Posts

What is Game Theory? How did Jane Austen use it?

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Game theory is an approach to predicting the likely outcome of an action when interests conflict (e.g. in sport, business or military strategy. Associated with the prisoner's dilemna (see image above). It origins are complex but the publication of John von Neuemann's minimax theory in 1928  is a key development. This discussion from the Freakonomics podcast  makes the surprising claim that the Regency Eighteenth Century novelist was a pioneering game theorist.

Best way to teach a language? Guide to ELT methods

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An interesting a overview of the different approaches here: With thanks to the excellent Slideshare   100 English Language FAQ    Teaching Pack - only£0.99/$1.50 Approaches and Methods in Language Teaching  How To Teach English (with DVD) How to Teach English Language Learners

What is a pundit? Where does the word come from?

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The word pundit comes from the Hindi/Sanskrit word 'pandit'. It originally meant someone knowledgeable in (Hindu) religion. Now it generally refers to anyone using specialist expertise to provide commentary or analysis in the media. Examples include football pundits, political pundit etc. A version of this post is included in the new ebook:  100 English Language FAQ   - only £0.99/$1.50

Where does the word diaspora come from?

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di·as·po·ra    /dīˈaspərə/ Noun Jews living outside Israel. The dispersion of the Jews beyond Israel. The main diaspora began in the 8th–6th centuries bc, and even before the sack of Jerusalem... Though living in different countries across the world the diaspora expressed a shared culture and a belief that one day all Jews would be reunited (in the Biblical Promised Land). In modern times the term is sometimes used more generically to describe all communities of immigrants  with a shared sense of 'home'.  A recent article in The Economist, The Magic of Diasporas , suggests that these diaspora are playing an increasingly important role in the world economy There are now 215m first-generation migrants around the world: that’s 3% of the world’s population. If they were a nation, it would be a little larger than Brazil. There are more Chinese people living outside China than there are French people in France. Some 22m Indians are scattered all over t

Where does the word mesmerise come from?

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

Where does the word sandwich come from?

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The 4th Earl of Sandwich  (1718--92) loved gambling. When he was playing cards he hated to leave the gaming table for meals. So he asked for a steak between two slices of bread. Ironically, eating sandwiches at your desk now symbolises dedication to work. And most casinos do not allow you to eat snacks when seated at their gaming tables. Alt meanings : You can sandwich something between two halves of anything. A Victorian Sandwich, for example, is a sponge cake filled with cream and jam. Other languages:  The word 'sandwich' is used in many languages  in a more way precise way than it is in English. In Spanish, for example, un sandwich uses thin white sliced bread as in the s andwich mixto right.