POPULAR ETYMOLOGIES
“Popular etymologies are apocryphal” is the lead caption of an article I found in the latest edition of The Economist. The article looks at the …
TRIPLE COOKED CHIPS
Triple cooked chips are one British chef’s answer to soggy, under-cooked potato fingers that almost all of us love. I’m not talking about French fries …
BIPHASIC SLEEP
Most of us have never heard of “Biphasic Sleep”, let alone heard of “First Sleep” or “Second Sleep”. However, they seem to have been normal …
FOGGING UP YOUR WINDSCREEN
You would think that “Fogging up your windscreen” would be a thing of the past by now. Certainly, the smeary vision we put up with …
WHO ACTUALLY DISCOVERED THE CARIBBEAN
The question of who actually discovered the Caribbean is a mystery that has been perplexing anthropologists for centuries. When Columbus arrived on Hispaniola in the …
NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
The beginning of a New Year makes many of us make New Year resolutions, and most of us break them in the first few hours, …
CHIQUITITA
This story about Abba and UNICEF is a feel-good start to the New Year. It shows what a difference a simple act can achieve, and …
BIRD ISLAND
This blog is about Bird Island, the most northerly island in the Seychelles. It has been described as a paradise with too many palm trees …
QUEEN ELIZABETH II
In line with the other blogs this week, this one about Queen Elizabeth II is just for fun. It includes some obscure facts that I …
BRITISH HUMOUR
British Humour is different, as anyone who has had contact with it will readily admit. Those of us lucky enough to have been born and …