SImilé

No, that is not French for 'smile' - it is a Figure of Speech! Often when we make comparisons between two things of a different nature, to describe something, perhaps a person, a situation or an object. 
For example, we could say, while describing a fight, " Henry fought like a tiger". 
Another  example would be  "P.T. Usha ran like a gazelle" 
These figures of speech are introduced in a sentence by the adverbs: like, so, as, as...as. These similés, aid the readers' imagination and every author of repute has used them at some time or the other. 

Spindles

Today, I came across a new meaning for the word 'spindle', in the latest National Geographic August 2018 edition. There was this article on 'Sleep- Inside the new Science of Slumber' and it described an activity of our brains, which takes place in the cerebral cortex. This is the part of the brain that we use for thinking, language and generally of consciousness. These are half-second bursts of electrical activity that signify that we have entered the second phase of sleep.
Traditionally, spindles are "a straight spike usually made from wood in order to spin textile fibre into thread. There are parts of machines also called spindles.

Quotation marks

Quotation marks were invented by a librarian in the great library of Alexandria, called Aristarchus of Samothrace (born 217 BB - died 145 BC), the sixth Librarian of that wonderful institution, when editing some of its works, placing the "diples" to indicate that he thought the work was extraordinary 

Subordinating conjunctions

These are conjunctions that introduce subordinate clauses into a complex sentence: Some examples are:-

• After      
• although     
• as
• as if
• as though
• because
• before
• for
• if 
• in order that
• since
• so... that
• that 
• though
• unless
• until
• when
• whenever
• where
• wherever
• while
• whilst

Strange words

Clinomania: Excessive desire to stay in bed.
Euneirophrenia: The peace of mind that comes from having pleasant dreams.
Basorexia: The overwhelming desire to kiss.
Querencia: A place from which one's strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where one can be oneself
Tsundoku: buying books and not reading them

The endings -ion, sion and -tion

These suffixes mean 'a state of', 'act of' and 'result of':-

1. celebration: The act of honouring a particular event
2. incarceration: The state of being imprisoned.
3. infection: the result of exposure to germs.

Humour

I cannot watch TV and write a blog at the same time, multi-tasking is not my strength! Anyway, I am reading a book by Tim Allen, titled " I'm not really here". It is hilarious, and it makes me wonder how people can be so funny! 
It starts, I suppose,  by seeing the world is a different way that most of us see it.  I am amazed at how Mr Allen sees the world in such a humourous way.  I almost considered spelling 'humourous' in the American way, as Grammarly is trying to get me to do, but just because I'm writing about an American does not mean I should use their spellings too, does it?
Funny stuff is the same in any language, and everybody enjoys humour, but not everyone has that funny bone tickling all the time. I think of George Mikes, to whom I was first exposed to when got a book written by him as a prize from the South Indian Education Society College of Arts and Science. I had read other funny books, but this book gave me a fuller appreciation of Humour as Literature.