Emily

Verbing nouns is commonplace

In fact, I'd argue that it's so commonplace these days that most people won't bat an eyelid at this post's title.But you should (for now). 'Verb' is a noun. The Macquarie Fifth Edition Dictionary lists it as a noun, with 'verbal' ...

Roses are red, violets are… violet

I've never given it much thought. Roses are red, violets are blue, and if you don't like it, nuts to you!But they're not. Violets are quite clearly, obviously, violet. In fact, the word for the colour was taken from the word for the ...

Every parent thinks their child is a genius

Pre-bub, I swore I wouldn't do it. Rave on and on (and on and on and on) about this latest milestone of Ashleigh's, or that latest accomplishment. But I do. Even when I see my friends' eyes glazing over as I mention that Ashleigh can ...

Not everyone knows their 1x tables

I have been told that I can be too harsh on people and their (in)ability to complete simple arithmetic without assistance. Last year, I shared the following exchange with friends:Stranger at supermarket: Oh, your daughter is soooooooooooo cute, how ...

Treat every discussion about what you do for a living like a job interview

Someone I know recently forwarded me an email from their workplace asking for ideas for a tagline to go on a new brochure. 'A word game for you to ponder today.' I thought of a few possibilities, typed them out, and got ready to hit send. But I ...

Mums don’t get sick days

Wake up. Throbbing pain. World shimmering, the edges creepy-crawling. Cam's alarm like a truck reversing onto my head. Migraine. Cameron is wonderful. Earlier this year, when I had gastro, he took time off work to look after Ashleigh (and, let's ...

The plural of octopus is…

I am a word nut. I love words. I live for words. I'm not too proud to say that I'm quite proud of my knowledge of many things linguistic. Etymology included. So I used to tell anyone and everyone who'd listen that the plural of octopus, given that ...

You have to make things happen

I've been toying with the idea of starting a blog for a while. For about a year, in fact. What's taken so long? I'm just too good at playing my own devil's advocate, and have ummed and aahed about how this blog would be received. 'Oh great, another ...