May 26, 2009
by Graham
3 Comments
In a comment on my post Gender in French, Pat Franczyk shows the danger of confusing the meanings of these two words. It has often been said that “language has gender, but animals and plants have sex”. The ambiguity of … Continue reading
May 13, 2009
by Graham
4 Comments
This BBC programme about Henry Purcell is available on line for the next couple of weeks. In it Charles Hazlewood claims that we know so little about the composer that we are not even sure how to pronounce his name. … Continue reading
May 9, 2009
by Graham
3 Comments
Colombia is a country in the extreme north of South America, pronounced with the second syllable like the surname of the actor Herbert Lom. British Columbia is a province of Canada, and the District of Columbia is where the US … Continue reading
May 2, 2009
by Graham
0 comments
I’ve recently come across two words I’d never seen before. The immediate reaction is to think that the writer has either mis-remembered another word, or simply made it up on the hoof: “To cut this delay, the control unit briefly … Continue reading