Archive for 'English Language'
Top English Abbreviations from Latin Posted by Gary Locke on Jun 7, 2017
We rarely speak in Latin today, although a few fragments and quotes have made their way into everyday English usage. Many of us will invoke carpe diem when setting out to seize our day, or at least have a second dessert. There are occasions, however, when an abbreviation, taken from Latin, is commonly used when…
DARE to Learn American English Posted by Gary Locke on May 25, 2017
What if I told you that American English is so diversified that there are different words and phrases for the same thing not only from region-to-region, but even from neighborhood-to-neighborhood? Let me introduce you to one of the most remarkable dictionaries of the English Language. The Dictionary of American Regional English, or DARE, documents and…
It’s Tea Time! Posted by Gary Locke on May 12, 2017
Tea is the beverage most closely associated with the English, so it is no surprise that the English language is filled with idioms and terms related to the humble, delicious brew. Let’s explore the curious case of tea and English speakers. I am a tea drinker. I rarely drink coffee, never drink sodas (or, as…
The Dying Art of Cursive in English Posted by Gary Locke on May 4, 2017
Cursive is any writing in which the letters are joined together in a flowing manner. In English, we call this penmanship in longhand. It is also known as writing in script. Whatever you call it, this is becoming a disappearing skill. The letters in English cursive writing always loop, eventually finding and connecting with each…
The World’s Best Selling Author Posted by Gary Locke on Apr 28, 2017
She was Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, DBE. She was a world traveler, an accomplished archeologist, a pharmacist, a philanthropist, and remains the most successful novelist of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare. You know her as Agatha Christie. If you are going to talk about writers of the English language, you must…
English Vocab for Drinkers Posted by Gary Locke on Apr 21, 2017
Learning English isn’t easy. It’s a complicated, sometimes almost incomprehensible language with rules that rarely seem to make any sense. In fact, it sometimes seems that English was made up by people who were drunk. Which brings me to the subject of today’s blog. The English language is filled with colorful words and phrases for…
Why I, I Wonder? Posted by Gary Locke on Apr 14, 2017
In the English language, I is the nominative singular pronoun, used in reference to oneself, and it is always capitalized. No other language singles out and capitalizes this pronoun, only English. We don’t capitalize any other pronoun, me, my, mine, we, us, our… The question is – why? The most obvious answer is because English…