After around 20 episodes, season 2 of the Vocabbett podcast is coming to a close! I’d gladly continue it forever, but I was recently accepted to UCSD’s college counseling program. Since they operate on a quarterly system, I’m able to…
Margo Durrell – Quite the Character!
If you’ve seen The Durrells in Corfu, you’ll undoubtedly remember the slightly dotty daughter in the series, Margo. When I finished the show (a slightly heartbreaking moment – I hope they release a new season in the future!), I was exceptionally…
Cleopatra’s Little Sister
We’ve all heard of Cleopatra, but how many people know she had a little sister — and a pretty remarkable one at that? Arsinoe IV was about ten years younger than Cleopatra, but my guess is that, had their ages…
18th Century Heiress-Turned-Pirate? Tell Me More!
“18th-century heiress-turned-pirate” may sound like the tagline of a cheesy romance novel, but remarkably, it’s a fairly accurate description of the indomitable Anne Bonny! A few episodes into our “Forgotten Women” mini-series — where I sneakily boost your vocabulary by…
The *Other* British Warrior Queen
If you’re an Anglophile (lover of the English) like me, you’ve probably heard of Boudica, the warrior queen who took on the Romans. But did you know that there’s *another* British warrior queen with an equally fascinating tale? Around the…
The Powerful Woman Behind ‘Mary Had a Little Lamb’
“Mary had a little lamb…” Be honest. Did you go, “little lamb” again after you read that? Those five words are so catchy, they were the first words Thomas Edison ever recorded in the phonograph (making them the first words…
Kudos & Magical Glory
I don’t remember the first time I heard the word “kudos,” but I distinctly remember thinking that it was 1970’s slang. How wrong I was! I only found out last week, though, that “kudos” goes all the way back to…
The Beak Where People Speak
Amid the recent inauguration news, I kept hearing the word “rostrum.” “As he approaches the rostrum tomorrow…” “Donald Trump began his term from the same rostrum…” “In his inaugural address Wednesday, delivered from a rostrum…” Obviously this word wasn’t crucial…
What Everyone’s Missing With the Latest SAT News
With colleges dropping the SAT left and right — and the recent announcement that they’re dropping the essay and subject tests — it’s normal to feel a reluctant pang of sympathy for a dying rite of passage. Here’s the thing,…
‘An Era of Schadenfreude’
Imagine not knowing how to say you’re tired. It wouldn’t make sense, right? And yet there’s an emotion that most of us experience all the time..that we awkwardly don’t name. If you don’t know the word “schadenfreude,” you’re not alone….
