jargon (noun) British/UK English pronunciation: /ˈdʒɑː(r)ɡən/ American English pronunciation: /ˈdʒɑrɡən/ from Old French jargoun The Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology (my favourite etymology guide) has these definitions for jargon: meaningless talk speech specific to a trade or profession twittering or chattering of birds debased or hybrid language It’s one or both of the […]
Improve your English: transition words
August 25, 2014 by 21 Comments
transition (noun) passage from one state, stage, subject, or place to another (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) From Latin transire ‘go across’ or ‘pass over’. What are transition words? Whatever your goal or purpose for your writing – whether it’s to explain, inform, entertain or persuade – you need to express yourself fluently, and you need […]
Improve your English: the possessive apostrophe
April 1, 2014 by 5 Comments
What is the possessive apostrophe? The possessive apostrophe is a punctuation mark (‘) used to show possession: to show that something belongs to someone or something. Apostrophes were first used to mark possession in the late 16th century, but without clear guidelines they were used inconsistently for centuries. We have clear rules for […]
Business English: phrasal verbs frequently used in business contexts
September 22, 2013 by 4 Comments
Phrasal verbs occur frequently in English so it’s important you can understand what they mean. And being able to use them yourself makes your spoken and written English more natural, and more accomplished. There isn’t really a specific part of English that can be called ‘business phrasal verbs’. But there are many phrasal verbs that […]
