This would explain the 'OR' ligature letter, little known outwith Northumbria. (-:
#EnglishLanguage
"Summer Samba" (also known as "So Nice" or its original #Portuguese title, "Samba de Verão") is a 1964 #bossaNova and #jazzStandard song by Brazilian composer #MarcosValle, with #Englishlanguage lyrics by #NormanGimbel; the original Portuguese lyrics are by #PauloSérgioValle, the composer's brother.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VGNwXq6vPoI
Hype for the Future 94B: Syllables Required to Pronounce Letters in the English Language
Disclaimer While the American English pronunciation of the letter Z is “zee” and the Commonwealth pronunciation is “zed,” either name can be pronounced in the same number of syllables. Therefore, the syllable counts should remain consistent across distinct varieties of the global language. Introduction While many letters can be pronounced in one or a few syllables, words containing such letters could also be pronounced in fewer syllables than the letters themselves in select […]
The weird history of Spoonerisms: English's silliest slips-of-the-tongue
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/history-of-the-spoonerism
"We take other people's loose pocket language"
- My wife, in reference to English as a Frankenstein language with roots in Germanic, Latin, Greek... (and loan words from even more)
Couple with unfortunate last name hilariously mourns the baby names they couldn't use
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/unfortunate-last-name-for-new-baby
'Wheel of Fortune' fans speechless after contestant wins $50,000 solving impossible puzzle
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/epic-wheel-of-fortune-win-ex1
American moves to UK and points out one thing that 'doesn't make sense'
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-news/american-moves-uk-points-out-36558022
People on LinkedIn are inventing nonsense business idioms, and they're too good not to use
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/made-up-business-idioms
Linguists explain why people often say 'is is' even though we'd never write it that way
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/linguist-explain-is-is-phrasing
Why English Is The Language of Pilots
https://piefed.zip/c/norm_macdonald_snl_jokes/p/931591/why-english-is-the-language-of-pilots
Linguist clearly demonstrates how 'thinking is walking' in English and it's just so cool
https://fed.brid.gy/r/https://www.upworthy.com/linguist-explains-thinking-is-walking-ex1
That said:
I wonder whether 'enforcer' will take off for an officer of U.S.A. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
It is, after all, right there in the name of the organization.
Of course, it does have connotations of "Dirty" Harry Callahan; paramilitary members issuing punishment beatings, doing kneecappings, and the like; and thugs who put the frighteners on or murder people for a criminal gang.
In English, an 'officer' is simply someone who holds an office of any sort, be that military, civil, ecclesiastical, corporate, or whatever. This is the primary sense in Chambers's 20 Century and the old Daily Herald dictionaries, for example.
We have 'constable', 'sergeant', 'inspector', 'policeman' and so forth available as alternatives to 'officer' for a police officer. (And, indeed, a bunch of colloquialisms and slang terms, long since enshrined in the titles of some U.K. telly programmes and movies.)
In American, technically the same is true about the senses of 'officer'. Vide Merriam-Webster:
https://merriam-webster.com/dictionary/officer
Notice, though, that 'officer' for a police officer, in contrast, is the primary M-W sense. It's the more common connotation in American.
Sometimes federal personnel are 'agents'. But per 18 USC 1357 (et al.), U.S.A. Immigration and Customs Enforcement people are 'officers or employees'.
I'd like to improve my spoken English. Would anyone be willing to chat with me in the evenings?
As part of a language exchange, I can offer Polish lessons. We can watch "Lekostronniczy" together, and I'll also help correct errors in your flashcards.
#languagelearning #languageexchange #polski #polishlanguage #polish #englishlanguage
@cyberlyra
That's somewhat encouraging news, thanks for keeping us informed.
(Aside: “minibus bill” means something quite different in UK English 🚌💷)
Brush up on your knowledge of contemporary English with my retrospective of the Words of the Year (WOTY) 2025, selected by leading lexicographers:
https://grammaticus.blog/2026/01/06/english-words-of-the-year-2025/
#englishlanguage #englishvocabulary #englishteacher #woty #WOTY2025
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