Interesting Facts

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) has added over 1,000 words. (New entries include air-punching - the act of thrusting a clenched fist into the air in elation or triumph. Agender for designating people who do not identify themselves as a particular gender. Bovver - part of the catchphrase of comedian Catherine Tate's teenage character Lauren (Bovvered?) Budgie smugglers - close-fitting swimming trunks Dudettes - the female form of dude. Fro-yo - the short form for frozen yoghurt. Starter marriages are short-lived first marriages. *Stupid o'clock - used to describe a time outside normal waking hours. *See!  I told you it would make it in eventually.) A couple of new abbreviations were added too:- ICYMI (in case you missed it) FWIW (for what it's worth)

If you ever needed proof that remembering lists of words doesn't mean you can speak the language, here it is. 48-year-old New Zealander, Nigel Richards, is the French-language world Scrabble champion, but he can't speak French. (He is 3 times world Scrabble champion, 5 times US champion, and has won 12 titles in the King’s Cup championship in Bangkok, but became world Champion of Francophone Scrabble, after memorizing all possible words in the official French scrabble dictionary, with two to 10 letters. Throw those vocabulary lists away.)

New research shows that early language development isn’t so much about the number of words as the style of speech and social context in which speech occurs. ( Patricia Kuhl, co-author and co-director of UW’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences said,  “It’s not just talk, talk, talk at the child.  It’s more important to work toward interaction and engagement around language. You want to engage the infant and get the baby to babble back. The more you get that serve and volley going, the more language advances.” I kind of do this with my students, without the goo goo ga ga, although I did offer that service to a recent visitor who said he wanted to learn like a baby. LOL)

According to analysis of the expenses claims of MPs in the UK, 25% of them have given jobs to relatives. (Figures from the IPSA (Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority) show that 155 MPs – nearly one in four – have wives, children and even parents on the public payroll. Their relatives (aka “connected parties”) enjoy salaries as high as £50,000 for office duties. This is the perfect opportunity for me to introduce a new bit of vocabulary:- nepotism noun the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives or friends, especially by giving them jobs. ) !Note There is an online map where people can look at how much their MP is costing them, which is nice, but most people don't even know about it. http://www.parliamentary-standards.org.uk/InteractiveMap.aspx

Fabio Capello,  England's Italian football manager,  claims he can manage his players with just 100 words.  (According to NHS guidelines a  two year old should be able to say around 100 words and start putting them into short sentences.  So, Mr Capello who has been England manager since 2007 surely should be able to do better than a two-year-old.  I think he needs to up his game a bit.)