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- 10 Curse Words You Don't Know
The word “swear” has two meanings, or at least it seems that way. Swearing, as in swearing an oath, means making a solemn promise, whereas swearing also means using foul language. The two meanings are closely related since the swearing of an oath traditionally involved swearing on the Bible or in God’s name. So when, in the 16th....
- 10 Nonsense Words You Don't Know
"A little nonsense, now and then, is relished by the wisest men." So says Willy Wonka in Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Imho nonsense should be relished by everyone. There’s something magical about it. But I’m horribly biased, because I was fed nonsense from an early age by my mother. She had a perfect memory of....
- 10 Very Long Words You Don't Know
In choosing to provide a list of long words that you (or at least most of you) don't know, I decided to eschew two very specific words: antidisestablishmentarianism and floccinaucinihilipilification - my presumption being that you will have run into both of them. When I was at school, I was unreliably informed that the longest English....
- 10 Insulting Words You Don’t Know
“Sticks and stones will break my bones, but names will never hurt me.” That’s what we used to chant as kids when we got into name calling contests in the school yard. Of course, it's untrue and it’s disingenuous. It implies that the name callers are pursuing a stupid strategy when, in truth, the right insult is deeply....
- 10 French Swear Words You Don't Know
Excuse my French. I mean this sincerely rather than euphemistically, because I’m about to hitchhike my way through a landscape of French swear words, that you're unlikely to know - unless you are French or familiar with French as she is spoken..
- Chinese Chain Letter, Anthony De Croud and Pearlas Sandborn
The persistence of chain letters fascinates me. We all get them, I guess, and I'm sure quite a few of us never pass them on, despite their promises of bad luck if you break the chain or impossibly good luck if you don't. Nevertheless enough people do pass them on to keep them alive. I've blogged twice about the "Chinese Proverb" chain....
- 10 Words You Don't Know That Shouldn't Exist
Some words shouldn’t exist because there is no logical sense in their existence. The words I describe here exist. I found them in reputable reference areas on the web or in dictionaries. Nevertheless they are all ridiculous and unnecessary. I humbly propose that we rid ourselves of these words. Let's face it, you've never met with these....
- 10 Words You Don't Know
Some people who find this web page will surely know one or two of these words, because that's just the way of the world. But most of you will not know these words and, to be honest, you will not find them hard to forget. Here's the list of ten, randomly selected from a much longer list of obscure and strange words: Anopisthography.....
- Who is Anthony De Croud?
Anthony De Croud is a phenomenon. He's the "missionary" who purportedly originated the chain-email that I wrote about in my recent posting Incredible Luck Guaranteed To Millions For Almost No Effort! But is he real? He's certainly a popular guy. Google "anthony de croud" and Google will tell you there's 20,600 pages out there that....
- 10 Short Words You Don't Know
I didn't feel yare by any means, in fact I felt as though I was in a kef, as I strolled through the wen. I turned down a ginnel towards the suq, accidentally kicking a tot and uttering a gar. I disturbed a mewing cat. It mowed but never moved. Lief I began to wonder whether the suq would be zoic. I was hoping to snup a dah from Ali the....