I read recently that the most common word in the English-speaking world is no, with okay as a runner-up.
But what about the most commonly used word in the world – English-speaking or not?
Words such as radio, bank, café, chocolate and beer are understood in many countries even though they may have their own [more…]
I do love Lovatts puzzles,
They keep me on my toes,
Word puzzles, number puzzles,
Anything that goes.
When first I started puzzling
It was to have some fun,
My only real ambition
To solve each and every one.
I started entering contests
And to my great surprise
I found upon my doorstep
A little booklight prize.
Then followed in succession
A voucher and a cheque,
A dictionary/thesaurus
And [more…]
Same puzzles – new name!
Handy Killer Addoku has been renamed Handy Killer Sudoku commencing with Issue 38, on sale March 4. Killer Sudoku is what this clever puzzle is most commonly called. The Lovatts name, Addoku, was confusing for Killer Sudoku fans, who didn’t recognise this as the same puzzle they love to do. [more…]
A mocha coffee, for instance, is named after the seaport of Mocha in Yemen where the arabica coffee was shipped from.
The word bungalow, meaning a single-storey house, comes from India, from the Hindi word for a low thatched house, bangla meaning literally ‘Bengalese house’.
A sturdy fabric called serge, made in the French town [more…]
As I sit down to write about Christmas, as I do at this time every year, it occurs to me that my Christmas as a celebration is gradually changing.
As a child, it was about the Nativity scene, about singing carols, the delicious aromas in the kitchen where Mum was cooking turkey and mince pies. [more…]
A mascot is a person or thing that is supposed to bring good luck, especially one linked to a particular organisation or event. Some of our clues for mascot include ‘Lucky emblem’, ‘Lucky symbol’ and ‘Team pet’.
The word mascot is derived from the French term mascotte meaning ‘good luck piece’, which ultimately came from [more…]
Eau de water!
Eau de is French for ‘water of’. I’m sure you have heard of, or even sprayed, eau de toilette or eau de parfum. In English the idea of ‘toilet water’ sends school children into sniggers, but toilette is the process of washing oneself, dressing and taking care of one’s appearance, so splashing [more…]
5-cent Cinema
The term NICKELODEON was first used to mean a theatre where a motion picture could be seen for five cents, or a nickel. The –odeon is thought to come from the keyboard instrument, the melodeon, which also was used as a name for a music hall. Odeon was also the name of a [more…]
