One of the things I am very passionate about in the political arena is taxation. I think a country’s tax regime tells you a lot about how the government sees itself and its role in society, and also drives the narrative around aspiration and encouragement for people to ‘go forth and prosper’. My view is that … Continue reading »
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Word of the Day: Day 30
I got there in the end! It’s been 30 days of daily posts, and I’m proud to say that I have not missed a single day! It has meant being disciplined enough to write – come what may, no matter how late – every day. I certainly needed to do this exercise, as my blog … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 29
Today’s word came courtesy of a lovely comment left by regular reader The Wordsmythe yesterday, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to expand on it. The word is… …Sisyphean. It is an adjective ‘denoting a task that can never be completed’; ‘of or pertaining to Sisyphus’; ‘endless and unavailing, as labour or a task’; ‘futile’. … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 28
Today’s word is… …circumlocution. It is a noun which means ‘the use of many words where fewer would do’; ‘a roundabout or indirect way of speaking’; ‘the use of more words than necessary to express an idea’. It originates from the Latin circumlocutio, from circum ‘around’ + locutio from loqui ‘speak’. So you could say that: … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 27
Today’s word is… …rodomontade. It is a noun which means ‘boastful or inflated talk or behaviour’; ‘vainglorious boasting or bragging’; ’pretentious, blustering talk’. It dates back to the 17th century, and has its roots in two different European languages. It comes from the French and derived from the obsolete Italian rodomontada, which itself derived from the Italian rodomonte, the name of … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 26
The Word of the Day is… …sibilant, an adjective which means ‘making or characterised by a hissing sound’. In a phonetic context it means ’sounded with a hissing effect, for example s, sh’. It originates from the 17th century where it came from the Latin sibillant / sibilare, which meant ‘hiss’. So you could say that: We … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 25
Folks, it’s Day 25 of the series! With a mere 5 days to go, I wanted to thank everyone who has read any or all of the posts in the series, made a comment, ‘liked’ a post or suggested a word to explore. You may not know it, but you’ve been part of an exercise … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 24
Today’s word is… …sophistry. Sophistry is a noun which means ‘the use of fallacious arguments, especially to deceive someone’; ‘a fallacious argument’; ‘a false argument’; ‘a subtle, tricky, superficially plausible, but generally fallacious method of reasoning’; ‘a method of argument that is seemingly plausible though actually invalid and misleading’; ‘the art of using such arguments’. Its … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 23
Folks, it’s Day 23 of this series! There are 7 more days to go, and it really has been an educational journey. I’ve looked back over some of the words which have featured, and I noticed that I am missing a word starting with the letter X. So I went hunting for one, and today’s … Continue reading »
Word of the Day: Day 22
Today’s word comes courtesy of another request, and is… …velleity. Velleity is a noun which formally means ‘a wish or inclination not strong enough to lead to action’; ‘volition in its weakest form’; ‘a mere wish, unaccompanied by an effort to obtain it’. Dating back to the 17th century its roots are in the medieval Latin … Continue reading »
