April2015
Five prepositions that can also be verbs
Prepositions are the Pritt Sticks, paperclips and split pins that hold our sentences together. The nouns, verbs and adjectives we use might be the pretty pictures we want to show off on our walls, but without the prepositions to hold them in place and connect them to one another, they’ll end up all over the (more…)
Heteronyms: Words that try to fool their readers
With English containing a lot of homophones (words that sound the same but have different spellings and meanings), even people proficient in the language can often slip up and mistake a ‘there’ for a ‘their’, or a ‘your’ for a ‘you’re’. It’s just the sort of thing that grammarians pounce on though, particularly if such errors are made on a business website or social media page.
A slightly less common, but still prevalent, occurrence in English is (more…)
Repetitive content leads to anti-social behaviour
A recent study has shown why people decide to unfollow or unlike companies on social media, with boring content that and keeps on repeating itself touted as the biggest turn off.
The researchers also found that Facebook leads the way in this trend, with the (more…)
Four great adjectives with literary origins
Literature boffins love to explain that the fairly well-established name Wendy was popularised by Peter Pan author J. M. Barrie, or that the word ‘malapropism’ comes from the loquaciously clumsy character Mrs. Malaprop, who appears in the 1775 play The Rivals written by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, but what about the great adjectives for which we have the names of authors to thank?
Here are some of the most (more…)
Budweiser’s parent launches new digital marketing campaign
Anheuser-Busch, the makers of popular American beer Budweiser, has launched a new digital marketing campaign in its home country, which some have suggested is a bit odd.
The firm is essentially promoting beer drinking, but all beers, no matter the brewer.
Some commentators have noted that (more…)
Four words that seem to be mocking themselves
Language has created many onomatopoeic words over the years, meaning ones that sound like the noise they describe. Examples might include the splashing of water, the quacking of a duck or the crackling of a dodgy phone line. It doesn’t take an etymologist to work out the origin of these words.
Other times though, the words used to describe things seem so implausible and ridiculous, you would wonder what sort of brain could possibly (more…)
The best election spoofs for April Fools’ Day 2015
With the general election just a month away and campaigning heading towards the end of its first week, it is little surprise that the 1st April this year saw a number of political pranks hit the internet.
With humour and transparency key to responsible, successful digital marketing campaigns, firms looking to drive their social media and (more…)
Five chess terms to have entered wider usage
Chess is a simple yet detailed game that acts as a metaphor for battle, power and hierarchy, so it’s perhaps little surprise that many of the terms used in it often crop up away from the chessboard.
If you want to keep your use of the English language two moves ahead, consider dropping in a couple of the following terms (more…)
