Latest blog posts
One of the biggest sporting events in the world, The Tour de France, is due to pass the Yorkshire home of Spellzone at the weekend so the word 'cycle' comes to mind.
'Cycle' orginates from the Late Latin 'cyclus', and the Greek 'kuklos' meaning 'circle, ring, wheel, any circular body, circular motion, cycle of events'. 'Bicycle' as in "to ride a bicycle" dates from around 1883, and is formed from two words. The English 'bi' meaning 'two' and 'kyklos' mentioned above.
Fortunately for today's racers, the bicycle superseded a bizarre contraption know as the velocipede, a French invention nicknamed 'T...
read more
Spellzone is the mustard!
This week’s inquiry into the expansive English vocabulary features a culinary condiment that has come to be a divider of people’s tastes. This word has a handful of applications in both slang and a formal situation so is worth getting to know.
Mustard.
‘Must’ comes from the Latin ‘vinummustum’ (young wine) and refers to any freshly pressed juice where the entire fruit: skin, seeds, flesh etc. is used. Picture the very basic but entirely effective method of pressing wine: the human foot - you’ve probably seen it in books or even had a go at it yourself! This process is used to make ‘must’ from the grapes ...
read more
Following our post about words from Harry Potter, we will spend the next few weeks taking a look at words that originate in Literature. These words are often taken from the names of characters and are used to describe people with similar traits. First up: Quixotic.
The word quixotic is an adjective used to describe someone (or something) so idealistic that their aspirations are unrealistic and impractical. It originates from the Spanish novel Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Fully titled The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha, the book was published in two volumes – the first in 1605, and the second in 1615. It is regarded as the most influential work from the Spanish G...
read more
The word of choice this week is inspired by a story I was told in France earlier this summer – it is strange how often the stories behind words can come up in conversation and this one was a bit potty.
After a little research it seemed that there were many popular theories surrounding this word with no clear winner. However, none of the stories are without erm… charm and are perhaps worth a thought!
loo
noun
British informal
• a toilet:
The first recorded appearance of this word, rather unsurprisingly, appears in James Joyce’s Ulysses. First published in its entirety in 1922, in Paris where Joyce was living at the time – even the very first recording of the word links to France.
Even ...
read more