Delighted you are back! As an English major (US) and a lifelong writer and reader, I have also always loved language--though I'll confess I didn't love Latin, but I did like it and am still grateful for having learned it in high school. Looking forward to more of stuff English does!
I thought I would 'pop over' (being that I am in Central Europe) but then decided it would be easier for me to 'pop-in' and congratulate you on sharing your love of language and for being so engaging and entertaining as well. Since language is not my forte, nor am I able to sprinkle fairy dust on my words, I will be content to sit at the back and be fascinated by what is being conjured up in 'The Enchantment Café.
Comparing English to a Latin language such as Spanish will be very fruitful for this project. I find that such comparisons further highlight the versatility and flexibility of the English language.
I'll use a random example that popped up in my head (no pun intended) as an aha moment where I thought: "hang on a second, how did it just do that?" ('it' as in English as an entity). It was at work with the word 'single-sign-on'. In Spanish this would be "inicio de sesión único". Not only is there a difference in length, rythm and musicality, but it's definitely not as self-explanatory as its English original. Keep them coming!
OMG! I didn't know you wrote the Speak Up booklets. I used them so many times with my students and just to get ideas from sometimes. You're quite a celeb in our house. Who knew I'd had coffee and chats with the Speak Up wordsmith herself!!
On another note, me and my sister use the word 'scraze' in place of 'graze' as in 'I scrazed my knee'. It wasn't unitl long until adulthood that people laughed at us if we sais it and we discovered others said 'graze'. I can only imagine we found it a more descriptive way to combine scraping/grazing your knee. I blame my mum...
Hi Michelle! 'scraze' is a brilliant creation. Glad you found the booklets useful. I wrote about 60 of them between 1995 and 2011, alternating with others, as mentioned. I loved the job and worked on lots of films I would never have watched otherwise.
Hi! I refuse to believe you were diffident when it came to the bilingual word list... I can imagine the fun you had. Looking forward to more eye-popping posts!
Delighted you are back! As an English major (US) and a lifelong writer and reader, I have also always loved language--though I'll confess I didn't love Latin, but I did like it and am still grateful for having learned it in high school. Looking forward to more of stuff English does!
Thanks, Betsy, great to see you here.
I thought I would 'pop over' (being that I am in Central Europe) but then decided it would be easier for me to 'pop-in' and congratulate you on sharing your love of language and for being so engaging and entertaining as well. Since language is not my forte, nor am I able to sprinkle fairy dust on my words, I will be content to sit at the back and be fascinated by what is being conjured up in 'The Enchantment Café.
Hi Lorraine - thank you!
Brilliant and congrats.
Comparing English to a Latin language such as Spanish will be very fruitful for this project. I find that such comparisons further highlight the versatility and flexibility of the English language.
I'll use a random example that popped up in my head (no pun intended) as an aha moment where I thought: "hang on a second, how did it just do that?" ('it' as in English as an entity). It was at work with the word 'single-sign-on'. In Spanish this would be "inicio de sesión único". Not only is there a difference in length, rythm and musicality, but it's definitely not as self-explanatory as its English original. Keep them coming!
Thanks. Eduard. Love single-sign-on. Yes - the alliterations just keep coming. How is that so?
Yay - Welcome to Substack 😀.
Wow, English does a lot of stuff!! And this is you just getting started.
I’m looking forward to my enchantment education 😀 x
Thank you Jo! I have enough stuff to sink a ship as my mum used to say.
OMG! I didn't know you wrote the Speak Up booklets. I used them so many times with my students and just to get ideas from sometimes. You're quite a celeb in our house. Who knew I'd had coffee and chats with the Speak Up wordsmith herself!!
On another note, me and my sister use the word 'scraze' in place of 'graze' as in 'I scrazed my knee'. It wasn't unitl long until adulthood that people laughed at us if we sais it and we discovered others said 'graze'. I can only imagine we found it a more descriptive way to combine scraping/grazing your knee. I blame my mum...
Hi Michelle! 'scraze' is a brilliant creation. Glad you found the booklets useful. I wrote about 60 of them between 1995 and 2011, alternating with others, as mentioned. I loved the job and worked on lots of films I would never have watched otherwise.
Hi! I refuse to believe you were diffident when it came to the bilingual word list... I can imagine the fun you had. Looking forward to more eye-popping posts!
Hi Mona! Well, it was my first day at the new job, so to speak!