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Showing posts with the label words

Where does the word tycoon come from?

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The word tycoon is derived from the Japanese word taikun (大君?).

How has Latin influenced the English language?

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Contrary to common assumption, English is not a Latinate language. Latin does not underpin the structure of the English language in terms of its grammar or syntax.

What does Kabuki mean? How is this term used in politics?

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Kabuki  theatre is a stylised Japanese dance-drama tradition. Its origins date back to the early 17th century, when it rapidly grew in popularity Initially it was performed by both sexes, causing unease about public morals in official circles. The association between female actors and prostitution lead to a shogunate ruling in 1625. Since then the female parts are all played by males.  Key characteristics of  Kabuki  include  operatic plot lines, masks and heavy make-up. Shouting at other actors is encouraged, but though are common elements pantomime the tone is more delicate. As Louis Levene puts it: a great onnagata (a male actor playing a female role) will transcend the conventions and carry you away to the floating world. Modern versions Kotohira kabuki theatre The kabuki Bayreuth is the town of Kotohira, in Shikoku province. Local geisha funded the building of a kabuki theatre there in 1835 and fans pay £100 for tickets to the annual festival every spring.  Leading actors are

How did A Christmas Carol change the English language?

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A Christmas Carol  (1843) has been one of the most influential novels every written. It introduced many memorable words, phrases and idioms into the English language .  Many of these are used in Stave One Bah Humbug!   interjection . An exclamation of irritation or disgust.  Dead as doornail  - obviously/conclusively dead. Ghost of Christmas Past :   noun.   A person or thing from a past you might choose to forget  Gruel  - a thin liquid food of oatmeal - used to refer to cheap/poor food.  Scrooge:   noun . Someone with cold/mean/miserly attitude. Also someone who transforms from bad to good. Tight fisted  - ungenerous  Famous quotations A Christmas Carol is also one of the most widely quoted texts in literature. Here are some widely used examples from the opening description of Scrooge: Marley was dead, to begin with … Old Marley was as dead as a doornail. Oh! but he was …tight -fisted The cold within him froze his old features. He carried his own low temperature alwa

Female gigolo?

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  gigolo   / ˈʒɪɡəˌləʊ / n  (   pl   -los ) a man who is kept by a woman, esp an older woman a man who is paid to dance with or escort women By RKO Radio Pictures -  Fair use,  Etymology: 20 th  Century: from French, back formation from  gigolette  girl for hire as a dancing partner, prostitute, from  giguer  to dance, from  gigue  a fiddle; compare  gigot ,  gigue ,  jig In the 1920s the word gigolo came into a vogue to describe a paid (male) escort. The gig (!) did not necessarily imply sexual services though there was a raffish undertone (see Boulevard of Broken Dreams and the most famous song associated with the occupation, Just a Gigolo .  At that point the term was cheerfully sexist - gigolettes need not apply. But in fact the etymology tracks back to  gigolette  - a French slang term coined in the mid Nineteenth Century. A gigolette  was a small boned cut of meat - the unflattering association was with the feminine form. The word also displayed reverse discrimination, only appl

Ten Dickensian eponyms?

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Dickens festival, Rochester. Fagin hanging with Miss Havisham & the gang  I am well aware that I am the ‘umblest person going,” said Uriah Heep, modestly . Charles Dickens, David Copperfield No novelist has been more inventive in using character names to express character traits. Ernest L. Abel identifies seventeen examples that have entered general English. These ten are perhaps the best known: Scrooge -  miserliness, anti-Christmas, bah humbug etc  Mr Micawber -  spendthrift, ludicrously optimistic ‘something will turn up’  Fagin - charming, ruthless, leader of a gang of child thieves. Miss Havisham - embittered reclusive spinster Uriah Heep - obsequious, toadying, false humility. More recently humble brag   Podsnap  - complacent jingoist who “stood very high in his own opinion” Pecksniff -  hypocritical Pickwick - amiable bon viveur, 'Pickwick paunch' Gradgrind  -  hard, ruthless businessman who reduces everything to monetary value. Others are now perhaps less famil

Origin of word blackmail?

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The original meaning of blackmail was not directly connected to the concept of extortion

What does 'performative' mean?

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The word  performative  has become ubiquitous but is often misused  .   Parliamentary  kabuki The always informative Dot Wordsworth points out in her Spectator column that the correct usage of performative is 'as a label useful in identifying a sort of utterance that is different from a statement of fact.'  She cites as examples, 'I do (in the marriage ceremony), I bet, I name this ship the Queen Elizabeth, I promise, Let there be light (if you are God) and I apologise.' Performative does not mean to play to the gallery (or TV cameras!) or act insincerely for public consumption. Kabuki is the word that  better describes theatrical behaviour that attempts to attract maximum media attention. What is kabuki?

What is the Rorschach test?

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Hermann Rorschach (1884–1922) invented the 'ink blot' personality test. It uses 10 standard black or coloured inkblot designs to assess personality traits and emotional tendencies. This diagnostic tool was initially intended to  provide insight into the mental processes involved with what was broadly termed schizophrenia. Rorschach, who died soon after completing his research paper Psychodiagnostik (1921) had cautioned that ‘that the test is primarily an aid to clinical diagnosis’. From the 1940s, the Rorschach was adapted for use in occupational assessment and other areas of social science.  In contemporary English, the term  Rorschach Test is often used metaphorically to describe what psychologists call projective assessment. Put simply, how you see something depends on your 'priors' or pre-existing assumptions. Who was  Hermann Rorschach?

How fast is the English language expanding?

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Recent research suggests that the English language has doubled in size over the last century.

Why 'Maundy' Thursday?

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The first citation of maunde  to describe the Thursday before Easter in middle English comes in the mid-15C. It described not only The Last Supper in general but also the ceremony of the washing of the feet of the poor or downtrodden. The immediate origin was Old French mandé. This in turn derived from the Latin mandatum  or "commandment" (see mandate (n.)). For Christians the crucial reference is to the opening words of the Latin church service for this day, Mandatum novum do vobis "A new commandment I give unto you" (John xiii:34). This new commandment is to love one another.  The supreme test of this commandment will, of course, be the events of the following day: Good Friday . Short essay : Where does the word Easter come from? Passover? Good Friday?

Most versatile word in English?

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Top 10 words with most OED entries? What do they have in common?

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Most popular word in English?

It has only two letters but is arguably 'America's greatest word'.  

Most common spelling mistakes in English?

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These are the five most common spelling errors in English:

25 most looked-up words in the dictionary?

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According to Merriam-Webster, the standard dictionary for American English, this is the All-Time Top Twenty:

Words most looked-up in dictionary? Holistic

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holistic həʊˈlɪstɪk,hɒ-/ adjective PHILOSOPHY characterized by the belief that the parts of something are intimately interconnected and explicable only by reference to the whole. MEDICINE characterized by the treatment of the whole person, taking into account mental and social factors, rather than just the symptoms of a disease. Etymology:  1939, from   holism   +   -istic .   Holistic medicine  first citation  1960. Related:   Holistically A classic example of a neologism that has crept from academic obscurity into the mainstream. Though proponents of holistic medicine claim the practice has roots in ancient Chinese philosophy, term first appeared in print during the year of President Kennedy's election. The flowering (!) of the New Age movement in late 1960s created increased an interest which has grown exponentially in recent years. Holistic  is often used to describe the aspiration to psychological well-being and is associated wi

Dude! Where does the word dude come from?

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with thanks to Taking English One Thumb at a Time ( dūd, dyūd )  n. Informal . An Easterner or city person who vacations on a ranch in the West. Informal . A man who is very fancy or sharp in dress and demeanor. Slang . A man; a fellow. dudes  Persons of either sex. tr.v. ,  dud·ed ,  dud·ing ,  dudes . Slang . To dress elaborately or flamboyantly:  got all duded up for the show. interj.   Slang Used to express approval, satisfaction, or congratulations. Source The  origins of the word dude are disputed but certainly predate  Dude, Where’s my Car? (2000). According to the American Heritage Dictionary:  Originally it was applied to fancy-dressed city folk who went out west on vacation. In this usage it first appears in the 1870s. A New York newspaper declared one Evan Berry (left) the ‘King of the Dudes’ in 1888. 'Dude' makes an appearance  in Mark Twain’s A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court (1889). The word also pops-up in the letters of an

Why are we “the giraffes of altruism.”?

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According to the neuro-scientist, Jonathan Haidt, humans are instinctively unselfish in some key respects. He sees altruism - acting for others rather than out of self-interest - as an evolutionary development.  What's the evidence, Mr Haidt? There are signs that some forms of altruism are instinctive rather than learned. Even a very young child will come to you aid if you are struggling to open a door, for example.  This suggests that an inclination to help others - is at least partially heritable.  But isn't evolutionary theory based on the idea of the 'survival of the fittest'? Co-operation gives humans a competitive advantage over other species But what's with the giraffe reference? The giraffe's long neck gives it an advantage over other species. Being nice - some of the time, anyway - is our equivalent of having a neck that gives you that extra bit of stretch when it comes to nabbing that fruit!  BTW: giraffes & humans share the

What's the meaning of 'what's up'?

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 Taken from englishforthewin.com & www.urbandictionary.com An apparently simple question can cause great confusion. An American colleague of mine used to greet me every morning with question 'what's up?' to which I would reply 'Nothing' or 'I'm fine.' After the third time it occurred that for her the question was an all purpose greeting whereas to British ears it meant 'what is the problem?' or 'is something wrong?'. The American usage is gradually taking over but the confusion remains - more interesting thoughts on this  here Use offer code CQDWKF0 to download English FAQ Teaching Pack  for only £1.99