Why would some Spanish speakers use adaptations of certain English words when perfectly good Spanish words for the same thing already exist? Plus, handy terms in a dictionary of the Sussex dialect from 150 years ago: Back then, a dezzick was “a...
Do people who work together sound alike? Yes! Over time, they may begin to develop similar patterns of speech, or what might be called an “occupational accent” that helps them communicate efficiently. Also, lots of familiar words in English got...
The English language has been greatly enriched by borrowings from the languages of Asia. Barely scratching the surface, we have from Japan skosh, tycoon, tsunami, origami, yen, kimono, futon, and karaoke. From Chinese comes yen, kowtow, gung ho, and...
zombie n.— «Investments which last for much longer than the five-year standard nowadays often go one of two ways: either the company is killed off by the weight of its borrowings or it becomes what is known as a “zombie”—a business that still...
gearing n.— «The managers have an incentive to take too much risk in order to deliver the excess return. One method is to borrow from the banks, in the expectation that the return on the new assets will be higher than the rate of interest owed to...