According to my calendar, today in China was Huā zhāo jié (花朝节) – literally meaning “flower morning festival“. Today is the 15th day of the 2nd lunar month – in other words, the middle of the second month, … Read the rest
Category Archives: Culture
Santa and Coke
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 … Read the rest
Bonfire Night
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 … Read the rest
April Fool’s Day
Word of the day, 1st April 2015
April Fool’s Day /ˈeɪprəl fuːlz deɪ/
Don’t believe everything you hear today – if there’s a news story that sounds a bit strange, or too good to be true, it may well be … Read the rest
Mothering Sunday
Word of the day, 15th March 2015
Mothering Sunday
Here’s a bit of cultural information, rather than a new word itself.
Today in the UK it is “Mothering Sunday”.
In recent years this has become called “Mother’s Day”, so it … Read the rest
Liquorice
Word of the day, 14th March 2015
liquorice /ˈlɪkərɪʃ/ (noun)
I was doing a bit of shopping in Godalming today (a quaint town on the River Wey, about 8 kilometres, or 5 miles, south of Guildford). In the high street … Read the rest