Euphemisms in English

Using a euphemism is a way of hiding something bad, offensive or tasteless behind a good word or phrase. So, for example, instead of saying that someone died, we say they passed away. Instead of saying that a girl is pregnant we might say the girl is in trouble. Why […]

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Choosing a Good Dictionary

For both teachers and students a dictionary is one of the most important books (or apps) you can own. This article offers tips for choosing the best possible dictionary for help in the classroom and with preparing lessons. If you’re buying a dictionary then the best approach is to go […]

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Anagrams & TEFL

What are Anagrams? Anagrams are simply rearrangements of letters from one word‏‎ or phrase to make another word or phrase. The word itself comes from the Greek, anagrammatismos, ana- (up, again, back, new) + -gram (letter). For example, the following are a few interesting anagrams. dormitory –  dirty room Clint […]

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All About Palindromes in English

A Palindrome is a word or phrase which can be read correctly either right-to-left or left-to-right.   These are palindromes: civic deified dewed kayak level madam minim racecar radar redder refer rotator rotavator rotor sagas solos sexes stats If punctuation is ignored, then these phrases are also palindromes: Do geese […]

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Affixes in English

An affix is a morpheme‏‎ that is attached to a root‏‎ (or stem) of a word‎ to form another word. For example, take the word reason and add two affixes: un + reason + able Prefixes and suffixes are common types of affixes. A prefix is an affix which is […]

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