Scaramouche

This is a word for a comic icon, an unscrupulous and unreliable valet to a clown, popularised in English in Punch and Judy shows, where Scaramouche is the valet of Punch.
It originated from an Italian performer, Tiberio Fiorillo, who played Scaramouche in another Italian theatre comedy, who had a long moustache and a goatee beard.

The word has become so much of a tradition that it has become an icon, just like Houdini, Casanova, etc. Do you know any scaramouches?

Strange words

What is a Knob Kerrie?

1. Is it a town in Ireland?
2. a term used by builders?
3. a round-headed stick used as a club and a missile?

Send us your answers to info@theenglishlearningchannel for a prize!

I keep six honest serving men

I keep six honest serving men
    (They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
     And How and Where and Who.
I send them over land and sea,
     I send them east and west:
But after they have worked for me,
    I give them all a rest.

I let them rest from nine till five,
   For I am busy then,
As well as breakfast, lunch and tea,
   For they are hungry men.
But different folk have different views;
   I know a person small-
She keeps ten million serving men,
  Who get no rest at all!

She sends'em abroad on her own affairs,
  From the second she opens her eyes-
One million Hows, two million Wheres,
   And seven million Whys!

From the "The Elephant's Child" by Rudyard Kipling

My note: These men are of the Grammatical species 'Adverbs'

Grammar

Grammar is a word of Greek origins and is the set of structural rules that govern the composition of clauses. phrases and words in any given natural language. Why Grammar? It is necessary to have these rules to understand the meaning of what is being communicated. Take for example the sentences below:
Boy the green shirt wearing is a.
The boy is wearing a green shirt.
Both sentences have the same words. The second sentence makes it clear that the boy is the one wearing the green shirt, while the first seems to indicate that the green shirt is male if anything at all. 
Very different meanings!

Appositive phrase

An appositive phrase is one that is used just for description and is usually set off by commas.

Example: "The Dead Sea Scrolls, written by an ancient people called the Essenes, shed an interesting light on early Christianity."

Mnemonics for spelling words that begin with 'b', 'c' and 'd'

These are some mnemonics for words that begin with the alphabets beginning with - 'b', 'c' and 'd'.

• believe: "Don't believe a lie."
• business: "I often take the bus in my business."
• calendar: "January is the first month of the calendar." 
• cemetery: "Epitaphs are found in a cemetery."
• defendant: "At a picnic, it would be hard to defend an ant."
• dilemma: "Emma faced a dilemma."
• doctor: "Get me to a Doctor or else!"

I know this is particularly difficult in English as many words are derived from the languages of the various conquerors of the British Isles, the Saxons, the Vikings, the Angles (yes, there were a people called that and I'm not sure if they were very geometric!😀), the Normans, the Romans and that is why you will often find several words that mean the same thing. 

Cliché

What is a cliché?

A cliche is a clever turn of phrase that has become so familiar that it does not seem so clever any more.
Examples of clichés are :

• Slippery as an eel 
• Pretty as a picture
• Happy as a lark
• Sharp as a tack
• Blind as a bat

Most grammar authors advise you to avoid them, especially in academic writing;  but in business writing, they do not seem to mind as long as the meaning conveyed is clear.