Divided by a common language – differences between UK and US English
The observation that England and America are two countries divided by a common language is often attributed to the Irish...
Read MoreHow did you learn English?
Having English as a first language, as I do, is both a blessing and a curse. A blessing, because it...
Read MoreEight fun language facts
According to the Ethnologue database, there are 7,139 living languages in the world today, but over half of the world’s...
Read MoreHow to sound more fluent when you aren’t
If you’ve ever tried learning a foreign language, how did you get on? When you started, what were you aiming...
Read MoreLGBTQ+ neologisms in Icelandic
Icelanders, as a rule, are very proud of their language. And why not? It’s fascinating. Icelandic is a North Germanic...
Read MoreAre there Chinese crossword puzzles?
The journalist Arthur Wynne is usually credited with having invented the modern crossword puzzle. His word-cross puzzle in the New...
Read MoreA few fun French false friends
As I write this in early 2021, it seems unlikely I’ll be visiting France any time soon, more’s the pity....
Read MoreA Scots English word in disguise
Born and raised in Glasgow as I was, I’ve always been confident I could spot a Scots English word when...
Read MoreReady to work with me?
Please get in touch using the contact form. If you have a specific project in mind, then helpful things to mention at this stage include the type of document you’d like me to work on, the approximate word count and what sort of deadline you have. I’m also very happy to answer more general queries.

