Tag: English
5 of the most unexpectedly evil characters from literature
Not all villains are simply black and white, and in fact, many of the worst villains seem innocuous at first glance. But among those, who are the worst?
How writing advice in school often doesn’t apply to writing in real life
In school, students are told to use complex vocabulary, but in reality, many writers try to use simple words, like Ernest Hemingway. What other things are kids told about writing that contradict real life?
How doing nothing, really, is actually doing something
Many people have heard the (re)phrase, “don’t just do something, stand there!” But isn’t “standing there” doing something?
Thoughts on language: forgetting words
We all have days where we just forget words, right when we need them. Isn’t that annoying?
The secret to understanding poetry
Every year, thousands upon thousands of students have to take poetry tests. Is there a secret to understanding them all?
Why you shouldn’t use a thesaurus at every chance you get
Many people use thesauri to “buff” their writing, or to learn new and fancy words. But is that really a good idea, and does it really work out?
10 words you probably didn’t know used to be two words
Everyone knows words like chillax came about from joining chill and relax. But did you know that words like electrocute came from electric and execute?
11 words you’ve probably forgotten were acronyms
These days, we have lame acronyms like LOL and YOLO. But did you know that words like scuba used to be acronyms too?
6 words you’ve probably forgotten were short forms
In the age of tweets and Snapchat, words like napkins have become naps and words like delicious, delish. But what words were shortened before social media came along?
8 words that show how confusing English spellings are
From rationalize to rationalise and colour to color, spelling in such a way to please everyone is as easy as herding cats.
