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What about the ‘unknown-knowns’?
It’s always nice to discover that we’re more intelligent than we give ourselves credit for, isn’t it? And amongst those many unknown knowns that you have mastered without realising it, is the unique ability to rank adjectives in a specific order when...
The singular is so much more singular, don’t you think?
Did you know that plurals are now very out-dated? If you’re not a follower of fashion you’ll probably think I’ve taken leave of my senses, but bear with me a moment. It’s a well-known fact that business often expropriates language for applications that are...
Divided by a common language?
Whether George Bernard Shaw actually uttered this much quoted phrase or not is of little importance. What is indisputable is that there are some profound differences between British English and that spoken by our cousins across the Pond, that go far deeper than the...
Semantic loss or how ‘shit’ turned into ‘stuff’
Another great article by the phonologist and Guardian writer, David Shariatmadari1, gave an introduction to the fascinating phenomena of semantic bleaching and grammaticalisation. The former relates to the process whereby a word’s original meaning is reduced or lost...
Why ‘reading the air’ is essential in Japan
In Japan the expression ‘kuuki yomenai’ (literally, someone unable to read the air) was added to the national lexicon a few years ago, perhaps in response to the influx of international company executives who were singularly unable to do so. Reading the air means to...
Careless talk costs time. Who’s in control?
Is the preference for texting over talking causing a decrease in interpersonal communication skills on the phone and face-to-face? What has happened to the art of conversation? A recent article by BBC Technology1 features the concerns of several experts who warn that...
Paranoia strikes
At first I thought it was my imagination. Then of course, I took it personally: ‘What did I do?’ Or conversely, ‘What didn’t I do?’ Had I been abandoned and relegated to the bottom of the friendship league? Next, I attempted to resuscitate the art of conversation by...
It’s So Funny How We Don’t Talk Anymore
In the immortal words of Cliff Richard (1979), it really seems that we aren’t talking anymore, at least not on the phone. We always had so much to say! One of my over-riding memories of the 1970s is always having so much to say. My father was forever complaining about...