Seeing as a large number of schoolchildren in the UK are currently in the midst of external exams – whether that’s GCSEs, AS levels or A2s – a blog post covering idioms about exams seemed to be the obvious contender… Posted in Idioms Tagged with: exams, phrases, studying
This time last week I joined some 200 of my peers at Copy Cabana 2017 – the 2nd copywriters’ conference to be held in (not quite so sunny) Bournemouth. The event’s tagline is “Prepare to celebrate the life linguistic”. It certainly delivered on its… The inaugural Copy Cabana copywriting conference held yesterday at Silicon Beach in Bournemouth exceeded all my expectations. […]
As you can see from the Zazzle keyring that I carry about with my car keys, I’m more than happy to call myself a nerd. In fact, you can also call me a geek, but – being half German – I’d prefer not to be called a Nazi. Those of us whose job it is […]
Back in the ‘old days’ it was simple. If you wanted to speak to a friend, you picked up the phone and dialed their number. On a landline. But these days you have to choose from an overwhelming array of…
One of the questions I’m often asked when I tell people at networking events that I’m a copywriter is whether I ghostwrite blog posts or articles for clients. The answer I give is ‘yes’ – because I do offer a…
Following on from Part 1 last week, which looked at changes to the type of work I do and my client base, this post explores the major impact that technology has had on my freelance copywriting services – mostly for the better…
Following the historic EU referendum result, I keep hearing – and reading – that “the UK is leaving Europe”. Or that “Britain is leaving the EU”. Both of these statements are, in fact, incorrect. And difficult for a pedant like me…
My recent adventure on the high seas (well, the North Sea to be precise) got me thinking about the numerous nautical idioms that permeate the English language. As an island nation, Britain has a rich maritime heritage. Our reliance on…
I’ve blogged on the subject of names a few times. But thus far I’ve neglected to cover the singular most important one to me: my own. So this post aims to put that right. Even if it is a little indulgent. In…
After visiting an eye-popping Op Art exhibition on the weekend, I felt inspired to research idioms about colours, shapes and patterns. In fact, I’m surprised I haven’t covered them already as part of my series! It turns out there are so…
I’ve been a bit remiss with my blogging lately, but I felt compelled to publish one today as Britain takes to the polls in the historic EU referendum. Don’t worry; this post is going to stay well away from politics. Instead, I thought a quick language lesson might be in order – so that you’re equipped […]
You know that idiom that refers to comparing yourself to your neighbours as a benchmark for social class or material wealth? Whereby failure to ‘keep up’ with their practices or possessions is perceived as evidence of socio-economic or cultural inferiority.…
As a self-confessed word nerd I’m somewhat partial to discovering and collecting word trivia – I only wish that pub quizzes had a compulsory round on the subject (I might actually have a chance of answering some questions then!). Anyway, I thought I’d pull together a few of my favourite titbits of word trivia to […]
Unless you’ve had your head completely buried under the duvet in recent years, you can’t fail to have noticed that hygge is the mot du jour. Hygge (pronounced ‘hoo-gah’ or ‘hue-gah’) is an integral part of Danish culture, especially during the…