Tutoring English, vocabulary is always interesting. The tutor mentions bespoke. I’ve seen the word bespoke only a few times my whole life. Each time before, I wondered what it means but didn’t look it up. Not this time, however. Bespoke …
Tutoring English, surprises come up. The tutor mentions whomst. I’ve been hearing whomst lately, out of the blue, enough that I decided to look it up. Until a few days back, I’d never heard of it. For that, there seems …
Tutoring English, opposites can come in surprising pairs. The tutor mentions an example. Prescribe means to suggest or mandate something; proscribe means to forbid it. Source: dictionary.cambridge.org
Self-tutoring about the evolution of common English: the tutor mentions an observation. With our political environment, which I’d say has arrived since 2000, agreeing with people has become very important – whether one actually agrees or not. Therefore, ways to …
Self-tutoring about logic and arguments: the tutor mentions the straw man fallacy. The straw man fallacy means that, to oppose a point, you change its meaning to a related one and then argue against that, claiming that you are defeating …
Self-tutoring about English: the tutor mentions a realization. The other day I read the word “mimicking.” When I went to write the verb present tense form, I wrote it as “mimick.” The spell-checker complained, so I changed it to “mimic.” …
English: adding a letter before certain endings, for certain words: mimic, panic, etc. Read more »
Self-tutoring about vocabulary: the tutor mentions a modern term he found in the Bible. The word “suburb” I thought came into being with modern cities with commuting populations. Therefore, I thought you’d need mass transit – or cars – to …
Self-tutoring about clichés in English: the tutor mentions one. Often lately I’ve been hearing “like a duck on the water: it looks calm but it’s really busy underneath.” The first couple of times I heard it, the comparison was effective. …
Tutoring English, you run into surprises all the time. The tutor mentions a great one. One time my wife and I were looking at new fixtures. The salesperson was very knowledgeable and helpful and showed us a range of options. …
Self-tutoring about people and events from the past: the tutor mentions the term “deke.” In the confusing late-70s, I first heard the word deke. We were playing hockey, in our boots, on a frozen pond in PEI. There was a …