In part 1 of this post (Changing our minds, Part 1), I looked at language that is often used to refer to people in positions of power changing their decisions or plans. This post continues the ‘changing your mind’ theme but instead focuses on the sort of language that is used when people more generally change their minds. Continue reading “Having second thoughts (Changing our minds, Part 2)”
by Liz Walter
My last post looked at a range of verbs to talk about touching and hitting in a variety of contexts. This post focuses on hitting things and people with force. Continue reading “Walloping, belting and clobbering: verbs for touching and hitting (2)”
‘A wise man changes his mind. A fool never will,’ or so says the proverb. Whether or not this is true, we all change our minds, sometimes about trivial things and sometimes about things that really matter. This post (in two parts) takes a look at nouns, verbs and idioms in this area of the language. Today, we’ll look at the sort of language that is often used when people in positions of power change their opinions or plans. Continue reading “U-turns and flip-flopping (Changing our minds, Part 1)”
by Liz Walter
There are an incredible number of verbs that express the concept of touching or hitting someone or something, and they can have very different connotations, from caressing (touching in a very gentle and loving way) right through to punching (hitting someone or something very hard with a closed hand): Continue reading “Caressing, patting and elbowing: verbs for touching and hitting (1)”
Part 1 of this ‘energy’ series looked at adjectives for describing lively, energetic people. This post looks at nouns that mean ‘energy’ and idioms that we use to describe energetic people. Continue reading “Boundless energy and oomph (Language relating to energy, Part 2)”
thunder fever noun [U]
UK /ˈθʌn.də ˌfiː.vəʳ/ US /ˈθʌn.dɚ ˌfiː.vɚ/
a more serious form of hay fever that people can experience when there is a high pollen count and thundery weather at the same time
A high pollen count mixed with thunderstorms will trigger a weather phenomenon called “thunder fever” this week, causing problems for allergy sufferers, forecasters have warned. The combination of warm weather, strong winds and thundery downpours brought to the UK as a result of the now-downgraded tropical storm Alex are to blame for the conditions expected to affect the country in the coming days.
[independent.co.uk, 9 June 2022]
digital amnesia noun [U]
UK /ˌdɪdʒ.ɪ.tᵊl æmˈniː.zi.ə/ US /ˌdɪdʒ.ə.t̬ᵊl æmˈniː.ʒə/
a condition where people become less able to remember things because they are used to looking everything up on the internet
Experts say smartphone addiction could impair the brain’s ability to retain new information and form new memories. This leads to ‘digital amnesia’. What is ‘digital amnesia’? It is basically a phenomenon where brains are losing their ability to remember quickly as people are becoming increasingly reliant on technology.
[news18.com, 5 January 2022]
dental desert noun [C]
UK /ˌden.tᵊl ˈdez.ət/ US /ˌden.t̬ᵊl ˈdez.ɚt/
an area where there are not enough dentists to give everyone who lives there dental care, or where it is very difficult to get affordable or state-funded dental care
Parts of England, including Suffolk, are becoming “dental deserts”, with no access to NHS dentistry for residents, an MP has told Westminster. Mr Aldous said the lack of available NHS dental appointments was a “national crisis”, although the issue in his own constituency was “acute”. “There are now parts of the country, particularly in rural and coastal areas, though not confined there, that are dental deserts.”
[bbc.co.uk, 10 February 2022]
Some of you reading this post will have enjoyed a break from your work or studies over the summer months. You might (I hope!) be feeling refreshed and ready to throw yourself into your work (=start working with energy and enthusiasm). With this in mind, I thought I’d take a look at words and phrases that relate to energy – and a lack of it! Part 1 will look at adjectives in this area and Part 2 will focus on nouns and phrases. Continue reading “Bouncy and boisterous (Language relating to energy, Part 1)”
by Liz Walter
Today’s post is about the language we use to talk about being creative. Creativity – being able to think of new and unusual ideas – is central to human life, and there are lots of great words to describe it. Continue reading “Thinking outside the box: talking about creativity.”
by Liz Walter
The concept of fairness is an important one to most people – a common complaint of even very young children is, “It’s not fair!”. We enjoy a so-called “Hollywood ending” to a movie, when the good people triumph and the baddies get the punishment they deserve. So it’s not surprising that there are a lot of words and phrases connected with fairness. This blog looks at some of the most common ones. Continue reading “It serves you right! Talking about people who deserve bad things.”
In the last of these three ‘heart’ posts I’ll be looking at phrases for expressing emotions. There are quite a lot and I won’t be able to cover them all so if you can think of a useful ‘heart’ idiom or phrase on this theme that I haven’t included, do please leave a note below. Continue reading “Sobbing or pouring your heart out (‘Heart’ senses and phrases, Part 3)”