In this post I look at the origins of the expression "sent to Coventry"

It wasn't until the 19th century that the word "pollution" came to be associated with humans' degradation of the natural world. Before the Industrial Revolution, "pollution" had purely religious and moral connotations to do with impurity and defilement.

In this post I discuss the meaning behind the term "fait divers" and argue for a more ethical approach to crime reporting.

Scepticism about the disruptive capacity of AI is understandable, but we should also be wary of wishful thinking; the downside risk is significant enough that it's worth taking seriously.

In this post, I unpack the modern spoiler problem: not careless friends, but click-chasing “reactors” and platform algorithms that surface plot reveals in thumbnails and search results. I argue that a spoiler is less “information” than a theft of a future pleasure.

People learning English as a foreign language (EFL) reliably trip up on certain words, either because they are “false friends” or because the English equivalent has a nuance that doesn’t exist in French.

Suitcase words have many potential meanings, and their interpretation is highly context-dependent

Just because you have not been radicalised, it doesn’t mean you are not being manipulated.

In this second series on troublesome words, I want to look at common problems for people learning English as a second language.

Raising bilingual children can be challenging, but it is also rewarding — for parents and children alike.

There are probably hundreds of millions of habitable worlds in the universe. So where are all the aliens?

I discuss the evolution of English between the Middle Ages and the Modern Era

Legal English is often so obscure that it has its own term: legalese.

Ambiguity in communication is inevitable given the limitations of language, the arbitrary nature of signs, variability in how they are interpreted, and the evolution of meaning.

Harry Potter is an excellent way to introduce children to moral philosophy and mythology, as well as encourage critical thinking

When popular culture uncritically employs familiar motifs of secret societies plotting to control humanity, it can also have real-world consequences.

It’s one of those odd quirks of language that makes true bilingualism so difficult to achieve; in French, the person who will be missed (“tu”) is the subject of the verb and the person experiencing the feeling (“me”) is the object, whereas in English it is the opposite.

I consider myself very lucky to have dual nationality; I have two countries. Two cultures. Two languages? It’s complicated…

Brexit could never work, because there was no consensus among ‘Leavers’ of what they were seeking to achieve. Not only were their objectives not aligned, they were fundamentally opposed on many issues.

How compassionate management can create happy, flourishing employees who are more productive, more loyal, and less likely to move on.