The Etymology of Advent
Yesterday, November 29, 2009, marked the beginning of Advent, the first day in the year of liturgical Western Christian churches. Falling on the fourth Sunday before Christmas, the holiday was celebrated around the world in churches by the lighting of candles, the recitation of certain Biblical verses pertaining to the birth of Christ, the liturgical […]
The Most Popular Words of the Decade
Unfriend n. To remove a contact from your network on a social networking site, such as Facebook. The verdict is in: the New Oxford American Dictionary’s 2009 Word of the Year is “unfriend.” This transitive verb – as social networking site users and non-users alike might know – means to remove a “friend” from an […]
What Flowers Signify: Meaning Beyond Language
A picture may say a thousand words, but what about a flower? Last week in Singapore, while the world leaders convened to discuss politics, global climate change, and humanitarian efforts at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting, volunteers took to the streets to hand out 45,000 long-stemmed gerber daisies (photo to the left). The daisies […]
Psychometricians: What They Are and What They Do
What is a Psychometrician? A psychometrician is someone who practices the science of educational and psychological measurement, or in other words, testing. Psychometricians measure the validity, reliability, and fairness of an exam program, and are an integral part in the process of creating valid and reliable language tests. They may be involved in all aspects […]
Best iPhone Dictionary Apps
While my friend and I were driving through the mountains to a small Appalachian town in southwestern Virginia for their weekly bluegrass jamboree, we passed the turn-off to Green’s Garage. I explained to him that Green’s is a small food cooperative where there are no employees—everything is purchased on the honor system, faith that you’ll […]