December 2015
What Not to Cook: Doom Juice (AKA Chilli Sauce)
Chillies are rad. This is a known fact. What's not so known is that they originated in the Americas, and weren't brought to Asia—the place people generally associate them with—until the 16th century by the Portuguese. Christopher Columbus brought a boatload back from one of his expeditions, believing it to be actual pepper. It wasn't.
November 2015
Indian English: Preponing the tiffin
India has a lot of languages—according to a 2001 census, there were 29 different languages in India that had at least a million native speakers each. The official language is Hindi—but English in India is a rich variant in its own right.
Word of the Day: Cimicine
Definition: Smelling like bugs. (Or, the actual noun for bug secretions…) Cimicine is one of those wonderfully specific descriptive words that lends itself well to erudite-sounding insults. The pie was cold, and the salad was [...]
October 2015
What this beer ad doesn’t tell you …
I used to see this ad every time we drove through the Valley—it’s hard to miss. (See above!) In case you can’t see the picture, the ad says that this beer has: 50% less calories [...]
September 2015
Nebulous, pluvial, precipitation—some words of the day
My eyeballs twitched, and all I could think of was electricity and words associated with rain. Nebulous. Pluvial. Precipitation.
Word(s) of the Day: Ascorbic acid
Definition: A vitamin found in citrus fruits and green vegetables. Ascorbic acid is essential for healthy connective tissue. A severe deficiency results in scurvy. Scurvy causes lethargy, bruising, bleeding gums, swollen legs and (if untreated) [...]
Why web writing is relevant (and our November web writing course)
If you're not considering how your content is consumed on screen, you're ignoring a huge part of your audience—it's like writing a document, then hiding it...
August 2015
And we’re back (Rory buys a printer)
Last night I dreamed of buying a printer. That’s a pretty crap dream, by any standard. Not only was the subject matter mundane and worky, but I couldn’t actually find the right printer. The study [...]