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What is a debt default? And the debt ceiling?

To default on a debt is to fail to make a scheduled payment on a loan.  A sovereign debt default is when a country defaults on money it owes - as happened to Argentina in the early 1990s, for example. What is the 'debt ceiling'? The above video describes the political dimension of the debt ceiling. The US debt now stands at $21 trillion - see debt clock here .  Some economists argue that this debt level is unsustainable in the long term. The key question  Democrats and Republicans battle over is what to do about this.

Ten Key Tech Terms for teachers?

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Confusing Tech Terms?   What is a MOOC?   What is BYOD?

Who invented the word chortle?

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Louis Carroll's 'Through the Looking Glass' (1872). To chortle is to a laugh at something which amuses or pleases you. It suggests a combination of the sound of chuckling (with amusement) and snorting (with derision). Other Louis Caroll words and phrases in common use include: jaberwocky and galumping  but, perhaps surprisingly, not mad as a  hatter . English Language 100 FAQ Teaching Pack     -  only £1.99 using discount code  CQDWKF0

When do we give a 'heads up' to someone? Why?

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When we wish to inform someone about the details of a particular theme, topic, item or person - I'll give you the heads up about the new policy. The idiom   appears to have a military origin -  a heads up indicating that an important announcement was pending. An early citation for the contemporary use of 'heads up from 1977 Early use in the late 1970s stressed the importance of the information supplied: "In a message characterized as a 'heads up alert', intelligence officials warned ... that Arab diplomats had suggested that Ambassador Andrew Young meet with a Palestine Liberation Organization official."  The Washington Post , August 1979 In recent years, however, 'to give a heads-up' has become synonymous with the less glamorous 'inform' English Language 100 FAQ Teaching Pack     -  only £1.99 using discount code  CQDWKF0

What is the difference between inflation & deflation?

Put simply, inflation is when prices rise. The result is that money loses its value.  Deflation is when prices go down and money increases its relative value.    Financial historian Amity Shales summarises the issues Deflation ... hurts good people, strivers who over-borrow. {It} can cause depressions, as the U.S. saw in the early 1930s ... In the Great Depression, there wasn’t enough money around -- literally. Lacking cash, banks collapsed, and good people did lose homes or farms. More banks collapsed. { But }..... Deflation doesn’t always spell apocalypse. It can coexist with prosperity -- or even perpetuate it. There was deflation in the 1920s. Prices fell in 1923, and 1925 through 1928. The money shortage hit one sector, farming, hard.   Overall, the economy grew. Unemployment stayed low. Vigilance on inflation kept prices stable. Stable prices made life easier. For example Harvard’s tuition stood at the same level, $150, between 1870 and the beginning of World War II.

What is a hipster? Key hipster words?

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According to the Urban Dictionary , hipsters are:    men and wom en typically in their 20's and 30's {who} value independent thinking, counter-culture, progressive politics, an appreciation of art and indie-rock, creativity, intelligence, and witty banter. Sounds flattering - what's not to like about  ' creativity, intelligence, and witty banter'? And yet 'hipster' is a label nobody wants to claim .  Associations with the word hipster have subtly changed in recent years. Originally the term was relatively neutral and descriptive. By the 1990s it had become pejorative: being a hipster indicated  pretentiousness and self obsession. The satirical magazine The Onion drew on this feeling for their brilliant headline   'Two Hipsters Angrily Call Each Other 'Hipster!' Why the change? Perhaps a clue lies in the nearest British equivalent: 'poseur'. In the English-speaking world there is a deeply ingrained cultural suspicion of those

What is a MOOC?

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A MOOC is an online course with open enrolment and no fees. MOOCs are now offered by a variety of educational providers including some of the best universities in the world, including Stanford & MIT.  MOOC advocates see the movement as offering the chance to give poorer/more remotely located students access to the best available education - see here . For a view on how this might impact on the future of university education - see here  & here

How did The Bible change the English language?

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The King James Bible is perhaps the most influential book in the development of the the English language. More on the King James Bible here Worksheets are included in:  English Language Teaching Pack   -  only £1.99 

What is 'nudge' theory?

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'Nudge theory' comes from Richard Thaler/Carl Sustein book  Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness .  It is based on the idea that we are inherently lazy and tend to take the default option in most circumstances. The 'nudge' is to gently push us in the right direction for our benefit or the general good. One example would be making automatic kidney donation the default - you would need to carry an 'opt-out' card. The central question, however, is who is doing the nudging? The government? If so, do you trust them to look after your best interests? Interesting discussion of the issues in this BBC Radio show Analysis .

What are loanwords?

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The number of loanwords in the English language is unusually large. English vocabulary borrows heavily from other languages, particularly Latin, Greek and French. See below for how this reliance on foreign words evolved. Loanwords are an important feature of English. They do not, however, affect the structure of the language. An English speaker may use the word ballet but he will not say a dancer of ballet ‚ as you would in French. A few imported terms retain their original syntax. The United Nations has a secretary general while the chief officer of the English legal system is the attorney general . But these are rare exceptions. Worksheets on the use of loanwords in English are included in the  English FAQ Teaching Pack   Use coupon code CQDWKF0 to download English FAQ Teaching Pack  for only £1.99