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Word for Wednesday: Monster

Our Word for Wednesday theme for October is Halloween. The word Halloween likely dates to the seventeenth century but was popularised in the Burns poem ‘Halloween’ which was written in 1785. It is a Scottish abbreviation of ‘Allhallow-even’ which means ‘Eve of the All Saints’.  ‘Hallow’ means ‘holy person’ or ‘saint’.  Last week, we looked at the word pumpkin. Today’s word is monster.  A monster is a frightening imaginary creature that is usually depicted with various animal and human parts. The word is also used to describe a cruel or evil person.  Monster c...

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Spellzone is wicked!

Have you ever felt out of touch when diachronic change means that words you thought you knew take on a new, antonymous meaning? Words like this come in and out of popularity every year, but their altered meanings can remain for a long time and sometimes deciding which meaning is intended can be confusing. For example, the word ‘wicked’, historically meaning cruel or evil has adopted a new usage in popular culture and is often used to describe something that is cool or excellent. The same can be said of the words: ‘sick’, ‘nasty’, ‘dirty’ amongst others. Informal English has changed so much over time that even the word ‘bad’ ca...

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"Thank goodness for Spellzone during this remote learning phase. The site is easy for students to navigate independently and they're really enjoying the activities and spelling games. You get an awful lot for your money with Spellzone. Really reassuring is the very prompt response with helpdesk queries. I've very rarely needed the helpdesk, but when I have, the issue has been addressed and sorted within a very short time."

Sarah Taggart, Oasis Academy Lord's Hill