Category Archives: Fun

Quin és l’error?

Posted on 18.03.2019 by Richard Samson

El sistema de pronoms febles del català modern és objecte de fascinació, frustració, admiració, perplexitat, satisfacció, en grau variable, segons la persona que el contempla. La seva sofisticació, i el fet que al català parlat sovint s’utilitzen formes alternatives, fan … Continue reading →

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2018. A toxic single-use year?

Posted on 16.11.2018 by Richard Samson

Yesterday Oxford Dictionaries announced their Word of the Year 2018: “toxic”. They said that there had been a 45% rise in the number of times the word has been looked up on its website, and that it best captured “the … Continue reading →

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De ministras y ministros

Posted on 31.07.2018 by Richard Samson

Crátilo: Insisto. Los nombres de las cosas tienen una relación íntima con las cosas en sí. Hermógenes: ¿Aún insistes con este tema, mi viejo amigo Crati? Crátilo: Mira, Hermi, las verdades importantes resisten el paso del tiempo. Te voy a … Continue reading →

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Contronyms

Posted on 27.02.2018 by Richard Samson

You’ve just got to love contronyms: words that also mean their opposite. For example, “to sanction”, which can mean both to approve an action and to impose a penalty for an action. Now, if you were designing a new language, … Continue reading →

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What’s your word of the year 2017?

Posted on 14.12.2017 by Richard Samson

北 It’s the end of the year and as usual various authorities will be announcing their “word of the year”. In fact, it’s already started. One of the large English dictionaries, Merriam-Webster, has just announced its choice. They have gone for … Continue reading →

Posted in Fun, Word reference | 4 Comments