December 24, 2009
by Graham
1 Comment

A rary bird

I’ve been following John Wells’ thread on nursery rhymes, and have found this rare example from a French one: “Oui, oui, choux!” un maire y crie, “ça masse!”

December 22, 2009
by Graham
6 Comments

Two names and a word

Nicholas Glass, in his report for Channel 4 News yesterday on the arrest of five men charged with stealing the “Arbeit Macht Frei” sign from Auschwitz, named two other places: Gdynia and Wrocławek. He can be excused (as we are … Continue reading

December 12, 2009
by Graham
6 Comments

How many words?

It’s often said that English has more words than any other language. I’m not aware of any bona fide linguist who’s said this, but the statement crops up in newspaper articles from time to time. Is it true? How would … Continue reading

December 1, 2009
by Graham
2 Comments

Eva Sivertsen

The death has been announced of Professor Eva Sivertsen, at the age of 87. She was born in 1922 in Trondheim, Norway, and was Professor of English there from 1961, first at the then Norges Lærerhøgskole, and then, when this … Continue reading