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Controversy has erupted in France after the linguistic authorities gave the @ character a name no French email user has ever heard of. Translations of @ Czech: zavinac (pickled herring) Russian: sobachka (little dog) Italian: Chiocciola (small snail) Hebrew: strudel (Austrian cake) Until now, the French have had a choice between "arobase", a popular word derived from the Spanish, and - for the anglophile - "at". But the General Commission for Terminology and Neologisms - the government body charged with coining new French words - has decided that the proper word should be "arrobe". However there are no guarantees that...

GAYS have had the word homosexual banned by the Government because they say it is offensive. Ministers want it written out of their vocabulary after complaints that it was outdated. Instead they will refer to those with an “orientation towards people of the same sex”. Homosexual, coined 130 years ago, will be ditched under anti-discrimination laws drawn up by equality minister Barbara Roche. Whitehall officials will be told not to use the term in official documents, speeches, press releases or white papers. Last night a spokesman for Mrs Roche, 48, denied the move was political correctness. He said: “There was...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... Today is FReestyle FRiday! PLease use any of the words assigned this week in your homework. Extra credit and cookies will be given to students who use more than one. This weeks words:...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... eleemosynary \el-e-MOS-i-ner-ee; el-ee-uh-MOS-i-ner-ee\, adjective: eleemosynary, nouneleemosynaries, plural 1. Relating to charity, alms, or alms-giving; intended for the distribution of charity; as, ``an eleemosynary corporation.'' 2. Given in charity or alms; having the nature...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... assiduous \uh-SIJ-oo-us\, adjective: 1. 1. Constant in application or attention; devoted; attentive; unremitting. 2. Performed with constant diligence or attention; unremitting; persistent; as, assiduous labor. "I can scarcely find time to write you...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... animadversion \an-uh-mad-VUR-zhun\, noun: 1. Harsh criticism or disapproval. 2. Remarks by way of criticism and usually of censure; adverse criticism; reproof; blame. Etymology: Animadversion is from Latin animadversio, animadversion-, from animadversus, past participle...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... desuetude \Des"ue*tude\, n: 1. a state of inactivity or disuse The desuetude abrogated the law, which, before, custom had established. --Jer. Taylor. Etymology:[L. desuetudo, from desuescere, to grow out of use, disuse; de...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... recrimation\rih-krim-uh-NAY-shuhn\, n: recrimate, v 1. The act of returning one charge or accusation with another. 2. An accusation brought by the accused against the accuser; a counter accusation. Etymology: Recrimination is from Medieval...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... interlocutor\in-t&r-'lä-ky&-t&r \, n: 1 : one who takes part in dialogue or conversation 2 : a man in the middle of the line in a minstrel show who questions the end men and...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... probity\'prO-b&-tE \, n: 1.adherence to the highest principles and ideals 2.Complete and confirmed integrity “He was a gentlemanly Georgian, a person of early American probity” (Mary McGrory). Etymology:Middle English probite, from Old French,...

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”. Rules: Everyone must leave a post using the “word of the day”; in a sentence. The sentence must, in some way, relate to the news of the day. The Review threads are linked for your edification. ;-) Practice makes perfect.....post on.... invidious\In*vid"i*ous\, a: In*vid\"i*ous*ly, adv. -- In*vid\"i*ous*ness, n. 1. Worthy of envy; desirable; enviable. Agamemnon found it an invidious affair to give the preference to any one of the Grecian heroes. --Broome. Etymology: From...

Parent offended by lesson in vocabulary</font< Use of a word that sounds like a racial slur has landed a New Hanover County teacher in the middle of a controversy. Stephanie Bell, a fourth-grade teacher at Williams Elementary School, taught the word "niggardly" to her class last week in an effort to improve her students' vocabularies. Now, a parent wants her fired. Niggardly as defined by Webster's: adj. 1. reluctant to give or spend; stingy;miserly2. meanly or ungenerously small or scanty Although the word means stingy, Akwana Walker said it was inappropriate to use it because it sounds similar to a...