Top 10 Books on the English Language Need to buy a book about the English language but don’t know which one to buy or which review to trust? This is my list of the top ten books on the English language. I have most of them on my book shelf » Read More
Etymology The dictionary entry for etymology reads: Noun – the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. I love finding out where words come from and how they entered the English language; but what I love the most is » Read More
Growing use of English all over the world inevitably means innovation in the way it is used, the fruit of a creative encounter between flexible language and local culture. This gives rise to fun and often enlightening variants, but the question of whether these innovations are “right” or » Read More
There are various different laws at work in this world (Sod’s Law in particular is one that I’m very often reminded of), but this week I discovered a law that is particularly relevant in our field of work: Muphry’s Law. Not to be confused with Murphy’s Law (which states » Read More
Do you have a wish list of books you’d like to own? In the reference section, you definitely need a few dictionaries. They have a sort of comforting sturdiness about them. Well, slangophiles (I’m pretty certain that’s not an actual word), here’s one dictionary you’ll definitely want on your » Read More
“Simplify, simplify” – that’s William Zinsser’s approach to writing good English. I’m reading his classic book “On writing well”, first published in 1976, because what he says is valuable for anyone who writes, whether for work or as a hobby. Zinsser says the secret of good writing is » Read More