December 7, 2009 | The Things We Say
The word ‘awesome’ has been be-littled by overuse. I remember Ruud Udderhaaf pointing this out many long years ago while watching American television programmes and these days I see it all the time on the Internet.
It is usually found in blog post comments, generally on the kind of blog post that consists of lists, the ... Read On
November 13, 2009 | The Things We Say
Jonathan Harris is a story teller, but not in the traditional way. His stories are built from an amalgamation of other people’s stories, people from all around the world. He writes computer programmes that search the Internet for specific words and phrases that captures the world’s expression, and he turns it into art.
Jonathan believes that ... Read On
November 11, 2009 | The Things We Say
In Ireland, this one is the ultimate conversation stopper and is usually preceded by:
Ah sher…
A likely scenario would be: two or more people meeting in a casual setting, such as in the street, or a shop. After the usual pleasantries have been exchanged, someone will inevitably mention the recession or the weather or some other ... Read On
November 8, 2009 | The Things We Say
Ruud Udderhaaf thinks that the British government should start a campaign to stop the English from adding an ‘r’ to words ending in vowels, for example: ‘Barcelonar’, ‘Annar’ and ‘Emmar’.
Why do they do it? I wanted to find out for once and for all. So, I trawled around for a while, read a few articles ... Read On
November 6, 2009 | The Things We Say
This peculiarly Irish one covers everything and nothing at the same time.
I’m grand
..can have many hidden meanings. What it may mean to the speaker is,
Well, there’s a lot going on but nothing I want to discuss right now.
Whereas the recipient might infer,
Ask no more questions unless you have half a day to listen to me.
Or, ... Read On
