What do you get when a squirrel walks into a tree? An expression with unfortunate implications. Every language has its own unique turns of phrase that describe everyday things in figurative, idiomatic language. English, as we all know, is no exception. Ever seen a pig in a poke? How about a fish out of water? …
Vocabulary
There is perhaps no more frustrating feeling than trying to accomplish something and getting nowhere. Many of us are familiar with the ancient Greek legend of Sisyphus. The story goes that Sisyphus, the King of Corinth, was punished by the god Zeus for defying the laws of nature by cheating death twice. Sisyphus was given …
There is perhaps no more famous literary expression in the world than “star-cross’d lovers,” from the prologue of William Shakespeare’s quintessential love story Romeo and Juliet. This line implies that the tragic fate of the two young lovers, who both commit suicide, was pre-destined. Their stars were crossed, not aligned, and therefore their love was …
The phrase “Cat’s in the cradle” is most popularly used in reference to Harry Chapin’s 1974 song of the same name. The song is about a father and son’s broken relationship, and is popularly interpreted as a warning against not investing enough time in one’s family. The song’s chorus references a series of children’s stories. …
A wise man once said that to truly learn a language, we must always learn two: The formal, written one, and the informal, spoken one. Of course, this is an oversimplification. The point stands, however, that language is a living thing. You can spend as many hours as you want in a library in front …
Have you ever seen a dainty-looking ant walking along carrying a huge insect carcass on its back? Whether they have a scrunched-up spider or a long, rigid centipede on their backs, ants are the world’s most adept weightlifters. Even though they have tiny, thin legs, slim waists, and disjointed, node-like torsos, ants can carry over …
There are very few words in the English language that feature three consecutive vowels. Lieu is an exception in this regard and stands out quite starkly on the page because of it. “Ieu,” is not a commonly occurring sequence of letters, and many people struggle to pronounce the word “lieu” as a result. So why …
Sometimes, it seems like the English language goes out of its way to be contradictory and strange. In part, this is due to the tendency of English to borrow from as many other languages as it can. Other reasons include the gradual shift in language over time. To make things worse, technology like the internet …
Psychologists have long known that people like to put things into categories. We recognize similarities in the things we see and experience, and then consider things that are alike to be part of the same class. Classifying things in this way is one of our most basic cognitive functions. It is a valuable tool that …