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Christmas literary quiz
As we deck our halls and make merry in the hectic run-up to Christmas Day, it seems like a good idea to turn our minds to something a little more cerebral – literature. Just as we celebrate Christmas, so do fictional characters. But how good is your knowledge of literary yuletide depictions? Take our quiz [...]
Here comes Santa Claus . . . and hey, where’d he get that snazzy red suit?
Years ago, I read a book of letters written to Santa Claus, and I remember that, among all the messages of “bring me this,” “bring me that,” and “I’ll leave you a plate of cookies,” one little boy had written, “Dear Santa, Where did you get your snazzy red suit?” I wouldn’t be surprised if [...]
Trolling yuletide carols: weird words in five famous Christmas songs
Whether you go a’wassailing, participate in a church choir, or simply like to sing along with a radio tuned to a festive station, at some point you may have found yourself in the middle of a Christmas carol, struck with the thought: what does that word even mean? Or even what am I actually singing?! [...]
Welcome to Dan’s Class: the language of Strictly Come Dancing
First of all, if you didn’t get the witty wordplay of my title, don’t bother to read on. Dan’s class; dance class? Never mind, this isn’t Strictly Pun Dancing after all. I’m sorry*, I’ll stop now. If, like me, you spend your Saturday evenings with a bottle of red, agonizing over Sophie’s samba or Fiona’s [...]
OED birthday word generator: which words originated in your birth year?
Do you know which words entered the English language around the same time you entered the world? Use our OED birthday word generator to find out! We’ve scoured the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) to find words with a first known usage for each year from 1900 to 2004. Simply select the relevant decade and click [...]
Palindrome competition: win a Kindle Paperwhite
“Let’s start at the beginning; a very good place to start”, as we were once advised by Maria von Trapp in The Sound of Music. Earlier still, the King advises Alice – on her trip to Wonderland – that she ought to “Begin at the beginning… and go on till you come to the end, [...]
Origin stories: fictional titles and their lasting impressions
How I stopped worrying and learned to love the language To avoid appearing like simple-minded vessels of superficial consumption, we often try not to let on the extent to which media has come to inform our lives. From the time we are young, we’re encouraged to value real-life experiences over the simulated kind found in [...]
Accept or except?
 ? The British really are mad as hatters – present company accepted of course. Do you accept that the above sentence is good English (please disregard the sentiments expressed therein!)? How about these two examples – would you take exception to them? ? She excepts everyone for what they are and I think this is [...]
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