Tag Archives: vocabulary
What Did You Say? Posted by Gary Locke on Feb 17, 2022
You’ve been learning English for a while, and you feel pretty good about your progress. Then, one day, you’re talking with a native speaker, and you didn’t quite understand something you heard. This happens frequently. Don’t worry about it. But, how do you respond? One of the great, and annoying, things about English is that…
The Addictive Word Game – Wordle Posted by Gary Locke on Jan 21, 2022
Perhaps you’ve already discovered Wordle, the daily word game that is sweeping the English-speaking world. You may have seen the six rows of five squares in green, yellow, and white shared by your friends on various social media pages. It is now one of the most increasingly popular online games – and it deserves to…
The English Language Blogs of 2021, Part 2 Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 30, 2021
We’re going to continue our wander through memory lane, reviewing the ten most engaging and popular English language blogs of 2021. The list is based on your response to them. These were the blogs that were opened the most, clicked on, and commented upon. Today, we’re counting down the top five. You can find the…
Looking Back on the Blogs of 2021, Part 1 Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 23, 2021
I’m sure that I don’t have to spend any time describing the past year. We’ve all lived it. Congratulations on that, by the way. Just surviving this year has been an accomplishment, as it was for 2020. But, I’m not here to talk about politics, science, or economics. The purpose of this blog is to…
Understanding the Word Pilgrim Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 18, 2021
Discussing the history of the Pilgrims who established the first New England colony in 1620 can open up a complex set of questions and arguments. Were they heroic trailblazers or foolish zealots? Were they rescued by the local natives, or did they exploit them? There are no easy answers. The Pilgrims of our first Thanksgiving…
Rewriting the English Dictionary Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 4, 2021
As you probably know, every year new words are added to English dictionaries. English is, after all, an ever-evolving language. Although, the editors of all the various dictionaries seldom agree on what words merit consideration and inclusion. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) for 2021, for instance, added the hyphenated word haggis-headed, which describes someone who…
Graveyards and Cemeteries Posted by Gary Locke on Oct 28, 2021
In English, we often use the words graveyard and cemetery interchangeably. The same is true of tombs, mausoleums, and crypts. But, there is a difference between them. It’s time that we buried the confusion and explore the proper use of terms for the resting places of the dead. Graveyards In the western world, burials were…