Some of our more colourful vocabulary comes straight from the pages of fiction. We can thank prolific author Charles Dickens for introducing in his novels the following words, which are still in common use: butterfingers, someone who drops things; abuzz, alive with noise and activity; the creeps, a shiver of horror; devil-may-care, of a [more…]
Word Snake, page 53
The clue at 6. should have read ‘Indigestion remedy’ for the answer ANTACID.
Thanks to J Barratt from SA for reporting this gremlin.
Anyone who was a child in the 50s might remember a time before fridges in the home. It must be hard for younger people to imagine not having a fridge. We had a meat safe, which was used for milk as well. I remember my mother walked to the local village every day to [more…]
Since ancient times, the raven has been a symbol of death. This could be because it’s a carrion bird, feeding on the flesh of dead animals but there’s also something about the jet-black raven that makes it seem sinister, the sort of bird you might see in a Dracula movie perched eerily on top [more…]
At the close of a Sunday school class in 1876, Ann Jarvis expressed a deeply-held wish; she hoped there would be a day commemorating mothers like her for their peerless service rendered to humanity. At just 12 years old, Anna Jarvis heard her mother’s prayer, and she took it to heart. Two years after [more…]
When we want to describe something truly huge, English gives us some wonderfully dramatic options. These are the words we reach for when ‘big’ just isn’t big enough.
A behemoth is a huge or monstrous creature, or something enormous, such as a big and powerful organisation, first mentioned in the Bible. This is what Job [more…]
One of the most common spelling mistakes we notice in competition entries is the er/or endings, which usually occur with names of doers – that is, people who do certain jobs.
Why do some doers have ‘er’ endings, such as farmer, baker, minister, lawyer, plumber, banker, teacher or crossword compiler while other doers are spelled [more…]
Anyone with Scottish ancestry will know that 25th January is a very special day, the birthday of Scotland’s favourite son, poet and songwriter Robert Burns. This day is celebrated more widely than the official national day, St Andrew’s Day. It is known as Burns Night and all around the world, Burns Suppers are held.
You [more…]
Although birthdays and Christmas are probably the biggest celebrations in our year, many cultures around the world don’t celebrate birthdays or Christmas. The festival that is observed in the most areas of the world has got to be New Year – although not necessarily on the same date as ours.
The earliest recorded festivities for [more…]
