I know that Michael Jackson did not invent the moonwalk, that it can be performed in slightly different ways, and that the move was known by other names in past times. But what I'd like to know is,...
Does anybody know, or have any suggestions for, the origin of this expression? It means open to chance, an event over which we have no control - but why?
One word that always makes me laugh is "discombobulated".
Another, although the reason will be obvious, is "Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia" - the fear of long words!...
In Saturday's Daily Telegraph (4th Feb) Quick Crossword was the clue, ' A glancing collision'. Five letters. The answer was given today (Monday) as ' CORAM'. I've never heard this word before and I...
Why do we pronounce midwifery 'midWIFFery' and not 'midwife-ree', 'midwife-ery' or even 'midwivery'? And I was taught that the word schism was 'sizm' [ the 'siz' sounding as in 'scissors'], but there...
Can anyone give me examples of a mass noun. So often on Countdown
Susie Dent disallows a word because it is a mass noun and I wondered what
the rules were?...
My wife claims to have been sent as a child in Birmingham to an outdoor for a "stick & three" which she believes was a shandy!
A new one on me! Any ideas???...
What exactly qualifies them and what process do they go through when coming up with a word to describe different groups of animals? The reason i ask this is because some of them sound so ridiculous...
never knew what one was (or even existed until I watched Ade In Britain) A Dibber, isn't that some little thing for gardening and planting seeds? I love the names, where on earth do they come from?...
Does anyone know any other old sayings referring to wolves? I remember "keeping the wolf from the door", "wolfing down food", "wolf in sheep's clothing". Are there any...
Does the word "assemblable" exist in US English?
I am looking for a word that means "capable of being assembled" and I don't want to use the word buildable....