By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Unique’ is a strange word. It’s often assumed that there are no true synonyms for unique, because the word literally presupposes that the thing or person described as ‘unique’ is truly one of a kind, rather than simply rare. ‘Unique’, some people declare, is a unique word.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘The Blind Dog’ is a story from Malgudi Days, the short-story collection by the Indian writer R. K. Narayan (1906-2001). This short tale is about a blind beggar who is befriended by a stray dog; the man puts the dog on a lead and uses him to navigate his way around the town, but this robs the dog of its freedom.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Monday’s Child’ is the title sometimes given to a short children’s rhyme, which has been popular for several centuries. Lines such as ‘Monday’s child is fair of face’ and ‘Wednesday’s child is full of woe’ have become well-known; but what was the purpose of this song or poem?
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘Born in the USA’ is rock music’s ‘The Road Not Taken’: perhaps of all American songs, none has been more consistently misinterpreted than the title track from Bruce Springsteen’s bestselling 1984 album.
And when we say ‘misinterpreted’, we don’t just mean people have missed the point slightly: they get the message of the song completely wrong so they think it means the opposite to what it actually means.
By Dr Oliver Tearle (Loughborough University)
‘For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face’ is a famous quotation from the Bible. But where in the Bible does it appear, in what context, and what does it mean? Let’s take a closer look at the origins of this well-known quotation and discover precisely what it means.
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