Simon Horobin University of Oxford Simon Horobin is Professor of English Language and Literature at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of Magdalen College. He is the author of The English Language: A Very Short Introduction (OUP, 2018), How English Became English (OUP, 2016), and Does Spelling Matter? (OUP,
The word for today is… negotiate (verb): 1 : to discuss something formally in order to make an agreement 2 : to agree on (something) by formally discussing it 3 : to get over, through, or around (something) successfully Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : For the first 250 years of its life, negotiate had
The word for today is… wormhole (noun): 1 : a hole or passage burrowed by a worm 2 : a hypothetical structure of space-time envisioned as a tunnel connecting points that are separated in space and time Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology: If you associate “wormhole” with quantum physics and sci-fi, you’ll
Alberto Giubilini Julian Savulescu mercatornet.com Alberto Giubilini is a Senior Research Fellow at the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics and Wellcome Centre for Ethics and Humanities, University of Oxford. Professor Julian Savulescu holds the Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics at the University of Oxford. He is Director of
The word for today is… grisly (adjective): 1 : inspiring horror or intense fear 2 : inspiring disgust or distaste Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : An angry grizzly bear could certainly inspire fear, so “grizzly” must be a variant of “grisly,” right? Yes and no. The adjective “grisly” is indeed sometimes spelled “grizzly,
Sir Bob Jones nopunchespulled.com One hundred self described French intellectuals (university teachers in fact) have collectively put their signatures to an article in Le Figaro, protesting at the radical renovation plans for the Notre-Dame rebuilding. What a bunch of cowardly fleas these types are. This is age-old behaviour we’
JP Sears awakenwithjp.com If you ever wondered what you would do during the civil rights era that sought to end segregation from society or during Nazi Germany, what you are doing today is the answer to that question. We can look back at Germany in the 1930s and see
The word for today is… qualm (noun): 1 : a feeling of uneasiness about a point especially of conscience or propriety 2 : a sudden feeling of usually disturbing emotion (such as doubt or fear) 3 : a sudden attack of illness, faintness, or nausea Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Etymologists aren’t sure
Craig Prescott Bangor University Craig Prescott is Lecturer in Law at Bangor University. He also teaches Sports Law at Birkbeck College, London. Following rapid developments in the sexual abuse lawsuit against Prince Andrew, Buckingham Palace issued a statement announcing that Andrew will lose all his remaining patronages and military titles
The word for today is… edify (verb): 1 : to instruct and improve especially in moral and religious knowledge 2 archaic a : build b : establish Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : The Latin noun aedes, meaning “house” or “temple,” is the root of aedificare, a verb meaning “to erect a house.” Generations of
Over the years, I have done a large number of applications to IRD on behalf of clients for payment arrangements for unpaid tax. IRD would inevitably ask for copies of bank statements (3 months, or even 6 months), even though we had filled in an application form, giving details of
Vera Stanton Vera wrote this article after learning of the treatment of MIQ detainees and interviewing a former Paremoremo prison guard who passed through MIQ and said that max security prisoners received more outside time and less solitary confinement than MIQ detainees. Mandatory Covid quarantines are the largest experiment of
The word for today is… steadfast (adjective): 1a : firmly fixed in place : immovable b : not subject to change 2 : firm in belief, determination, or adherence Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : Steadfast has held its ground in English for many centuries. Its Old English predecessor, stedefæst, combined stede (meaning “place” or “stead”
Mike Roberts fee.org Mike Roberts is a process engineer at Intel with a Bachelor’s in Chemical Engineering and a Master’s in Mechanical Engineering. He is also a life-long advocate of free markets and free ideas. Over the past half decade, there has been a growing trend signaling
The word for today is… bevy (noun): 1 : a large group or collection 2 : a group of animals and especially quail Source : Merriam -Webster Etymology : What do you call a group of crows? Or swine? Or leopards? Well-educated members of the medieval gentry seem to have been expected to know
