In English Vocabulary ‘Martial Law’ or ‘Marshall Law’? A listener question about a spate of misspellings led us to investigate the meaning and history of “martial law” and George C. Marshall. One of our listeners wrote in to say that he’d been seeing this phrase misspelled quite a lot, as M-A-R-S-H-A-L-L law. It should be spelled M-A-R-T-I Written by Nadia 2020-04-14 (Tue)2020-04-14 (Tue) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Общество Amid the cruelty of the pandemic, this weekend offers a glimmer of hope Easter, Passover and spring itself are all about the renewal of life. Surrounded by sorrow and death, this brings solace If this virus complied with the rules of ancient literature, it would have struck in the depth of winter. We would have been surrounded by bleakness and death just as nature had s Written by Katia 2020-04-13 (Mon)2020-04-10 (Fri) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Здоровье Самые удачные From Bats to Human Lungs, the Evolution of a Coronavirus For thousands of years, a parasite with no name lived happily among horseshoe bats in southern China. The bats had evolved to the point that they did not notice; they went about their nightly flights unbothered. One day, the parasite—an ancestor of the coronavirus, sars-CoV-2—had an op Written by Nadia 2020-04-01 (Wed)2020-04-10 (Fri) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Английский язык What Is a ‘Skeleton Crew’? A lot of companies that are still operating are operating with a skeleton crew these days. When you’re working with the bare minimum of people necessary to keep a project going, you’re on a skeleton crew. The idea of a ‘skeleton’ crew started in the military According to the Written by Nadia 2020-03-31 (Tue)2020-04-09 (Thu) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English История Книги Общество Психология What We Can Learn (and Should Unlearn) From Albert Camus’s The Plague Liesl Schillinger on Catastrophe, Contagion, and the Human Condition Usually a question like this is theoretical: What would it be like to find your town, your state, your country, shut off from the rest of the world, its citizens confined to their homes, as a contagion spreads, infecting thousands, Written by Katia 2020-03-24 (Tue)2020-03-27 (Fri) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Vocabulary 10 Rules for Writing Numbers and Numerals How do you express numbers in your writing? When do you use figures (digits) and when do you write out the number in words (letters)? That is, when do you write 9 and when do you write nine? 1. Number versus numeral. First things first, what is the difference between a number and a numeral? Written by Vladimir 2020-03-19 (Thu)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Английский язык Troops Is an Unethical Euphemism Linguists are famous—or perhaps infamous—for our tolerant attitude toward language and how it changes. Given the widespread misconception that we are professional grammar police, we often disappoint people in saying that it is not scientifically “wrong” to say “less books” rather than Written by Vladimir 2020-03-13 (Fri)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Английский язык The History of the Word ‘Woman’ Both “woman” and “queen” have interesting origins. International Women’s Day is March 8. On this day, people around the world celebrate the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. The first celebration was held in 1911, and the event was recognized Written by Nadia 2020-03-08 (Sun)2020-04-02 (Thu) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Post-Soviet Travel on the Turkmen-Kazakh Border Erika Fatland: “The whole world will soon be wearing jeans made in China.” The no-man’s land between Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan was wider than it looked. The sun shone down from a clear, blue sky, but there was a touch of winter in the desert air. On the other side of the barbed wire Written by Katia 2020-03-02 (Mon)2020-03-29 (Sun) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
In English Vocabulary Sumptuous If they are, they must not know the meaning of sumptuous. English-speaking cooks who use unctuous to describe pork roasts are referring to taste, texture, and juiciness. The word sumptuous, although often used to describe a meal, has nothing to do with the taste of food. The word sumptuous derives f Written by Vladimir 2020-02-13 (Thu)2020-04-13 (Mon) Saving Bookmark this article Bookmarked
