Jan 6, 2025 Chunk of the day, Chunks, Lexis Boat Idioms There are a lot of boat idioms in English perhaps as a result of the history and geography of UK itself. The United Kingdom has almost 8000 miles of coastline and a long history as a seafaring nation, so it’s no surprise that many words and phrases that were originally used on boats and at […]
Dec 20, 2023 Chunk of the day, Chunks More fictional characters who appear in everyday English After the positive reception that my last post on literary figures in everyday speech got, I figured it made sense to write a follow-up exploring the way the names of some more fictional characters are used in daily conversation. Today, we’ll look at five famous characters and consider how they’ve passed into the language. First […]
Dec 5, 2023 Chunk of the day, Chunks From a trickle to a flood: water metaphors and their emotional pull One of the most depressing things about British politics right now – and trust me, there are plenty of things to get depressed about – is the fact that there aren’t really any mainstream politicians who’re willing to be honest about the fact that the country needs immigrants . . . and that without significant […]
Nov 19, 2021 Chunk of the day, Chunks Chunk of the day: a rite of passage Generally speaking, I’m not one for complaining about people’s use of language, and certainly not those supposed transgressions of grammar rules such as using like when reporting speech, saying there were less people than expected, or that people are loving it. If you’ve ever seen Hugh’s comments on the English Questions Answered group on Facebook, […]
Jul 7, 2021 Chunk of the day, Chunks Chunk of the day: having some work done Those of you who follow my ongoing series of ONE-MINUTE ENGLISH videos on YouTube or Instagram may have noticed that I’ve recently started filming them from the chaos of my attic. You’ll have seen the piles of boxes behind me, and sensed a general air of temporary discomfort. In case you were wondering what’s brought […]
