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Blogs about language

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  • Blogs about language
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A man shows a graph to another man

Chief, Chairman or CEO? Names at the top

Pork Pies Cockney Rhyming Slang

What is Cockney rhyming slang?

Cryptic Crossword

What is a cryptic crossword?

Shopping in English or Messages in Scots

Scots – a language like English, but not

Group of grey and white chickens

How modern English evolved

Market stall selling bread. The stallholder is giving change to a person who has just bought something

Why people say please and thank you so much

Crows perched on wooden poles by the coast

Why this is called a ‘murder of crows’

Cards from people who have all added an X after their name

What that X means on messages

A church organ

Pulling out all the stops – and other British expressions

Two men thatching a roof

What traditional British last names mean

A row of To Let signs from different estate agents

List of estate agents’ property descriptions

Sign on a train saying 'No smoking, vaping or candle stick making on platforms or trains'

Is it a joke? Everyday humour

Dictionary lying open

Why English has so many words for the same thing

Group of women seen from behind. All are wearing trousers

Pants – and other American misunderstandings

Picture of a flat wheat roll on a paper plate

From baps to barmcakes – strange names for bread rolls

People sitting outside on a sunny day, one man looking at his mobile phone

Guide to the language in job adverts

Variety of signs for pleasure boat trips called Pirate and Yorkshireman

Regional accents in Britain

Belvoir Castle is spelt B E L V O I R but pronounced beever

Aberystwyth to Urquhart – a pronounciation guide

Row of cars for sale with prices shown in the windscreen

List of car sales descriptions

Man walking past old garages where the shutters have been painted to look like there are lots of UFOs

From A&E to UFO – common acronyms

Text message language. Close up of mobile phone with the words C U L 8 R typed on the screen

The language of text messages

A public payphone. The word blower is slang for phone

Common slang words and phrases

Row of traditional red telephone boxes

How to say letters of the alphabet over the phone

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