We take much for granted these days, but in our line of work, a dictionary is an absolute must! Yet there wasn't such a thing 250 years ago. Lists of hard words had been issued as ... read more
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Word of the day cru
by Christine Lovatt
"...part of a select group, the premier cru of this year's student crop..." Cru, which comes from the French for 'growth' usually refers to a vineyard, especially one of superior quality. Premier cru is a superior vineyard or the wine it produces, and grand cru is the most superior. It's used here to describe the top students - the cream of the crop.
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Word Fact
by The Quizzard
The slang word BROAD meaning 'woman' comes very circuitously from a broad being a playing card
FORTNIGHT, meaning 14 nights, never caught on in the US, but remains popular elsewhere, though 'sennight' for seven nights bit the dust some time in the 19th century
The translation of KARAOKE is 'empty orchestra'
There are roughly 6,900 spoken languages in the world today, the most widely spoken being MANDARIN Chinese
In medieval times, the word APPLE referred to fruit in general
Romans called a book 'Liber' from a word meaning 'bark', used for books before papyrus. Hence its evolution to LIBRARY
The first recorded use of BUG to mean a glitch comes from Thomas Edison back in 1878
The expression HEAD OVER HEELS used to be 'Heels Over Head' which made a lot more sense when you think about it
PAPARAZZO, meaning an intrusive photographer, is the name of a character in the 1960 film La Dolce Vita who would stop at nothing to get his snaps
The Earl of SANDWICH didn't actually invent the snack. It had been around since bread had first been ground. But he popularised it
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