After an Indian summer - a period of warm weather in autumn, a time when it's usually pretty cold - that seemed to last for ever, London has suddenly turned really cold. Over the last few days, temperatures have plummeted and at…
Word of the day: schlep
In a recent post on the word pogrom, we looked at language connected to the dark human tendency to blame and attack others when things start going wrong in society. We mentioned the anti-Jewish pogroms that occurred across Eastern Europe…
Word of the day: pogrom
Recently, in a break from the norm, the Guardian newspaper here ran a whole series of features on the capital of Indonesia, Jakarta, a megalopolis which is now nearing 30 million people! Jakarta's a city I know pretty well as…
Word of the day: march
A march is when a large group of people walk down the streets protesting against something – or in support of something – or as a show of strength. You can go on a march or join a march. So…
Word of the day: the all-clear
As anyone who has ever watched a loved one fight against it will know, cancer is a truly horrible disease. It affects both patients and their families in such a traumatic way that no-one will ever be able to look…
Word of the day: R&R
R and R stands for rest and relaxation, rather than rock and roll. So if you are having a bit of R&R, you are having a break or a holiday where you are doing very little other than lying around…
Word of the day: goal fest
It's fair to say that it'd been quite a while since we had a classic World Cup final. In 2006, Italy won a fairly dull match on penalties; in 2010, Spain beat the Dutch one-nil and Germany won by the…
Word of the day: déjà vu
The second round of the World Cup is often when the tournament really starts coming to life. When you're in a do-or-die situation, and it's either you or your opponents who'll be going home at the end of the game,…
Word of the day: humiliated
Last Saturday in my first World Cup-related post, I expressed my fear that given our recent record in international competitions, England could well face humiliation at the hands of Panama, who were enjoying their first-ever World Cup. In the end,…
Word of the day: cracking
In my last evening class, one of my students came in looking slightly confused. "I've got a question about something my English housemate said", he told me. "OK. Let's hear it, then". "Well, I know she went to see this…