English Words that Used To Have Vastly Different Meanings To What We Understand Today
How would you rate your vocabulary ? Average; Better than Average ; Exceptional ?
It may not matter how good you think your command of English is because in this article we reveal some surprising revelations about some of the words, you may have thought you had a thorough understanding of, had, in point of fact, some VERY different meanings in the past.
A History of Guernsey’s Official (& Unofficial) Island Flags
A History of Guernsey’s Official (& Unofficial) Island Flags
Why is it that Humans Can Speak?
Of all the things that define us as humans there is surely one remarkable thing that marks us out from other life on earth – language and the ability to communicate via speech. But what is it in our genes that allows us to do this?
“Sweating Like a Pig ?” – It has nothing to do with the Animal
Wher does the English idion of “Sweating Like a Pig” come from ?
Christmas Factoid : ‘Jingle Bells’ wasn’t originally written as a Christmas song
Ever wonder why ‘Jingle Bells’ is the only Christmas song that doesn’t mention Christmas, Jesus or the Nativity ? That’s because it was written to celebrate Thanksgiving.
From Coffee to Commodities – The London Stock Exchange
Did you know … The London Stock Exchange was originally a coffee shop
From Galumph to Nerd to Blatant – 10 Beautiful Words Coined by Famous Writers
If you look at the number of words in the English language you’ll find that estimates vary between 500,000 and just over 2 million, depending on how you count them. You will find that some of these words were simply “made up” by various authors at one time or another but they’ve proved so popular that they’ve entered our everyday lexicon like Galumph, Nerd, Namby-pamby, Factoid, Serendipity and many more.
The Warrior Monks Who Brought Banking to London
Today, London is the financial capital of the world and for good or ill the hub of global banking and finance. How banking started in the capital is every bit as intriguing and mysterious as the ways that modern international finance seems to work today. Basically we owe it all to a religious order of heavily armed warrior monks who set up London’s first bank some 900 years ago.
The Origins of the Loch Ness Monster
Loch Ness, the largest by volume, of all the many lochs in Scotland, is possibly the most famous body of water in the world. The reason, of course, is what is claimed to lie in its deepest, darkest depths – The Loch Ness Monster!
6 Words That Are Older Than You Might Think – Unfriend, Trick Out, OMG, LOL, Punk, Dude
In the English language new words come into being daily. There are, however, some words that we might just associate with the hipster speak of todays’ social media that turn out to be a lot older than you might think . So here are six of them.
Why do the Europeans Drive on the Right Whilst the British Drive on the Left ?
Whilst much of the world’s road systems enforce driving on the right, not all do. Most notably, the British drive on the left whilst their continental cousins drive on the right, but why ?
Which Came First – The Chicken or the Egg ?
Okay as questions go this is a ‘doozy’ – as our American cousins would say. It’s a question that has perplexed humanity from as early as the ancient Greeks all the way to us in the 21st century, and we’re still dying to know : Which came first-the chicken or the egg ?
The Origin of … Carbonated Drinks
Given the bad press that fizzy drinks get these days, it may come as a surprise that ‘soda pop’ was originally conceived as a beverage to be consumed for the benefit of one’s health.
Baked Beans – Peculiarly British ?
Baked Beans – beloved as part of an ‘English Breakfast’ eaten by the ton on toast is perhaps a peculiarly British love. But where did this come from – and where did ‘baked beans’ originate from ?
