One of the many differences between British English and American English that’s always intrigued me is autumn vs. fall. We use winter, spring and summer on both sides of the pond. Yet we can’t seem to agree what to call this time of…
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From flowerbeds to Hollywood: euonyms explored
Most people are familiar with acronyms, homonyms, pseudonyms and synonyms. But there are several other words with the suffix –onym that I’ve only recently discovered. As a linguist and bit of a word nerd, my natural instinct is to investigate further…
A memory of elephants and other collective nouns for animals
Most people will be familiar with the terms gaggle of geese, litter of puppies, pride of lions and school of dolphins. Yet there are many other collective nouns for animals – known as “terms of venery” – that are less…