Category Archives: Language

Google (verb)

Posted on February 19, 2013 by Houyhnhnm

February 2013: a student in Year 9 suggesting to a friend to “Google the word in the dictionary” – “Google” meaning nothing more than “look up”, even in a – shock horror – book.

Posted in Language, New words | Leave a comment

“Latin forms of address from Plautus to Apuleius” by Eleanor Dickey

Posted on January 29, 2012 by Houyhnhnm

Beautifully written and produced – hardly a single typo throughout. Her introduction is a fascinating survey of forms of address across languages, and is particularly interesting on English. Although much of the detail is there more for scholarly completeness than … Continue reading →

Posted in Language, Reading | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Piscine Couverte

Posted on June 8, 2011 by Houyhnhnm

“Piscine couverte” – a sign in Normandy last Saturday. But what does it mean? How do we translate it? Word for word, “piscine” means “swimming pool”, and “couvert” means “covered”‘ with the final -e showing that the adjective agrees with … Continue reading →

Posted in Language | Tagged , | Leave a comment