The history of English in 10 minutes1/5/2016 This fascinating and humorous animated video details the roots and history of our beautiful English language, a mongrel language which is comprised of words from 350 others. The video chronologically exhibits the influences the Romans, the Angles, the Saxons, the Jutes, the Vikings, and the Normans all had on English. Of course, no story of the English language would be complete without considering the contributions of William Shakespeare and the King James Bible. The video then goes on to examine the spread of English via Britain's colonisation of half the world. The North Americans get a mention here in regards to their 'not English but somewhere in the ballpark' and its influence on the Brits. The last two chapters consider the influence of the internet and English as a global language. The narration in this series is exceptional - full of all those wonderful English idiomatic phrases and metaphors. I highly recommend all native speakers and advanced non-native speakers take the time to watch this brilliantly done animated video. Anglo/EU translation guide.18/11/2013 Does the average Briton actually mean what he or she says or is there a something hidden in the language used? To save yourself time, trouble and effort, consult this handy Anglo-EU Translation Guide.
How to write 'good'30/4/2013 Here are some tongue-in-cheek rules for writers, as written by Frank L Visco and published in the June 1986 issue of Readers' digest. My several years in the word game have learnt me several rules:
1. Avoid Alliteration. Always. 2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with. 3. Avoid clichés like the plague. (They’re old hat.) 4. Employ the vernacular. 5. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc. 6. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are unnecessary. 7. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive. 8. Contractions aren't necessary. 9. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos. 10. One should never generalize. 11. Eliminate quotations. As Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know”.” 12. Comparisons are as bad as clichés. 13. Don’t be redundant; don’t use more words than necessary; it’s highly superfluous. 14. Profanity sucks. 15. Be more or less specific. 16. Understatement is always best. 17. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement. 18. One word sentences? Eliminate. 19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake. 20. The passive voice is to be avoided. 21. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms. 22. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed. 23. Who needs rhetorical questions? The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British or Americans. The Germans drink a lot of beer and eat lots of sausage, and suffer fewer heart attacks than the British and Americans. CONCLUSION: Eat and drink what you like. It's speaking English that kills you. No one likes to be harassed about their grammar, but you will be judged by your misuse of it. There is no other forum in which you'll be so severely punished as the internet. This, however, should be secondary to the fact that you are hindering the effectiveness of your own communication. Have a look at the below guide, put together by copyblogger, which details 15 of the commonest grammatical errors and explains how to get it right!
'To put your foot in your mouth' means saying something, often stupid, that offends, upsets or embarrasses somebody. In most cases, you should also be embarrassed yourself. A very passionate young man addresses several such language-related, foot-in-mouth moments quite humorously in the following Youtube video. Homonyms or: how not to use a spellchecker21/11/2012
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