Christine Lovatt's Desk

Welcome to Christine's Desk

Here you'll find a variety of puzzle themed items and pieces of information to hold your interest. Learn about some of the wonderful words and phrases in our everyday language, find out about the health benefits of crosswords and puzzles, be entertained by Christine's Hello column… and there's much more on offer. The latest submissions appear below. Thanks for dropping by and we hope you enjoy your visit.

Horse terms

The iron horse once referred to railway engines, and originally, the output of such engines was measured in horsepower as a way of comparing the efficiency of this iron horse against its flesh-and-blood namesake. Unsurprisingly, the steel beast came out on top, further affirming that a motorised community was a more efficient community.

To keep [more…]

The moon

It was believed in Antiquity that the heavens above, including the moon, were perfect, and made of an unearthly material, so the ancient Greeks tried to make sense of the vague markings visible on the surface of the moon. Some suggested that the moon might be a perfect mirror and that its features were [more…]

The meaning of mother

In the dictionary, mother has several definitions.  Apart from being the woman who gives birth to a child, mother is an institution from which others of the same type derive – such as the mother company. It is also an extreme example or very large specimen of something, such as the mother of all [more…]

Easter

While Easter has become synonymous with chocolate eggs and a long weekend, traditionally it was considered by many Christian denominations as an event bigger than Christmas. Families gathered on Easter Sunday with various customs and rites, some of which survive today.

Many establishments are closed on Good Friday as a mark of respect for the [more…]

Demonyms

There are many other variations. In Ireland, Cork residents are Corkonians and Galway folk are Galwegians.

In Scotland, there are Glaswegians from Glasgow, Dundonians from Dundee and Aberdonians from Aberdeen. Islanders from Orkney are Orcadians. In Wales there are Cardiffians from Cardiff and over the border in England there are Mancunians from Manchester, Liverpudlians (or [more…]

New words

Novice comes from the Latin novus meaning ‘new’. Today it is regularly used in a secular context, but it originally referred to the necessity of the novice undertaking a novitiate – a period of intense spiritual introspection and scriptural study prior to taking monastic vows.

Apprentice comes from the Latin apprehendere ‘to take hold of, to grasp’, [more…]

Synonyms

According to the Oxford Dictionary, a clue is ‘a piece of evidence or information used in the detection of a crime; a fact or idea that serves to reveal something or solve a problem; a word or words giving an indication as to what is to be inserted in a particular space in a [more…]

Exclamations

Many exclamations we recognise are attempts to avoid blasphemy. Jeez! comes from ‘Jesus’, as does Gee whiz!, Jeepers! and Jiminy Christmas!, while Golly!, Gosh! and Gordon Bennett! are from ‘God’. Cripes!, Crikey! and Crumbs! are attempts to tone down saying ‘Christ’. The Cockney exclamation Gor blimey! comes from ‘God blind me!’ and Strewth! is [more…]

Silverware, flatware and cutlery ????

The word cutlery comes from the Old French word coutellerie (related to today’s French word couteau ‘knife’) yet the words knife, fork and spoon are all from Old English.

The knife was by far the earliest of the cutlery items, with the word knife coming from the Old English cnif. The first knives would have [more…]