Tag Archives: English

5 English errors that drive us nuts

7 Jan

We agree that English is a nutty language. To be fluent in English also means you have a smattering of German and French. But, there are still rules about good usage which we need to recognize, just as there are common ways to flout them. If you’re wondering what they are – here are common […]

Word Nerd: 4 cool figures of speech that you must use

20 Aug

Figures of speech or rhetorical devices help us create drama in language and call for attention. Are you familiar with the four that we’ve listed here?

Word Nerd: 5 important elements that your writing needs

29 Jul

Perhaps you’ve come across tips like, “Show don’t tell” or “No ideas but in things.” You’ve probably considered these tips were best used by those interested in writing poetry, features, or stories. It’s true that a poet needs to give “airy nothing” a “[l]ocal habitation and a name (Shakespeare).” But, say you’re a lawyer writing an important brief, you would do well to keep your senses in mind. Great writing is concrete. US Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor advises lawyers in her memoir, “It is the particulars that make a story real.”

Word Nerd: 4 words from fantasy fiction that are now part of our real lives

29 Apr

In 1989, ‘hobbit’, a creature from from J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings universe, was added to the Oxford English Dictionary. It comes as no surprise that Tolkien, who is considered the godfather of fantasy writing thanks to his genre defining Lord of the Rings, had a word from his fictional universe recorded in the […]

Changemakers: How one teen’s love for reading is starting a literary movement in Delhi

15 Mar

By Rajveer Sardana It struck me as unjust that these stories weren’t available in Hindi. That their magic was lost for some children because of the circumstances of their birth. Little faces stare up at me, bursting into cries and requests “One more story bhaiya! Please!”” I cannot resist them. I reach into my backpack […]

Word Nerd: 10 German loanwords that English is never giving back

11 Mar

When stepping out of your comfort zone to study abroad, learning a new language is often one of the major reasons. At least it was for me when I traveled westward from Germany as a foreign exchange student to spend a year at an American high-school. For me, learning a language in a classroom, online, […]

Word Nerd: 5 quick and easy tips for writing great emails

15 Oct

There are no rules to winning at life, but here are 5 rules to winning at emails. Do you groan at the thought of reading a long, boring email? If your answer is yes, you’re just like us. No one likes to go through a sloppy email without a beginning, a middle, or an end. […]

7 posh French phrases that are now popular in English

8 Oct

Author: Pratibha Alagh What if we told you English belongs to same language family as Dutch – Germanic, but that it has more features in common with French, an offspring of the Romance languages? Strange, right? But, when it comes to languages, it’s not all about the roots. What is at play is another very […]

Word Nerd: 5 words banished from the Queen’s English in 2018

8 Jan

Every year since 1976, the Lake Superior State University publishes an annual List of Words Banished from the Queen’s English for Mis-use, Over-use, and General Uselessness. Although the first list was inspired by the pet peeves of LSSU’s late public relations W.T. Rabe and his friends, the list is now culled from thousands of international […]

Why studying Architecture at the University of Portsmouth is a great idea

26 Dec

I came to Portsmouth to study for the BA (Hons) in Architecture. And it was the best decision I ever made. The city itself is a nice place because it is located on the south coast of England. It is known as the ‘’Great Waterfront City.’’ Right on the waterfront is where our University of […]