Latest news with #NoahWebster
Observer
14-06-2025
- General
- Observer
Adding a ‘SPLASH of COLOUR' with Words.
Metaphors, idioms and colloquialisms have become an ever-increasing component of the English language, therefore making it difficult for English as a second language learners to keep their heads about them in the face of what I see as the 'metaphorical gymnastics' what is now the global language. It may be somewhat of a challenge you see, for a non-English speaker to recognise the true meaning of a comment that someone is 'showing their true colours now.' The actual meaning is that the person has revealed their true manner, nature or character now. This usually occurs due to a change in their circumstances or relationship. It has nothing to do with what colour the person is, is wearing, or any part of their appearance, but is a metaphor for their manner, the way they treat or react to people; their nature, the way they behave towards others; or their character, their distinctive mental and moral qualities. The word 'colour,' in fact has a genuine diversity within the English language that is probably not helped, in language learning, by the fact that the word is spelled differently in the Americas, with the spelling of 'color,' not at all indicative of any difference in meaning. 'Colour' and 'color' mean the same thing but are drawn from different origins and in the matter of the differences in linguistic standardisation on the two sides of the Atlantic, the derivations result from whether the words have Latin or French origin. America, seeking even subtle forms of independence in the early 19th century, eagerly embraced the spelling differences published by the American lexicographer Noah Webster in his 1828 dictionary. There are hundreds of words, not only spelled differently 'on either side of the pond,' which is itself a metaphor describing the Atlantic Ocean as a pond and referring to the two (American and United Kingdom) civilisations without naming them, in an absolute example of how identifying the differentiation between idioms and colloquialisms can challenge the language learner. The reality is that they don't have to and can take comfort in the fact that beyond a lesson or two, they will find that 'knowing' the difference is less important than understanding that this amazing language is, in common use, as likely to be figurative, as literal. Familiarisation is the only way to both understand, absorb and utilise even some of the idioms and colloquialisms they will encounter in life. However, that familiarisation will be greatly enhanced by embracing metaphors and synonyms, which sounds dreary, but can be fun. The distinction, linguistically, is that an idiom has a non-literal meaning, while a colloquialism is a phrase that is likely to be in common usage, based upon regional specificity. Now there is no way that an English language learner would identify the Atlantic as a 'pond,' because in fact, it's a massive great ocean, so the use of the word 'pond' is clearly not literal, making it an idiom. Wouldn't you agree? Yet, the reference to 'either side of the pond,' is also clearly a unique distinction, most likely made by someone from either the States, or the British Isles, therefore regional, therefore more correctly a colloquialism, correct? Such are the joys of this amazing language, which, used well, or heard and understood well, and with an extensive enough vocabulary, can add so much colour, there's that word again, to any discussion or conversation. Wait a minute! What's the difference between a discussion and a conversation? Is there a difference? Yes! A discussion is probably more formal, more structured, focused, usually on a specific issue, between several people and will usually have stated objectives. Whereas, on the other hand, a conversation is generally informal, usually between two people, usually personal, often private, humorous, anecdotal and more intimate, a 'shared' experience. I know, you're thinking 'It's alright for you. You're English.' And you are right of course, but within any language lies lifelong personal enrichment and that can't be bad... Can it?
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Anti-ICE mayhem explodes in Austin and Dallas as cops confront protesters demanding an end to Trump's deportations
Protesters in two of Texas ' largest cities clashed with police on Monday night to show solidarity with demonstrations in Los Angeles against President Donald Trump 's sweeping deportation raids. As Trump mobilized 700 Marines to deal with the mayhem in LA, tensions quickly escalated in Dallas and Austin at anti-Immigration Customs Enforcement (ICE) rallies. Dallas police began arresting individuals just before 9pm after they pleaded with protestors to stay off the Margret Hunt Hill Bridge, a busy thoroughfare into downtown filled with cars zooming by. As darkness fell on the city, a line of cops blocked the advance of the protestors who seemed determine to take control of the bridge. Police declared an 'unlawful assembly,' warning more arrests could be coming just before 10pm. It was unclear late Monday how many had been taken into custody. 'That's not protesting. That's vandalism,' Noah Webster posted on X. The gathering was also declared unlawful, and eventually, Austin police deployed tear gas for those who refused to go home and comply with orders. Arrests were made by officers from several agencies who were staged in the area. The agency's arrests of law-abiding migrants, including ones with legal status, have spurred much of the anger behind the nationwide demonstrations. A video of a 52-year-old mother being arrested without a warrant in Westminster, Maryland has gone viral in recent days. The woman, pulled over by ICE agents, asks why she was pulled over and if they have a warrant for her. 'Show us the warrant,' the Salvadoran woman and her daughter plead with the federal agent. 'I'm not going to give you the warrant,' the officer replies. The woman responded by saying she wouldn't exit the car without a warrant, when agents shattered her window, to her daughter's desperate screams. 'You guys cannot take her just because you guys want to,' her daughter yells through tears.' The mother calmly complies with law enforcement, urging her kids to remain calm. ICE protesters covered parts of the federal building in graffiti. Here is what they left. — DASH (@DocumentingATX) June 10, 2025 View this post on Instagram A post shared by 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐚 (@thefuddhist) Her son pleads with officers, claiming his mother is in the middle of a legal immigration process. Arrests that seem to buck every rule of American law enforcement and Constitutionality since Trump took office have angered many across the country. However, President Trump won a second term in the White House in large part due to his campaign promise to carry out the largest deportations in the nation's history. Around 8:30 p.m., Austin Police declared a protest in downtown unlawful assembly and threatened to deploy tear gas if people didn't leave.
Daily Mail
10-06-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Anti-ICE mayhem explodes in Texas as cops confront protesters demanding an end to Trump's deportations
To show their support with Los Angeles protestors, sympathizers in Texas 's largest cities filled the streets to demonstrate against migrant deportations carried out by order of Pres. Donald Trump. In Dallas and Austin, rallies started at 7 p.m. Monday night. While initially peaceful, tensions escalated between protestors and local police as the night went on. Dallas police began arresting individuals just before 9 p.m. after they pleaded with protestors to stay off the Margret Hunt Hill Bridge, a busy thoroughfare into downtown filled with cars zooming by. As darkness fell on the city, a line of cops blocked the advance of the protestors who seemed determine to take control of the bridge. It's unclear how many were arrested in Dallas. However, police declared an 'unlawful assembly,' warning more arrests could be coming just before 10 p.m. Central time. In Austin, protestors moved between the state capitol and the federal building just a short distance away. Using shoe polish as graffiti, some of the protestors vandalized the outside of the building, which houses Immigration and Customs Enforcement or ICE. 'That's not protesting. That's vandalism,' Noah Webster posted on X. The gathering was also declared unlawful, and eventually, Austin police deployed tear gas for those who refused to go home and comply with orders. Arrests were made by officers from several agencies who were staged in the area. The agency's arrests of law-abiding migrants, including ones with legal status, have spurred much of the anger behind the demonstrations nation wide. A video of a 52-year-old mother being arrested without a warrant in Westminster, Maryland has gone viral in recent days. The woman, pulled over by ICE agents, asks why she was pulled over and if they have a warrant for her. 'Show us the warrant,' the Salvadoran woman and her daughter plead with the federal agent. 'I'm not going to give you the warrant,' the officer replies. The woman responded by saying she wouldn't exit the car without a warrant, when agents shattered her window, to her daughter's desperate screams. 'You guys cannot take her just because you guys want to,' her daughter yells through tears.' The mother calmly complies with law enforcement, urging her kids to remain calm. ICE protesters covered parts of the federal building in graffiti. Here is what they left. — DASH (@DocumentingATX) June 10, 2025 View this post on Instagram A post shared by 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐚 (@thefuddhist) Her son pleads with officers, claiming his mother is in the middle of a legal immigration process. Arrests that seem to buck every rule of American law enforcement and Constitutionality since Trump took office have angered many across the country. However, President Trump won a second term in the White House in large part due to his campaign promise to carry out the largest deportations in the nation's history. Around 8:30 p.m., Austin Police declared a protest in downtown unlawful assembly and threatened to deploy tear gas if people didn't leave.
Wall Street Journal
13-04-2025
- General
- Wall Street Journal
‘Enough Is Enuf' Review: A Dream of Simpler Spelling
Long before Noah Webster completed his 1828 magnum opus, 'An American Dictionary of the English Language,' he published a wildly successful primer called 'A Grammatical Institute of the English Language'—widely known as the 'Blue-Backed Speller'—which sold close to 25 million copies in his lifetime. The spelling primer's first edition conformed to traditional English orthography, with, for instance, entries for 'theatre,' 'publick' and 'colour.' After the publication of the 'Blue-Backed Speller' in 1783, however, Webster became increasingly committed to an American dialect that would be distinct from British English. His dictionary had an explicitly patriotic agenda: to unite the language of the regionally diverse United States and to declare its independence from the former motherland. In addition to such Americanisms as 'moccasin' and 'cookies,' Webster featured updated spellings of a number of words, including 'theater,' 'public' and 'color.' As Gabe Henry notes in 'Enough Is Enuf,' a history of the largely futile efforts to overhaul English spelling, Webster wasn't motivated by nationalism alone. He had also become an adherent of wholesale changes to written English, lamenting its 'irregular' orthography. 'If a gradual reform should not be made in our language,' the lexicographer warned in 1790, 'it wil proov that we are less under the influence of reezon than our ancestors.' A quick glance at that sentence is sufficient to grasp that not all of Webster's hoped-for modifications caught on. Mr. Henry begins his smart, lighthearted chronicle of the simplified spelling movement by identifying the 'heart of our problem': that 'English has 44 sounds but only 26 letters' and that each sound has, 'on average, four ways of spelling it.' (He offers 'cat,' 'kid,' 'chrome' and 'queen' as examples of the latter.) Over the centuries, reformers have proposed solutions—including adding new letters to the alphabet, removing existing letters from the alphabet and inventing different alphabets altogether—to little avail.
USA Today
15-02-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Puzzle solutions for Saturday, Feb. 15, 2025
USA TODAY Note: Most subscribers have some, but not all, of the puzzles that correspond to the following set of solutions for their local newspaper. CROSSWORDS USA TODAY crossword Play the USA TODAY Crossword Puzzle. Los Angeles Times crossword Today's crossword (McMeel) Daily Commuter crossword SUDOKU Play the USA TODAY Sudoku Game. JUMBLE Jumbles: MINCE BLIND ENZYME FOUGHT Answer: For Noah Webster, publishing the first edition of his dictionary was a − DEFINING MOMENT (Distributed by Tribune Content Agency) CRYPTOGRAPHY PUZZLES Celebrity Cipher "I think the sensation of being moved by a piece of art is something that is really good for a person's soul." − Ben Whishaw (Distributed by Andrews McMeel) Cryptoquote WHEN IT'S RAINING PUDDING, HOLD UP YOUR BOWL. − SANDRA DALLAS (Distributed by King Features) Cryptoquip I LIKE TO THINK OF PROFESSIONAL ARBITRATORS AS PEOPLE WHO ARE WORKING IN MEDDLE MANAGEMENT. (Distributed by King Features) OTHER PUZZLES Boggle SEAL WHALE WALRUS DOLPHIN PORPOISE (Distributed by Tribune Content Agency) Lexigo EXPEL, LEVELS, SPELL, LAPSED, DEPLOY (Distributed by Andrews McMeel) KenKen Scrabblegrams 7 Little Words PHYSICIANS MORTGAGE HOSTED COCO TANGANYIKA WYETH SWAMP (Distributed by Andrews McMeel) Find the Words Unspoilt towns and beaches (Distributed by Creators Syndicate) Kubok
