Linguistics

What is an idiom? What is their meaning? "Break a leg!" "He just kicked the bucket." Have you ever wondered what these phrases and others have meant or how they originated?

A little-known dialect from the Midlands of England echoes the language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons.

Of the world’s approximately 6,000 languages, English is said to be one of the easier ones to learn despite its idiosyncrasies of spelling and pronunciation.

What is etymology? You only have to dig a little to uncover some of the most captivating, and at times, whimsical origins of everyday language and words. Join me for an adventure in linguistics.

English grammar can be difficult and confusing at times, even for native speakers. Learn more about classifying sentences to improve your speaking and writing skills.

It is amazing how the same phrase meant one thing long ago and means something else today. The phrase "ride or die" is one of those phrases. You might know what it means today, but do you know what it meant originally?

Sometimes words can mean multiple things depending on context. This can get confusing when those words have 2 opposite meanings! Here are 10 words that can mean the opposite of themselves.

Educators are seeing an increase in children arriving at school with poor vocabularies that are going to handicap them throughout life.

Why do two small ethnic enclaves at opposite ends of Europe share some linguistic similarities?

Which language do Belgians speak? It might surprise some, but the mothertongue of the Belgian population is not English, nor do most Belgians speak French. But what do they speak then? In this article, I will explain what Belgians do speak and why the Belgian language question is not that easy.

50 idioms and phrases that have their origins in all things nautical. Sea-faring has developed a unique language and terminology over the centuries and many of these snippets of language are now incorporated into everyday our vocabulary, often without us realising where they began.

Brief comparison between British and American English; then an overview of various native languages, dialects and accents in Britain to highlight the language diversity in UK compared to the USA.

The words affect and effect are often confused in the English language. Even native English speakers use the two words incorrectly . The difficulty lies that both sound similar and both can be used as nouns and verbs. Here I discuss the differences between affect and effect and how to use them.

A game of word definitions created by a malevolent writer who has juggled with the subject matter all his life.

What is the difference between sympathy and empathy? Definitions of the the two as well as differences and comparisons.

An explanation of why people use code switching, an introduction to types of code switching with examples, and suggestions for teachers teaching a foreign or second language.