Talking politics with people who you disagree with is always tricky, but it’s especially hard when those people are your family or closest friends. All too often, problems arise because of how politeness (and impoliteness) operates in interactions.
Everything we do can be more or less polite; the way we move, the way we look at each other and, of course, the words we use.
Have you ever worried in your student years or later in life that time may be starting to run out to achieve your goals? If so, would it be easier conveying this feeling to others if there was a word meaning just that? In German, there is. That feeling of panic associated with one’s opportunities appearing to run out is…
Fairly soon after her marriage to Prince Harry in May 2018, articles about Meghan Markle started to appear – in the BBC, Mirror, Daily Star and Daily Express – reporting a change in her speech. Apparently the American actress has taken on a “British” accent along with her membership of the royal family.
Would you rather unlock your smartphone with a plain four-digit PIN or with a smiley-face emoji? Would it be easier and more pleasant to remember “????,” for example, or “2476”?
Smartphone users commonly use emojis to express moods, emotions and nuances in emails and text messages – and even communicate entire messages only with emojis.
The thatched roof held back the sun’s rays, but it could not keep the tropical heat at bay. As everyone at the research workshop headed outside for a break, small groups splintered off to gather in the shade of coconut trees and enjoy a breeze. I wandered from group to group, joining in the discussions. Each time, I noticed that…
Don’t we all sometimes come across acronyms or abbreviations used in social media which we are wondering about? Our common social media shorthand has indeed become amazingly extensive. We have acronyms and abbreviations for not only the way we chat back and forth with one another but also the marketing that we use there. It should be great to share…
Dogs can understand human speech and are only truly happy if a praising tone of voice is matched by the actual words spoken Dogs understand what some human words mean, according to a study published in the prestigious journal Science. In a world-first experiment, academics in Hungary trained 13 dogs to voluntarily lie in an MRI scanner to monitor what happened in their brain…
There are three things you can be sure of in life: death, taxes – and lying. The latter certainly appears to have been borne out by the UK’s recent Brexit referendum, with a number of the Leave campaign’s pledges looking more like porkie pies than solid truths. But from internet advertising, visa applications and academic articles to political blogs, insurance…