An Appalachian Christmas Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 20, 2018
One of the most distinctive and interesting cultural regions of the United States is Appalachia. It stretches southwest from the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia to the Smoky Mountains which border Tennessee and North Carolina. This snow-capped, evergreen-filled area is the living embodiment of an American Christmas card. Because Appalachia is overwhelmingly Christian in its…
Baby, It’s Cold Outside Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 13, 2018
Who knew that a Christmas song nearly 75 years old could be controversial? And yet, in this era of political correctness, when what we say and how we say it is more carefully scrutinized than ever, we have had a minor uproar in the US over a song our grandparents loved. The song is “Baby…
Should English Idioms be Modernized? Posted by Gary Locke on Dec 6, 2018
PETA, the animal rights organization, has proposed that we should reimagine some common English phrases to be more respectful of other species. They argue that phrases such as “I killed two birds with one stone” are as cruel as any hate speech. Similarly, a British researcher believes that, eventually, meat-based metaphors and sayings will be…
Phrasal verbs for phone calls Posted by carol on Nov 30, 2018
Hello! Who am I speaking to? Last month, we covered here on the blog some words related to using your phone in English. Today, we are moving one step further to take a look at some phrasal verbs that refer to phone calls. Although it is undeniable that text messaging has become one of the…
When English Offers Choices Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 29, 2018
This past week I witnessed a customer at a store point to something and say, “I’ll have two of those.” Before placing the items in a bag and finalizing the sale, the clerk said, “These ones?” That response by the clerk was a redundancy, the use of an extra word which wasn’t needed. Because the…
The English Word of the Year, 2018 Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 21, 2018
The editors of The Oxford Dictionaries, published by the Oxford University Press, have selected toxic as the 2018 English word of the year. It is a brilliant, if somewhat controversial, selection. In a year of intense divisiveness in the English-speaking world, it is easy to see why this word, and its association with all that…
America’s Favorite Books Posted by Gary Locke on Nov 15, 2018
Recently, PBS ran a series called The Great American Read in which viewers were invited to select America’s best-loved novel. It was a fascinating exploration of America’s reading habits. A public opinion survey was conducted of favorite novels (and series of novels), then a select group of 13 literary professionals was brought in to establish…