The Etymology of English Place Names

23rd February 2023

English draws on etymological roots from Old Norse, Old English (sometimes called Anglo-Saxon), Middle English, Insular (Anglo-Saxon) Latin, Scots Gaelic, Welsh, Irish (Irish Gaelic), Cornish, Cumbric, and doubtless many more insular and Northern European languages; the rich linguistic tapestry of this land is carried through the ages in our modern names for the places they dwelt. Below is a list of common parts of English place names, with their accompanying root languages and meanings. Hopefully, next time you’re scanning across a map, list of train stations, or perhaps a motorway exit sign, see if you can recognise any part of a town name and, with it, part of the history of this land.

The Etymology of English Place Names

What Your Favourite Celebrations Chocolate Says About You

23rd February 2023

If like me, every Christmas, your family commits to large variety tubs of chocolate over an intense game of Monopoly, you will be very familiar with the chocolates you invariably pick first, and indeed, the chocolates others snatch up before you. You will also be familiar with the unwanted species, who, much like the least favourite child, get reluctantly picked at the end once your mouth has been coated in sugar, and so is not fully appreciated. Call this over-analysing, but (BuzzFeed quiz style) have you ever pondered what your favourite Celebration says about you?

What Your Favourite Celebrations Chocolate Says About You

Clinical Trials are Failing Women

9th February 2023

A clinical trial allows researchers to compare the effects of different treatments, ensuring that drugs are safe and effective before being marketed. They are split into different phases which each test for specific things. If a medicine passes these phases, it can be giving a marketing licence, which makes it available on prescription, (though the side effects and effectiveness of the drug are still monitored while it is being used). In theory, these trials should be diverse, so that many different people can effectively benefit from the drug’s use, and for researchers to know how medicines affect these different groups of people. But clinical trials are still failing to sufficiently represent one of the largest groups on the planet: women.

Clinical Trials are Failing Women