Linguistics

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.

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.

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.

Building up your vocabulary skills does take a while, but is as simple as learning one new word every few days and then taking advantage of opportunities to use it.

The English language abounds with expressions that have been in common usage for so long that everyone knows exactly what they mean. Known as idioms, many of these expressions have surprising origins.

Everything you need to know about Chicago slang, culture, and that infamous accent—so you can sound like you're a Windy City native.

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

Interjections are words that have no grammatical meaning but are understood. Alliterations are sentences where every word starts with the same letter. This creative writing essay is a demonstration of their usage.

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.

Ever wondered just what the Irish are talking about?? Well wonder no more . . . Here is a guide to the most popular Irish Slang words used today in everyday speech. We are known for our gift of the gab and I have shown the words, their meanings and also given examples of this weird and wacky language of the Irish.

English is a fascinating cocktail of other languages, both modern and ancient. In this article, I take a light-hearted look at the how the world of ancient Greece affects our vocabulary today.

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.

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?

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 Naughty Grammarian instructs on the finer points of English grammar and usage, points either never learned or long ago forgotten. This lesson is about homonyms.