Listen to the author reading this blog post.
by Liz Walter
From the Olympic Games through to ‘biggest cabbage’ at the local gardening show, most of us take part in competitions of some sort or another. Today’s post looks at the language we use to talk about them.
Continue reading “Tournaments and contests: talking about competitions (1)”
Listen to the author reading this blog post.
by Liz Walter
My last post looked at idioms that come from the sport of boxing. This post presents some more common sporting idioms. Back in 2019, I wrote about idioms with the word ‘ball’. I won’t repeat those here, but there are plenty of others!
Continue reading “Open goals and jumping the gun: more sporting idioms”
by Liz Walter
Bertrand Russell said that half the sins of mankind are caused by the fear of boredom, and some people certainly go to great lengths to avoid it. Psychological research has shown significant differences between ‘ordinary’ people and those who engage in thrill-seeking pursuits such as mountaineering or base jumping (jumping from a high place and freefalling before opening a parachute). These people know the risks they are taking – they must know, because the high injury and death rates are so striking – but for them, the excitement of the activity still outweighs the risk.
While most of us can perhaps understand the lure of conquering mountains and oceans, deaths or injuries from other more recent crazes seem altogether more futile. Continue reading “Boredom? It’s a risky business!”