Around ten years ago now I tasked myself with learning Polish. Not for shits and giggles or just to challenge myself but for the very practical reason of being able to communicate with my partner’s family who live in Poland. It was a hard slog and some even consider Polish to be the hardest ofContinue reading “Eight words in Polish that have no English equivalent”
Tag Archives: communication skills
Ancient Word of the Day: Rema
Rema (Shetland Scots) The mirror-calm surface of the sea on a calm day. A body of water with a surface as smooth as cream. Comes from the Scots word “reyme”, meaning “cream”). Rjómalogn (Icelandic) Cream-calm, used to denote profoundly tranquil weather or sea. Arafin (Welsh) Calm or slow weather in Welsh. blikkstille./ blekkstille (Norwegian) AContinue reading “Ancient Word of the Day: Rema”
16 Self-Promotion Tips for Artists and Musicians on Twitter
This post was inspired by a music producer whom I greatly admire. On Twitter he was asking how to get more engagement with people. I thought it a good moment to give out my tips and ideas, based on my own experience in what works. 1. Find your audience across multiple disciplines Your audience isContinue reading “16 Self-Promotion Tips for Artists and Musicians on Twitter”
Ancient word of the day: Flukra
As the southern hemisphere turns now towards the colder months we are all finding comfort into our nests and getting cosy for the winter. In New Zealand and the southern parts of Australia we are experiencing snow in the alpine regions. So it seems appropriate now to talk about the many ancient words for snow.Continue reading “Ancient word of the day: Flukra”
Mark Forsyth’s Elements of Eloquence Part 2: The Cheat Sheet
Here are the classical rules of rhetoric, illustrated and made simple. Based on Mark Forsyth’s Elements of Eloquence. I hope that you enjoy them and that this handy cheat sheet helps you to improve your writing.
List of the week: Adult words I used as a teenager to make myself sound more intelligent
As a teenager I was incredibly precocious at times, spouting big words to make myself feel older and more worldly in high school. Later on, as my vocabulary developed at University, I dropped these intellectual bombs into conversations to make myself feel better in the company of people more middle class and posh than I was.
An indepth exploration of the aesthetics of cosiness
There’s a lovely subreddit I recently found called Cosy Places, which calls for people to submit their log cabins, hideaways and cosy loungerooms. This is a veritable treasure trove of different ideas for cosiness. Someone even parsed the photo content in the subreddit and came up with the recipe and criteria that make up aContinue reading “An indepth exploration of the aesthetics of cosiness”
Travel: A Survival Guide to Edinburgh Slang and Scots Words
If you ever go to Edinburgh and find yourself in one of its countless excellent pubs, you may want to strike up a conversation with one of the grave looking, old guys at the bar drinking pints. If so, you will want to be able to hold a conversation while also not making a fannyContinue reading “Travel: A Survival Guide to Edinburgh Slang and Scots Words”
Top Ten Greatest Old Man Insults
Put the kettle on and start eating some water crackers with lard on them. Just to get in the mood for this one… Nincompoop: Is said to come from the Latin legal and medical term Non Compos Mentis meaning ‘not of sound mind’. This evolved into nincompoop meaning a stupid or dumb person. Flibbertigibbet: A flightyContinue reading “Top Ten Greatest Old Man Insults”
FYI: The descent down the AI rabbit hole has now commenced
The following developments in AI have meant that we are on the verge of a very slippery slope indeed for fake news and the attendant chaos, disorder and conflict that this generates in the world.
Content Catnip 
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