Marta, who studies English in Kyiv, Ukraine, says she was reading Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women (Bookshop|Amazon) when she encountered the word parasol, noting its similarity to a Ukrainian word for “umbrella,” ΠΏΠ°ΡΠ°ΡΠΎΠ»Ρ. Both stem from the same ancient root, although the English term now refers to a fashionable item that protects from the sun, while the Ukranian one refers to something used to protect against the rain. Given the widespread influence of French culture on fashion, the French word parasol likely influenced the use of similar-sounding words in Polish, German, Spanish, Bulgarian, Ukrainian, and other languages. This is part of a complete episode.
When you’re talking about the location of an inanimate object, is it okay to say that it lives there, as in The peanut butter lives in that cabinet or The flashlight lives on that shelf? Strictly speaking, of course, that object isn’t...
Sean in Oneonta, New York, says that when he was growing up in New Jersey, his family would pile in the car and set off on a surprise adventure, whether a short distance or long, and the kids would be told only that they were going on Buxtehude...
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