Nicknames for this grammar stuff - Comments Off on Nicknames for this grammar stuff
The vocal fry
Croaking and cawing away like a sultry seductress. Or see a speech therapist. Read on.
The compleat angler’s Modern English tenses
June 13, 2025
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JUST what are the English tenses? How many are there? What are they made of? Frankly speaking, people would’ve, could’ve and should’ve learnt and remembered tenses much quicker and less painfully had they as schoolchildren been given straightforward, graphicless charts at the outset so that they have a mental roadmap. The three charts below give […]
Do you think green energy is the future ? (An example A-Level essay)
January 7, 2025
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Please don’t misunderstand this post. I am not advocating anything here. This is only an example essay of what a UK Advanced Level student (senior high schooler) should be capable of producing for a humanities course within 30 minutes under exam conditions. I originally did this to show a certain student learning English on his/her own how a standalone school-level essay […]
Timeline of the English language
January 1, 2025
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Lᴏᴛꜱ ᴏꜰ ᴘᴇᴏᴘʟᴇ have been asking us for this bird’s eye view timeline for some time. British and American English aren’t different languages — they’re the same language — but. But “American/British/Canadian/etc English” is just a descriptor in the context of second-language education and linguistics analysis — including the everyday realities of international trade, standards compliance, product specifications, […]
Pronouncing ‘schedule’
October 16, 2018
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WHY is the word ‘schedule’ pronounced differently by the British from how Americans pronounce it? The British pronunciation /ˈʃɛdjuːl/ (“sheddjual”) is based on the Old French cedule (“sedjuel”) (Modern French cédule). The word schedule has been pronounced this way since Late Middle English (ca. 1430s). The American pronunciation /ˈskɛdjuːl/ (“skedjoo-ul”) is based on Koine Greek […]
How to rewrite
November 14, 2017
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Good, simple advice for doing rewriting, an instinctive thing that almost defies explanation.
Ideal lengths for brand names and text
September 5, 2017
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The shorter the better when you're using words or inventing a name.
Same words but opposites
August 1, 2017
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Some expressions are the same but in different ways.
What is a normative question?
July 25, 2017
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A normative question in many cases is scarcely a normal question.
Due to vs. owing to
July 18, 2017
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A quick guide to these two phrases because of many people using them back to front.
Hanged on a comma
July 11, 2017
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Ultimately, it's what the government decides what technicality we get hanged for, regardless of our commas.
To do well in English, don’t bother with Latin
June 27, 2017
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Don't kid yourself. Latin isn't English. Not by a long stretch.
Is ‘news’ an acronym?
June 20, 2017
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This shouldn't be news to anyone that the word 'news' could ever be an acronym.
The longest known English word
June 13, 2017
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The longest known English word will surprise you because it's uncharacteristically shorter than many thought.
Fast-tracking your writing skills
April 8, 2017
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Take a leaf from the pros on how to fast-track your writing skills so that both you and your readers know what the blazes you're supposed to be writing about.
Lacka-lacka-lack: Lack of vs. lack in
November 22, 2016
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We lay down the score on the difference between 'lack of' and 'lack in.'
Time of the day
November 17, 2016
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Stop being ambiguous and call your time of the day a spade.
Didn’t do, or didn’t didn’t do?
August 6, 2015
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By the laws of the planets and logic, "didn't do nothing" means "did something." Only if you're language course is called "maths."
Just don’t do it
July 7, 2015
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Originally posted on language: a feminist guide:
This week everyone’s been talking about an article in the Economist explaining how men’s use of language undermines their authority. According to the author, a senior manager at Microsoft, men have a bad habit of punctuating everything they say with sentence adverbs like ‘actually’, ‘obviously’, ‘seriously’ and ‘frankly’.…
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Learn English or Starve 
June 24, 2025
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