More self-tutoring about English: the tutor mentions the homophones ween and wean. ween: to believe by educated guess. wean: to change away from a habit: for example, to bring a baby to eat solid food instead of milk. Source: Mish, …
Self-tutoring: the tutor inquires about the origin of the popular saying “That’s all she wrote.” Apparently “That’s all she wrote” originates from WWII: if an American serviceman received a letter saying only “Dear John,” he’d been deserted by its writer. …
English, history: whence the saying “That’s all she wrote”? Read more »
Tutoring English, familiar words can hold surprises. The tutor mentions such a case with the words sanatorium and sanitarium. I almost never hear sanatorium, but rather, sanitarium. They have the same meaning: a facility promoting patients’ recovery, possibly from long-term …
Tutoring English, new vocabulary is always interesting. The tutor brings up tintinnabulation. tintinnabulation “sound from the ringing of bells” – Collins Source: Gilmour, Lorna et al. Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary and Thesaurus. Glasgow: HarperCollins, 2006. www.w3schools.com Jack of Oracle …
Food research leads to self-tutoring: the tutor follows a query about spelling. When I type fibre, the screen cautions me I might have it wrong. Really? fibre: Merriam-Webster: British of fiber Oxford Canadian: dietary fibre Oxford Canadian doesn’t list fiber. …
Tutoring English, fresh vocabulary keeps writing interesting. The tutor brings up a term he reads in connection with computer science. deprecated (adj) viewed unfavourably, viewed with disapproval. In computer science, certain ways of writing code can become deprecated after newer, …
Tutoring English, different spellings have novelty value. The tutor mentions one of his favorite pairs. Looking up gray, my two Canadian dictionaries give the defintion gray: grey. Merriam-Webster says gray: also grey…. I guess they mean the same. I usu. …
Tutoring English, new vocabulary is always interesting. The tutor mentions derring-do. derring-do (noun): boldness; decisive bravery. Jumping the mud puddle in his white suit was an act of derring-do. Source: Gilmour, Lorna (editor). Collins Essential Canadian English Dictionary and Thesaurus. …
Tutoring English, new words are always interesting. The tutor mentions mien. mien (noun): non-verbal behaviour, or even appearance, not necessarily intentional, that suggests a person’s mood, personality, or even background. During recitals, the pianist’s mien indicated she loved performing. Source: …
Tutoring English, new words are always interesting. The tutor shares the meaning of munificent. munificent (adj): abundantly generous. A religious person might point out that God’s offering of Jesus as sacrifice for payment of human sin is munificent, as is …