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Showing posts with the label what does this word mean?

Why do we say 'Good' Friday?

It may seem odd that Christians call their day  of greatest sorrow   Good Friday .  The confusion arises from how we perceive the word 'Good'. Here it is used in the archaic sense of 'holy' or momentous. Good Friday, called  Feria VI in  Parasceve  in the  Roman Missal ,  he hagia kai megale paraskeue  (the  Holy  and Great Friday) in the  Greek Liturgy ,  Holy Friday  in Romance Languages,  Charfreitag  (Sorrowful Friday) in  German , is the  English  designation of Friday in  Holy Week     source In other words,  Good marks the uniqueness of the Passion . It affirms the centrality of the crucifixion and resurrection to the Christian faith. Short essay :  Where does the word Easter come from? Passover? Good Friday?

What is a humble brag?

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"I am well aware that I am the 'umblest person going," said Uriah Heep, modestly.    Charles Dickens, David Copperfield

What is schmutter?

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schmutter [ˈʃmÊŒtÉ™]  noun

What is Asperger's Syndrome? What is an ASD?

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The terminology surrounding this area is confusing, partly for historical reasons.

Where does the word shampoo come from?

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What is a descriptivist? And a prescriptivist?

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Listen to this short description of two key words in linguistics: descriptivist and prescriptivist .

What is a flipped classroom?

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The flipped classroom is based on a simple idea. Does it work?

What does stalwart mean? Where does the word come from?

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Atticus Finch:the stalwart hero of To Kill a Mockingbird  A stalwart person is reliable, dependable, resolute (or inflexible depending on your perspective.) The word is probably a  14th Century Scottish variant on a old English term: stælwierðe "good, serviceable," In the US the term acquired a political dimension with a section of the Republican Party  that refused to abandon its Civil War hostility to the south. They became known as the 'Stalwart Party', a label that stuck. A version of this post is included in the  English FAQ Teaching Pack   Download for only £1.99 with offer code CQDWKF0

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

Where does the word mesmerise come from?

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The word mesmerize is named after   Franz   or   Friedrich   Anton Mesmer   1734-1815 .

What is a hedge fund? And what does it mean to hedge your bets?

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Hedge funds are companies which pool capital from wealthy clients with a view to maximising return. They invest in all asset classes - bonds, equities etc - and  because of the scale of their investments can profit from small price movements. The largest hedge funds are also 'market makers' - their investment decisions influence others. The verb "to hedge" means to "insure oneself against loss but some successful hedge fund managers have been very aggressive in their investment strategies. The  credit-default swaps  market (famously described by Warren Buffett as 'weapons of mass financial destruction') is an example of this. In general English 'hedging your bets' is to approach an uncertain situation by taking action to cover a variety of outcomes. When a bookmaker receives a large bet on a particular result, he will generally 'lay off' the bet with another bookmaker. This mean by betting a smaller amount on the opposite outcome.

What is a metanarrative?

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The definition of metanarrative is earnestly debated in faculty lounges and hipster coffee-bars. Here is one attempt: a narrative  about  narratives of historical meaning, experience or knowledge, which offers a society legitimation through the anticipated completion of a (as yet unrealised) master idea.    J. Childers/G. Hentzi eds.,  The Columbia Dictionary of Modern Literary and Cultural Criticism  (1995) p. 186 What does this mean in comprehensible English?  I can make no sense of 'narratives of historic meaning' but the meta here seems to be defined as 'wider' or 'overarching'.  So for a Marxist the story of the Russian Revolution forms part of the wider metanarrative of the (supposed) history of class struggle. Terms like  metanarrative  have emerged from the influence of post-modernism on leading universities in the West.  Matt Labash  is one of many to question whether this influence has been entirely beneficial. What is a meme? What does m

What does 'meta' mean? What is meta-language?

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Thanks to Ms Langley's Year 11 English class for this Wordle The prefix meta - as in metalanguage, metanarrative etc - is very difficult to pin down. In broad terms meta means 'about itself' - so metalanguage is the language of language. For example a language teacher might use metalanguage like  lexicon or  past perfect in a lesson plan. This is reasonably comprehensible, though some might argue that a less fancy-pants alternative would be technical-terms or even jargon. It could also be argued that unlike other words with the meta prefix (see metatnarrative)  metalanguage has at least the advantage of precision e.g. teachers should avoid using complex metalanguage in the classroom. And it can be useful for teaching identifying the concepts that underpin language learning. What is a meme? What is a metanarrative? Mrs Langley's English Class Wiki

What is sans serif?

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In recent years the previously obscure field of typefaces has become increasingly fashionable. Seth Stevenson at Salon suggests that 'font fanatic' Steve Jobs was a crucial influence in the rise of the 'amateur typography expert'.  To join this groovy world of graphic design you first need to identify the difference between serifs (those with 'little feet') and sans serif (those without). sans-serif typefaces (with no little feet at the tops and bottoms of their letters) first appeared in the mid-1800s, they were labeled "grotesque" because they looked quite bizarre to unaccustomed eyes. Serif V Sans Serif Traditionally, sans serifs are used for headline rather than body text in print. The rationale is that the serifs help the eye to distinguish words. But increasingly this approach is challenged by some typographers - with the rules being deliberately subverted by the 'grunge typography' of David Carson, for example. 'Th

What is EDM? Who is it making rich?

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Only the squarest will not know that EDM (electronic dance music) is what hipsters are tuning in to. And crucially dance music, as it was originally called in the UK in the 90s, has finally taken off in the USA. The big breakthrough came when concerts/event/raves/parties moved out of night clubs - only open to those over twenty-one in most American states - to stadiums where the top EDM DJs command vast sums for individual appearances. So lucrative have these club/stadium nights become that some of the biggest names - like members of the Swedish House Mafia -  now appear in the Forbes Rich list. Oldsters & the defiantly uncool will puzzled as to why playing records - or mixing sounds if we are to get technical - can earn upwards of $100,000 for a 90 minute show. But across the world these new sultans of swing will be helicoptering between stadia, hoovering up fortunes as they do. Personally I'm going to give bossing the decks a miss this year. I've made my millions

What is a pangram?

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A pangram is a sentence containing all 26 letters of the alphabet. The best know example is The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

WTF?

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This is a profanity-zone so you'll have to work out - or ask Mr Google - the word that follows 'What' and 'the'. The interesting thing question is the speed at which this euphemistic acronym has spread to become standard online shorthand. I had assumed that the usage was fairly recent and Know Your Meme cites the YouTube 'wtf boom' “wtfboom” is a meme where a normal event gets interrupted by a loud voice screaming “ WHAT   THE  -” cut off by an extremely loud explosion, and a sinister laugh. It is commonly used as an element of surprise/interruption. But a correspondent of Jay Nordlinger suggests earlier origins and a wider definition: I see myself in 1975 at the beginning of my freshman year at university. I sit in a huge lecture hall with hundreds of others and am trying to keep up with whatever subject the professor way down in the front is blathering about. When my spiral notebook scribbling gets hopelessly behind, and I’ve completely lost the c

What is dyscalculia?

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A specific learning difficulty in mathematics and/or dealing with numbers. In most cases this can be tackled by taking a different approach to the traditional ones used in this area. What is the underlying cause of this problem Steve Chin , a specialist in this area, has pinpointed 'poor short term and working memories , both of which are key pre-requisite skills for mental arithmetic and indeed mathematics in general'. Because traditional maths teaching relies heavily on memorising facts and processes this can create a significant barrier to learning from the outset In Chin's view this problem is exacerbated by a focus on memorising facts (e.g learning tables) rather than understanding Mathematical processes: Better performing peers use linking strategies which are based on understanding numbers, operations and how they relate. Lower performing pupils seem far less able to employ these significantly useful strategies. He also believes that the focus on speed in solvi

When does one woot?

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When having fun on a computer! Woot is one of the most surprising new entries to the OED. It is used to express elation, enthusiasm, or triumph (especially in electronic communication. Apparently its popularity derives from online gaming and role play. Oxford Dictionary of English New Oxford American Dictionary