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An altogether more entertaining site (than Wordie, mentioned in the previous post) is Retrofuture, which, takes me back to my childhood, reading “Eagle” comics with series such as Dan Dare, set in the future, and articles on technology – such as the Concorde, refrigerated cargo ships and satellite launchers. Unfortunately, the predictions in . . . → Read More: Looking forwards looking back Spotted on Andy Budd’s weblog: I always thought the books displayed cover out at bookshops were done so because the staff liked the books or they were good sellers. It wasn’t until I dipped my toes in the publishing world that I found out you actually have to pay for your books to be . . . → Read More: Guerrilla book marketing I must admit that I am not the world’s best speller by a long margin. And English is worse than most other languages, because many words have friends, who sound identical but mean something completely different. For example, bear and bare. And which is that gland, that older men sometimes have problems with – . . . → Read More: Are you sure you know what you mean? I have been reading one book since Christmas. I have just finished it now. I normally read a thick novel in a couple of days to a week or so, so you might suspect that the book isn’t really interesting me. Nothing could be further from the truth. The book, The Loom of Language . . . → Read More: The Loom of Language This year a new un-word has been doing the rounds in German Christmas advertising: X-mas. Now, given that the Germans like polluting their language with all sorts of English words and phrases, many of which get used to mean something different to what an unsuspecting native English speaker would expect, I am . . . → Read More: X-mas does NOT exist I am half way through reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. What a story – this is a real page-turner. It is the story of his life after breaking out of a Australian prison and fleeing to India – here’s a summary from the man himself: I was a revolutionary who lost his . . . → Read More: Shantaram Now is the time to buy English literary classics – Penguin Books are 70 years old and they are selling 70 titles at historic prices (£1.50 a book, or £105 for all 70 in a boxed set). If you’re looking for something good to read, the Man Booker Prize for Fiction longlist published today is supposed to one of the strongest since the prize was founded in 1969. Previous winners include The Life of Pi (2002) and Vernon God Little (2003). David Rothenberg discovered that birds responded to his playing the clarinet by singing back. Visit his website to hear samples of “duets” played between David and the birds, and also to find out more about both birdsong and what human componists have done using birdsong for inspiration. There is plenty to keep you occupied . . . → Read More: Why birds sing The BBC and the Oxford English Dictionary are trying to track down the first use and origin of some 50 words or phrases which have crept into the English langauge without the OED having noticed at the time. So, if you can produce evidence, which can be irrefutably dated, of where to bonk, codswollop, . . . → Read More: Words with unknown origins |
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