English For All: Know Your English

Know Your English - September 2002

WHAT IS the difference between "day-to-day" and "day by day"?
Why is the press often referred to as the "fourth estate"?
How is the word "pejorative" pronounced?
Why do we say "an MBBS" and "an MP"?
What is the meaning of "volte-face"?
Know your English
WHAT IS the meaning and origin of the expression "once in a blue moon"?
What is the origin of "honeymoon"?
How is the word "vivacious" pronounced?
What is the difference between "appraise" and "apprise"?
WHAT IS the meaning and origin of "scot-free"?
What does `viz' stand for?
What is the meaning of "drive someone round the bend"?
What is the meaning of "Would you like to powder your nose"?
What is the difference between "due to" and "owing to"?

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Forget-Me-Nots

Though they belong to a genus with roughly 50 species, most forget-me-nots are small, flat, five-petalled blue flowers with straggly stems. According to legend, the flowers received their name when a medieval knight, picking a posy for his lady by a riverside, fell into the water and drowned under the weight of his armor. As he was drowning, he threw the bouquet to his lover and shouted, "Forget me not!" Christian tradition, however, attributes the flower's name to what event? More... Discuss

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This Day in History

General Mills Introduces Cheerios as CheeriOats (1941)

General Mills introduced its oat-based, ready-to-eat cold cereal as CheeriOats but, in 1946, changed its name to Cheerios because of a trademark dispute with Quaker Oats. Today, it comes in nearly a dozen different flavors and is marketed to children as well as adults. It has used several different characters in its advertising over the years, including Charlie Brown from Peanuts. Why did the US Food and Drug Administration call Cheerios an "unapproved new drug" in 2009? More... Discuss

This Day in History provided by The Free Dictionary

Today's Birthday

Joseph Heller (1923)

As a bombardier with the US Air Force during World War II, American writer Joseph Heller flew 60 combat missions. He drew on his wartime experiences when writing his darkly humorous novel Catch-22 (1961), a satiric commentary on the absurdity of war and bureaucracy. One of the most significant works of postwar protest literature, it was a huge critical success. What did Heller famously reply when asked why he had not written anything else as good as Catch-22? More... Discuss

Today's Birthday provided by The Free Dictionary

In the News

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Quote of the Day