Origins – Living Alone and Liking It
Ascetic is from the Greek word asketes, monk or hermit. A monk lives a lonely life – not for him…
Year: 2009
Origins – The Heart
Cardiologist combines Greek kardia, heart, and logos, science. The speciality is cardiology, the adjective cardiological. So a cardiac condition refers…
Origins – The Ego
Egoist and egotist are built on the same Latin root – the pronoun ego, meaning I. I is the greatest…
The Languages Of Early Britain
At the time of the Anglo-Saxon invasions of Britain, the Germanic branch of the Indo-European family had developed into three…
Latin Influences On Old English
From the Anglo-Saxon period down to the 17th and 18th centuries, Latin, as well as being the language of church…
How To Talk About Science And Scientists
A true scientist lives up to the etymological meaning of his title ‘one who knows’. Anything scientific is based on…
How Grammar Changes
If you think that grammar is an exact science, get ready for a shock. Grammar is a science, all right…
Random Notes on Modern Usage
English grammar is confusing enough as it is – what makes it doubly confounding is that it is slowly but…