Who invented the comma ?
Such a small thing, as symbols go, but it can make all the difference in meaning and understanding when used in a sentence. But wher did it come from ?
Why do the Brits drink so much tea ?
Tea certainly isn’t native to the British Isles so how did this come about? It certainly is an interesting story involving a Portuguese princess who was a tea addict, smuggling and even revolution.
Wordsmith – Test your wordpower
Improve and test your wordpower by matching a word against multiple possible definitions.
Origin of Some Popular English Idioms III
The origins of a selection of some popular English expressions and sayings.
Emoticons … a history
Emoticons … those little smiley characters crop up everywher , texts emails , twitters. They instantly convey a whole gammat of meaning. Today you even get some representing Elvis, a rose and Homer Simpson. But who invented them and when ?
Can a modern passenger plane glide? If so how far?
Whilst staring at the remaining working engine on a twin engined aeroplane one of the many thoughts that crossed my mind was “If that one decides to join its fellow engine and stop working , how far can we glide or can this thing even glide at all ?” In this article we look at the answer to this question.
Speak Like a Saxon
Despite first appearances, the English we speak now is a direct descendant of Anglo-Saxon. So have you ever wondered what Anglo-Saxon might have sounded like ? In this article we look at how Anglo-Saxon was written and how it would have sounded.
The Mayan Apocalypse that never was
The Mayan Apocalypse “predicted” for 21st December 2012 clearly never happened. However people everywhere were in a frenzy over a claims that the world would end on Friday 21st December 2012. But who were the Mayans and where did this apocalyptic vision come from? and more importantly how did the hype get so big ?
Origin of the Months and Days of the Year
We use them everyday to order our lives to record, analyse and make sense of things. We’re talking about the days and months of the year. What are their origins ? You may be surprised in that they all have origins deep within our pagan past.
Why do we kiss under the mistletoe?
The innocuous mistletoe plant, now used to cop a cheap kiss or two, was once considered to be a sacred plant by the ancient Druids. But how did this Christmas tradition come about ?
True or False, Fact or Fiction
A lot of what we ‘know’ to be true can sometimes turn out to be no more than an ‘urban legend’. IS : Chewing gum is a controlled substance in Singapore? or DOES An apple contains enough cyanide to kill a man ? : Can you tell whether they’re fact or fiction ?
Wordsmith – Indian wordpower
Improve and test your wordpower against some Indian words that have found their way into the English language.
Pontifications – answers to the fluff of everyday life
Answers to some of the amusing questions and fluff we muse on from time to time like : Why are typewriter keys layed out as they are ? ; How exactly does asprin find a headache ? ; Why is the Earth’s core still hot ?
Exotic Paper Planes
Paper planes don’t have to be boring. Here are some rather exotic designs to print out and fold …
GUERN 8 DVD – Now on Sale
Buy it on-line today at the special offer price of £4.99. You can also back order issues of the previous Guern DVDs for £9.99 each.
ALSO
The Guern 9 : The Best of 10 years – A Selection of questions from all 8 DVDs plus 30 brand new bonus questions.
