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Computers no longer exist

4th January 2021English, LanguageDaiyan

This is somewhat of a bizarre one, so please bear with me.

The other day, someone posted a really weird message in a Mandarin learning Facebook group.  It started,

“Mandarin passé since 1911, period.”  Don’t bother with Mandarin.

It was …

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Santa and Coke

23rd December 2020CultureDaiyan

Before I begin this post proper, I feel I need to point out that “Coke” is the most common abbreviation in the UK used for Coca-Cola.  As far as I understand most other countries (including English speaking ones) tend to …

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You & Me

22nd November 2020English, LanguageCommon Mistakes, Word UseDaiyan

If you are reading this thinking, “The title is wrong” that it should be, “You and I“, then this is precisely for you!

Note that the picture I have used (under Fair Use) is from a …

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Bonfire Night

29th October 2020Culture, EnglishBonfire, Culture, Fireworks, Guy Fawkes, HistoryDaiyan

In case you are new to England and don’t know what the Fireworks are about that usually start around the end of October until early November, here is a video explaining the history of the reason for this tradition.  (By …

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Accessing Windows 7 Shares (after January 2019 update?)

31st January 2019ComputingFile Management, WindowsDaiyan

Recently I discovered that I could no longer access my Windows 7 computer from the other computers on my home network.  At first I thought it was something to do with the username or password, but the behaviour when these …

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How to say “ough”

10th January 2019English, LanguageDaiyan

The hardest word in the English language for non-native speakers?

Feel free to comment below.

This is edited from a TV Show called “Modern Life is Goodish“, by Dave Gorman.
The full, unedited, episode is available on …

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Equinox

20th March 2018English, Language, Word of The DayEtymology, Seasons, Solar Events, Word MeaningDaiyan
Today is the Spring Equinox.

equinox /ˈɛkwɪˌnɒks/  (noun)

An equinox is when “the sun crosses the plane of the earth’s equator, making night and day of approximately equal length (12 hours) all over the earth”. Due to the

…
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Powershell MTP

20th March 2018Coding, Computing, Powershell, ScriptingCode, File Management, Mobile Device, MTP, Phone, Powershell, Scripting, WindowsDaiyan

Welcome to my new blog!  I wanted my first blog post to be something wholly positive, so I decided to share this Powershell script, in case there is anyone else out there who has struggled with automating the copying or …

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The Garden Tomb

Resurrection

5th April 2015English, Language, Word of The DayWord Meaning, Word UseDaiyan

Word of the day, 5th April 2015

resurrection /ˌrɛzəˈrɛkʃən/

I couldn’t really choose any other word for this Easter day.

The English word dates from about the 12th century, and was specifically linked to this event: “the name of …

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The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci

Dinner

3rd April 2015English, Language, Word of The DayWord Meaning, Word UseDaiyan

Word of the day, 3rd April 2015

Dinner /ˈdɪnə/

You might be thinking this is an odd word to choose for Good Friday, but I felt that you will hear many explanations about that from elsewhere.

(Also, don’t be confused …

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