these as “speaking so it sounds right”, but of course the crux of this—“sounds”—is not so simple as the statement suggests. Free image courtesy of FreeDigitalPhotos.net One obvious sort of “sound” is pronunciation, […]
Frankenstorm: The Perfect Storm with a Perfect Name
Can a new word become part of a language before the event it refers to officially happens? That seems to be what happened with “Frankenstorm” — the storm currently terrorizing cities and towns along the East Coast. Paul Payack, the president and chief word analyst of Global Language Monitor, which tracks word usage in the […]
Take a Butcher’s at Cockney Rhyming Slang
What exactly is Cockney Rhyming Slang and where does it come from? Is it still used today? Was it developed for particular social or political reasons? There are many worthy questions surrounding the use, creation and development of Cockney Rhyming Slang and there’s a lot of fun to be had too in the practice of […]
Social Networking Verbs Enter the Collins English Dictionary
“Google It” “Bing It” “Facebook Me” “Tweet Me” We all use these phrases which have now become familiar household verbs and nouns, so much so that the Collins English Dictionary has made a number of updates recently to officially include these relatively new terms from the technological age in their English language records. Language constantly […]
Do you Write Correctly in English?
Even if you think you know how to write correctly in English, particularly if you are a native English speaker writing in English, there might be a number of things you are doing wrong on a regular basis having unwittingly falling into bad habits. English grammar is, when compared to most Latin-based languages, relatively straightforward, […]
English Language Remained More Stable in the 20th Century
A scientific and linguistic analysis of data culled from digitized books shows that the English language remained relatively stable in the 20th century, with popular words and phrases falling out of favor at a slower pace as compared with past centuries. The increased availability of digital information through initiatives such as Google Books makes quantitative […]
Spanish Words Disguised as English
Long before the hybrid Spanglish came on the scene, the two languages—Spanish and English—were mixing it up in dusty border towns and far-flung tropical locales. Over the years, English has been enriched by the addition of numerous Spanish loan words, some borrowed with virtually no changes while others have been anglicized to a certain extent, […]
English Words that Take on Alter Egos in Spanish
As a non-native speaker of Spanish, it’s a given that certain words will occasionally throw me for a loop during the course of a conversation. What I don’t generally expect is that those words will be from my own language! A number of words such as chequear (to check) and frizar (to freeze) have passed […]
Should Translation Apps Be Used by Emergency Personnel?
Every second counts in an emergency. In everyday life, a language barrier can produce frustrating or even comical results, but in critical situations, first responders can’t rely on pantomime or guessing games to determine crucial information about non-English speaking patients’ status or medical history. Doctors at clinics and hospitals frequently use staff medical interpreters, telephone […]
