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Kidspot

Most words can be learned and taught most easily in groups, for example, words used by doctors, terms used every day by car mechanics, vocabulary typically heard in a lawyer’s office. Imagine a photograph of a scientific laboratory with captions on the key elements: test tube, bunsen burner, beaker, pipette, thermometer, technician, lab coat, goggles, periodic table, fume hood, centrifuge. A teacher can walk students through the lab, pointing out the most interesting sights. Quickly and naturally, children learn vocabulary, they have a glimpse of what scientists do, they learn about a new world that may excite their enthusiasm. Words...

“I’m ready to offer my services for ur project. Contact me at ur earliest convenience 2 arrange for interview. Thanks in advance for ur consideration.” That’s a real cover letter from a real person claiming to be a real professional, who thinks she can get a real job. The letter was fielded by publicist and trend-spotter Richard Laermer, who gets so many of these he collects them and, when asked, forwards them to reporters for fun. The letter “just made me shake my head till it nearly fell off.” But it isn’t rare. In fact, Laermer says, it’s typical. “Lazy...

N THE age-old war between cats and dogs, canines might just have struck the killer blow. A border collie called Chaser has been taught the names of 1022 items - more than any other animal. She can also categorise them according to function and shape, something children learn to do around the age of 3. Chaser follows in the footsteps of Rico, who trained at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany. Rico had a "vocabulary" of 200 words and could identify new objects in a group of familiar objects by a process of elimination, according to...

Here's the challenge: certain words and phrases characteristic of Appalachian English in eastern Tennessee and elsewhere can be traced back to Scottish English. Some of these are disappearing; others have spread throughout the South; a few seem to be making it into widespread usage. How many do you know? 1. backset; 2. let on; 3. bonny-clabber; 4. palings; 5. redd up; 6. creel; 7. kindling; 8. hull; 9. nicker; 10. whenever. (I knew 5 of the 10, so that makes me 'bout half smart . . .)

Here's the challenge: certain words and phrases characteristic of Appalachian English in Eastern Tennessee and elsewhere can be traced back to Scottish English imported to this country by Scotch-Irish settlers. Some of these are disappearing; others have spread throughout the South; a few seem to be making it into widespread usage. How many do you know? 1. piece; 2. beal, bealing; 3. mend; 4. airish; 5. chancy; 6. muley; 7. bottom; 8. discomfit; 9. singlings; 10. fireboard . . . .

(IsraelNN.com) A recent children's television program broadcast from Gaza teaches Muslim Arab children several different vocabulary words for "slaughtering" the Jews in the Land of Israel. The theme is hardly new for the Hamas-run station. Al-Aqsa TV broadcasts a children's program called "Tomorrow's Pioneers" featuring a live child actor and an adult actor dressed in an animal costume. The current "animal" co-host is Nassur the Bear, introduced earlier this year, who follows in the footsteps of Nahoul the Bee, Assoud the Rabbit, and Farfour, who was a Mickey Mouse lookalike. Themes promoted by all the characters include Islamic triumphalism, anti-Semitism,...

I apologize in advance for my ignorance. I could not find anyplace on the site that gives a primer on certain vocabulary and abbreviations used. Specifically, I have no idea what "btt" means. I've picked up other franguage such as "hugh" and "series" but "btt" escapes me. Thanks for the heads up.

A coalition of American Muslim groups is demanding that presumptive Republican nominee John McCain stop using the word "Islamic" to describe terrorists. The Washington Times reports Islamic Society of North America's secretary general wants McCain to use something he calls "more acceptable to the Muslim community."

BOSTON, MA — The editors of the American Heritage® dictionaries have compiled a list of 100 words they recommend every high school graduate should know. "The words we suggest," says senior editor Steven Kleinedler, "are not meant to be exhaustive but are a benchmark against which graduates and their parents can measure themselves. If you are able to use these words correctly, you are likely to have a superior command of the language." The following is the entire list of 100 words: abjure abrogate abstemious acumen antebellum auspicious belie bellicose bowdlerize chicanery chromosome churlish circumlocution circumnavigate deciduous deleterious diffident enervate...

anchor baby: a derogatory term for a child born in the United States to an immigrant. Since these children automatically qualify as American citizens, they can later act as a sponsor for other family members. frequent flier: a repeat offender; a recidivist; generally, a person who regularly or habitually uses or takes advantage of a service. From the airline industry term but now widely used in hospitals and by police officials. Fox lips: lips colored and lined with makeup to seem more prominent, said of female anchors on Fox News. God wink: something taken as evidence that a higher power...

Russian businessmen and civil servants will soon be prohibited to say “dollar” and use other familiar vocabulary: all foreign financial terms must be replaced with Russian equivalents. Excess of foreign financial terms turned out to make Russian legislators outrage. All legislation in the RF must be held in Russian, but the vast majority of business and financial terms have no analogues in the native language. The terminology problem is getting more and more acute with every passing month, as Russian people are gradually getting familiar with public investments. In keeping with statistics, over half of the population of the country...

What have you learned since the Sept. 11 attacks five years ago? The mass murder of 2,996 innocent people on American soil forced open my eyes to the Islamic holy war against the West, freedom and modernity. The battle has raged not for years or decades, but for centuries — well before the Crusades began. The indelible sight of workers plunging from the Twin Towers — head first, feet first, solo, hand-in-hand — roused me from slumber. The photos of children incinerated on United Airlines Flight 175 and American Airlines Flight 77 compelled me to start paying attention to the...

ARYAN and Iran ETYMOLOGY: From Sanskrit rya-, noble, Aryan. OTHER FORMS: Ary·an —ADJECTIVE WORD HISTORY:It is one of the ironies of history that Aryan, a word nowadays referring to the blond-haired, blue-eyed physical ideal of Nazi Germany, originally referred to a people who looked vastly different. Its history starts with the ancient Indo-Iranians, Indo-European peoples who inhabited parts of what are now Iran, Afghanistan, and India. Their tribal self-designation was a word reconstructed as *arya– or *rya–. The first of these is the form found in Iranian, as ultimately in the name of Iran itself (from Middle Persian rn (ahr),...

Archaic Words in the NIVAdapted from, Archaic Words in the NIV by Dr. Laurence M. Vance featured at Dial the-Truth Ministries Website   NIV BIBLE VERSE AV abasement Ezra 9:5 heaviness abashed Is 24:23 confounded abutted Ezek 40:18 over against acclamation 2 Chr 15:14 voice aghast Is 13:8 amazed alcove Ezek 40:13 little chamber annotations 2 Chr 13:22 story armless Num 31:50 chains bewilderment Acts 2:6 confounded blunted Ps 58:7 cut in pieces blustering Job 8:2 strong breakers Ps 93:4 waves brooches Ex 35:22 bracelets brood Is 57:4 children burnished Dan 10:6 polished carnelian Rev 4:3 sardine charioteers I...

BAGHDAD, Dec. 9, 2005 – Changing perceptions and perspectives here mean changes in vocabulary: "Sunni insurgents" is out, "Saddamists" is in. American officials here said Iraqi officials have asked by them to stop calling groups opposed to the coalition "Sunni insurgents." The idea is that a great many Sunni Arabs are moderate and want democracy for Iraq, officials explained. Coalition officials have hit on the term "Iraqi rejectionists" to refer to those people who want to participate in the election process, but still launch attacks on coalition forces. Coalition officials also said many Iraqis want to change the perception that...

I had a fun idea: We could have a game coming up with words and phrases to describe John Kerry. The game starts with someone posting a word that starts with "A". Then, someone will follow with a word starting with "B", and so on. When we reach "Z", we will start again with new words. When we start the next cycle, post the list of the previous words used for that letter, so that we will not repeat. The usual warning about profanities applies, do not spell them out completely. I hope it is an interesting exercise

Word For The Day, Tuesday, June 15, 2004 In order that we might all raise the level of discourse and expand our language abilities, here is the daily post of "Word for the Day". [enjoin \en-JOIN\, transitive verb] [1. To direct or impose with authority; to order. 2. To prohibit; to forbid. / While the Qur'an contains a number of references, some direct and some oblique, to the other four pillars, in only one place does it specifically enjoin fasting during the month of Ramadan: "O you faithful, fasting is ordained for you in the same way that it was...

Cussed out By Ilene Olson Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle CHEYENNE (WTE) – More than a vocabulary change is needed for people who want to stop cussing, said Jim O’Connor, author of “Cuss Control: The Complete Book on How to Curb Your Cursing.” “That’s part of it – a better choice of words,” O’Connor said. But it’s also changing your tone and changing your attitude toward things. Learn to cope, not cuss. Accept the fact that things go wrong. “Tell people how you feel diplomatically. Rather than labeling the person, label the behavior. Instead of calling somebody an f-ing idiot...

There's a whole new world of PC substitutes out there, says EDDIE LENNON. Time was when political correctness was the wet blanket of every conversation. You had to tiptoe around your own vocabulary like a mouse faced with a cheese-laden mousetrap, terrified of ensnaring yourself by just being yourself. Every chit-chat became a series of conversational booby-traps, each of them just waiting to help you offend one minority or another by a less than fully premeditated remark. For a short time that somehow seemed like forever, everything became so PC that life was like one eternally stilted dinner party, redolent...