english & pleasure

Why is Friday the 13th unlucky? A look back at the history of this ominous date! 1. According to folklore historian Donald Dossey, the unlucky nature of the number "13" originated with a Norse myth about 12 gods having a dinner party in Valhalla...

The term “false friends of the translator” refers to words existing in two different languages, which have a similar form (either graphic or phonetic) but different meanings. Complicated? “False friends”...

National Holidays of Britain Guy Fawkes Day On the night of November 4-5, 1605, London authorities uncovered the Gunpowder Plot, which implicated Guy Fawkes and four coconspirators. Fawkes was tortured on the rack before being tried for high treason in January 1606...

Your friend says, "you can’t teach an old dog new tricks." And you’re wondering, "what? We weren’t talking about dogs. What’s he talking about?" You’ve just heard an animal idiom. One of many. Make your study time relevant and interesting by learning some animal idioms...

Many common English words have origin in Greek mythology, which has had a tremendous influence on the English language. Knowing the meaning of Greek root in English words can help you to expand your English vocabulary...

A catch-phrase is a sentence or phrase which becomes popular or well-known, often because it is frequently used by a famous person. A little bird told me… — Мне птичка нашептала… Don’t judge a book by it’s cover...

All people love riddles. Riddles not only provide a fun but also help people learn to think and reason. There are a great majority of riddles, which include some silly ones, some old favorites, and some that make us really spend some time thinking...

Мы посвятили сегодня наш пост прекрасному. Поговорим об искусстве! И вспомним прекрасного английского художника романтика Джона Констэбла. Более остального я должен писать родные места. Живопись — не что иное, как выражение чувств… Оригинальный текст (англ...

Did you know...? Fun food facts. The world’s longest French fry is 34-inches long. Garlic bulbs are full of Vitamin C, iron, potassium, magnesium, zinc and more. It also has 17 amino acids. On the South Atlantic island of Tristan da Cunha, potatoes were once used as currency...

Limerick is a humorous form of poetry that rhymes and has five lines. The purpose of using this form is to replace everyday expressions with unusual alternatives to express emotion by adding essentiality and weirdness...

An idiom is a common word or phrase that is something different to the literal meaning of the words. Idiom is a phrase whose meaning cannot be understood from the dictionary definitions of each word taken separately...

Tongue twisters are traditional word games, so some of them are difficult to understand, but you don't have to understand them to say and this is what you should try to do. They are used not only for enjoyment, but the tongue twisters have some practical uses as well...