A study by the University of the Arts, London, suggests that learning a musical instrument at primary school can boost a child's confidence and learning in other areas. It was said to improve motivation and behaviour, because it is a social activity that engages the child's emotions and self expression, and it can improve the […]

A hospital paediatrician in Wales has been driven out of her home, after vandals confused her professional title with the word "paedophile". Her house was daubed with graffiti because local yobs don't seem to know the difference between "paedophile" and "paediatrician". It would be funny, if it wasn't so tragic.

A McDonald's advert, which promotes the Pound Saver Menu, says, "the pound, also known as a bob". Since when? I mean I know inflation is on its way, but a bob is British slang term for a shilling, or five pence, and of far less value than a pound. If I went to McDonald's (which […]

Actually I'm not talking about THE the "C" word (if you don't know what that is and you're not easily shocked, look it up in the Urban Dictionary). No, this "C" word is, or at least it used to be, less offensive, but now Home Office officials say that mentioning "crime" can lead to ' […]

The Royal Language Academy of Spain has launched a new grammar book. It's taken them 11 years and is contained in two volumes of around 4,000 pages, with another volume coming out in a few months. Spanish is currently spoken by around 500 million people in over 20 countries.

Australia's news.com.au website has had a competition to find a suitable description for the next decade. This decade looks doomed to be called the "Noughties", and amongst the 3,500 entries people came up with ideas like "the Tentions", "the Tennies, "the Twenteens", "Decnos" and "Tweens" to describe 2010 - 2019. All of these entries were […]