WORDS
Flexible meaning elastic? It's a bit of a stretch
"I'VE lost all my elasticity," said Maria, the lovely 84-year-old,
Italian-born mother of my dearest friend.
Why rugs are too low for disgruntled Denmark
There's a rumour about that "ikea" is a reflexive Swedish verb
meaning "I assemble by myself".
Functional content: give them what for
In the shower wasting water, feeling guilty but not enough to step
out into the cold, I notice the "for" on my new cleanser.
In an uncertain world, we can count on zebra
A character in Jo Gardiner's The Concerto Inn keeps piles of
reading matter by her bed. She goes for dictionaries.
Secrets of a more better way to speak
At the risk of someone turning this into a country and western
ballad, let me say: sometimes it's hard to be a linguist.
If patience is a virtue, why does it hurt so much?
"Patient" comes from Latin — patiens, derived from pati,
suffer.
The perfect answer to get through trying times
I was trying to kill time, so I played a little game with myself -
from the one or two words I could read from where I sat,
The Three Musketeers: Oxford, Collins, Macquarie
People are always asking me which dictionary I'd recommend they
buy.
Definition of 'wet' is hardly cut and dried
"Wet" is the opposite of "dry", but before you get to "wet", you
pass through "moist" which is not as wet as "wet" but far drier
than "drenched".
From suburbia to utopia, a case of upgradia
Ever since Thomas More called his fantasy-perfect society "Utopia",
you're more or less obliged to follow suit.
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands
Soon the world's Happiness gurus will descend on Sydney for a
talk-fest extraordinaire on the-big-H.
The dull, dull nature of a touch of grey
There's a reason Italian restaurants favour red tablecloths.
New adventures in Morse code
I created a lovely word while chatting with a friend who has
similar small-screen tastes.
Lettuce pray that we will be heard correctly
WHEN I went to primary school, we recited the Lord's Prayer at
assembly every morning.
Think you're a wit? You don't know the half of it
Humour studies. For many people, that's an oxymoron.
