Topics

Nov

You Can’t Just Make Up Words—Oh, Really?

by Joyce McGreevy on November 9, 2020

A woman reading the Oxford English Dictionary, a source of implicit language lessons on how to invent a word. (Image by lilbellule789 and PIxabay)

Spoiler alert: This page turner’s ending is all about the . . . zyzzyva!
lilbellule789/ Pixabay l

Language Lesson: How to Invent a Word

It’s become a sitcom trope: One character’s remark prompts another character to retort, “That’s not even a word!” or “You can’t just make up words!”

But according to the most widespread, time-honored language lore, people have been inventing words ever since the guttural grunts of one human first morphed into vocal patterns that made sense to other humans.

Let’s settle this with the world’s shortest language lesson, here. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 2 Comments

Wordplay

Oct

Ears Wide Open: The OIC Soundscapes Challenge

by Meredith Mullins on October 27, 2020

What do you see, smell, taste, feel . . . and hear in this bustling street?
© Meredith Mullins

Turn Up the Sound on Your Travel Adventures

Take a moment. Close your eyes. What do you hear?

Silence? Auditory stimuli that provide clues to where you are? Sounds that might remain in your sense memory for some time to come?

Especially when we travel, all our senses are alive. We see. We smell. We touch. We taste. We hear.

Sights, smells, and a symphony of baa’s.
© Meredith Mullins

Travel adventures are enhanced when we are multisensory. Oh, I see. Soundscapes can expand our experience exponentially. Read more...

Meredith Mullins 1 Comment

Art of Travel/Worldwide Sites

Oct

In the Kitchen with OIC: Peruvian Cuisine

by Joyce McGreevy on October 20, 2020

Chef Rodrigo Fernandini of Chiclayo, Peru, shares his passion for Peruvian cuisine and culture, as featured on “In the Kitchen with OIC.” Image © Rodrigo Fernandini)

What’s on Chef Fernandini’s Menu? Peruvian Culture!

In California, the cooking class was starting on Zoom. In Oregon, I hesitated. On the one hand, I was eager to explore Peruvian cuisine for “In the Kitchen with OIC,” our newest recurring feature. On the other hand, I missed travel, open-air markets, rolling up my sleeves in foreign kitchens. I missed food tours, following local experts along unfamiliar streets.

I wanted real. Read more...

Joyce McGreevy 12 Comments

Cultural Heritage & Traditions/Peru/The World's Chefs

World Views: