“Has Tom lost his spherical glass playthings?”, I hear you say. Not at all. The rather lovely and fun title ‘Crash Blossoms’ is, in fact, the term now used for headlines in newspapers, magazines and journals that just don’t read quite right. The term itself comes from an American editor based in Japan, one Mike [...]

As I am in the habit of doing, I found myself in an idle moment the other day musing upon why the Scottish football team (that would be ’soccer’ to my American readers) Glasgow Celtic is pronounced with a soft c (an ’s’, in effect) rather than following the usual convention of the hard ‘c’ [...]

Rounding up this week’s mystery words
Nothing specific this time around, word fans. More a collection of bits that have blipped on my radar recently. I’m going to have to stop talking to Mrs Joad, as she invariably says something to the effect of “hey, word man – what does (insert one of the many things [...]

No, this is not a post about absentee landlords.
OK, two resolutions for the new year. First, post more on Word du Jour, second, stop the crap jokes. Anyone care to take bets on which one collapses first?
The idea for this post comes from my curiosity about why the name Dalziel is pronounced ‘Dee-ell’ in English. [...]

[singlepic id=3 w=320 h=240 float=left]Another post following a conversation in which I tried to be smug and clever and failed. Everyone knows where the days of the week get their names, right? I thought I did, but became hopelessly lost on definitions for Tuesday and Friday. So, it was a little like naming the seven [...]

[singlepic id=2 w=320 h=240 float=left]Indulge me here, dear reader (you know who you are) while I regale you with a story of how a joke can be pushed a little too far – even on the internet, where the boundaries of taste and other things differ wildly from real life.
Lolcats – and lolcat speak – [...]

…that’s how long it’s been since I posted anything.  Well, I’ve been busy, what with one thing and another, you know.
Nothing too weighty this time around – just a bit of fun. I must admit to having been quite stumped when asked by Madame Joad (who considers me something of an authority on English colloquialisms) [...]

It’s a funny thing, language. I am guilty of defending the usage of the English language and its grammar (if ‘guilty’ is the correct term), but I am also prepared to concede that the reason English has become the worldwide lingua franca is entirely due to its malleability and adaptability. Let’s face it, the Aussies [...]

Those of you who are both English and easily offended may look away now. Everyone else, welcome. If I were childish and silly enough to pick a favourite swear word – and luckily I am, or this would be a very short post – it would have to be ‘bollocks’. It’s just one of those [...]

I have happened upon a number of interesting word-related thingies over the past week or so. As it’s been a while since I posted anything, I’ll share them with you here.
New words(?)
Merriam-Webster, regarded by many as the US dictionary has published its new edition, and has added some 100 new words. Naturally, some of these [...]