We hope you’ve had a spelltastic March! Here’s everything we shared this month: Have you tried our new spelling games? Help decode an enemy message in Codebreaker. Enter the temple and test your spelling skill in Mayan Temple. March’s Word for Wednesday theme was clothing. Learn more about where shirts, trousers, dresses, coats, and shoes got their names from. Did you know there are over a million word lists on Spellzone? Every word list can be used in a variety of online and offline activities – learn more about them here. Each month, we share 3 word lists for you to use when practising your spelling. Our March lists we...
Last month we shared 20 food-themed American English words and their British English counterparts. This week—in line with our Word for Wednesday theme for March —we’re looking at clothing-related words. Click here to read an overview of the main differences between American English and British English spellings, and here for more detailed information. Here are 20 American English words for clothes and their British English counterparts: coveralls – boilersuit, overalls diaper – nappy jumper – pinafore overalls – dungarees panties – knickers, pants pants &nda...
Our March Word for Wednesday theme is clothes. The word clothes comes from the Old English ‘claðas’ meaning ‘garments’. ‘Claðas’ is also the plural of ‘clað’ meaning ‘cloth’. Last week, we looked at the word shirt. Today’s word is trousers. Trousers are a garment which extend from the waist to the knees or ankles, and which cover each leg separately. The word is usually used a plural due to the separate leg parts, though one might refer to a ‘trouser leg’ in the singular form. The word trousers dates to the 1610s, and before that this item of clothi...
This week we’ll be taking a look at one of my all-time favourite words: ‘smithereens’. But have you ever heard of a smithereen? Surely, a singular exists? Maybe not, perhaps ‘smithereens’ is a word akin to trousers or scissors, with no apparent singular equivalent but where would we find a pair of smithereens! We’ve all heard the phrase ‘blown to smithereens’; a phrase that I’ll wager is the only context in which you’ve heard the word used – me too. For me, the beauty of this word is in its onomatopoeic quality; you can almost hear something shattering into tiny, chiming fragments. The Oxford English Dictionary ...
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