Amanda Laugesen Australian National University Women have had a fraught historical relationship to swearing. Long regarded as guardians of morality and respectability, their use of swear words has been policed and punished in various ways. Yet women have a rich history of using such language as a means of challenging
Andre Spicer City University of London Carl Cederström Stockholm University Religious aspects aside, for many people Christmas has been that unique time of the year when the demands of work finally disappear, if only for a brief period. We get a well-deserved break, time to indulge in fatty food, drink
The word for today is… shill (verb) – 1. To act as a shill for (a deceitful enterprise). 2. To lure (a person) into a swindle. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Someone who shills today may very well be employed to simply extol the wonders of legitimate products. But in the
Ian Hamilton University of York Alex Aldridge Royal Holloway On their own, sex and drugs are cultural taboos. Combining them only adds to our reluctance to talk about them. But understanding how sex and drugs are connected isn’t something we should shy away from or perceive as deviant. Humans
Aaron Jarden University of Melbourne Christmas can be a stressful time of year. You will blow your budget, your relatives will annoy you, and you’ll receive gifts that go straight to Vinnies, all in 40 degree Celsius heat. Meanwhile, your friends post pictures on social media of their idyllic
The word for today is… rambunctious (adj) – Boisterous and disorderly. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : Rambunctious first appeared in print in the early half of the 19th century, at a time when the fast-growing United States was forging its identity and indulging in a fashion for colorful new coinages suggestive
Michael R. Nadorff Mary E. Dozier Mississippi State University Many people love the holidays because they are a time to make happy memories with loved ones. But what if you could do something that would help restore memories in some of the people you love? Using a process called reminiscence
Matthew Robert Anderson Concordia University Everyone knows the story of Scrooge, a man so miserly his name has become synonymous with penny-pinching meanness. Scrooge’s conversion from miser to benefactor has been told and retold since Charles Dickens first wrote A Christmas Carol in the fall and winter of 1843.
Sally O’Reilly The Open University Our fascination with ghostly tales around Christmas time goes back thousands of years and is rooted in ancient celebrations of the winter solstice. In the depths of winter, pagan traditions included a belief in a ghostly procession across the sky, known as the Wild
The word for today is… frenzy (noun) – 1. A state of violent mental agitation or wild excitement. 2. Temporary madness or delirium. 3. A mania; a craze. Todays word is a nod towards the Boxing Day sales, where frenzied mobs buy stuff they don’t need with money they don’
Dimitris Xygalatas University of Connecticut The mere thought of holiday traditions brings smiles to most people’s faces and elicits feelings of sweet anticipation and nostalgia. We can almost smell those candles, taste those special meals, hear those familiar songs in our minds. Ritual marks some of the most important
Joan Fitzpatrick Loughborough University Charles Dickens popularised the traditional, English Christmas in 1843 in his novel A Christmas Carol, when Bob Cratchit and his family sit down on Christmas Day to eat a dinner of goose with mashed potatoes and apple sauce accompanied by sage and onion stuffing and followed
Joan Fitzpatrick Loughborough University Charles Dickens popularised the traditional, English Christmas in 1843 in his novel A Christmas Carol, when Bob Cratchit and his family sit down on Christmas Day to eat a dinner of goose with mashed potatoes and apple sauce accompanied by sage and onion stuffing and followed
Joe Perry Georgia State University In 1921, in a Munich beer hall, newly appointed Nazi party leader Adolf Hitler gave a Christmas speech to an excited crowd. According to undercover police observers, 4,000 supporters cheered when Hitler condemned “the cowardly Jews for breaking the world-liberator on the cross” and
William Keylor Boston University The Christmas Truce is no stranger to popular entertainment – this year more than any other as its 100th anniversary is marked. The famous moment when British and German soldiers climbed out of the trenches in peace on Christmas Day 1914 has been replicated and ruminated upon
The word for today is… accouchement (noun) – A confinement during childbirth; a lying-in. Source : The Free Dictionary Etymology : “Parturition, delivery in childbed,” 1803, from French accouchement, noun of action from accoucher “go to childbed”. The verb accouche (1867) is a back-formation, or else from French accoucher. If you enjoyed this
