Confusing words: Thank or Thanks God it’s Friday?

“Thank God” is actually a shortened version of “Thanks be to God” which means that you are telling the others (your friends or whoever) that you are thankful to God. “Thank God” is in the same way as “Praise God”. “Thank God” is also correct because you are using “Thank” as a verb I (we)… Read More

Pesquisa de Produtividade & Índice de Proficiência em Inglês no Brasil 2018

Em que idioma faríamos o primeiro contato?

“Tudo o que um homem pode imaginar, outros homens poderão realizar”, Jules Verne. Quem de nós, amantes do seriado Star Trek, diria que um dia a ficção se tornaria realidade? E aí estão as tecnologias que um dia nos encantaram nas mãos dos personagens de Jornada nas Estrelas, mais presentes do que nunca em nossa… Read More

Requisito nos processos de seleção, o inglês está dando o que falar

As mídias sociais têm apontado o surgimento de importantes questões relacionadas ao inglês. A primeira coloca na balança a real necessidade do idioma para todas as funções exercidas dentro de uma empresa. A segunda  diz respeito à fluência no idioma exigida nos processos de seleção das empresas. E a terceira aborda o fato do aprendizado… Read More

Leonardo Da Vinci’s wacky piano is heard for the first time after 500 years

A bizarre instrument combining a piano and cello has finally been played to an audience more than 500 years after it was dreamt up Leonardo da Vinci. Da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance genius who painted the Mona Lisa, invented the ‘‘viola organista’’ – which looks like a baby grand piano – but never built it,… Read More

Confusing words: mugwump

Origin: The Mugwumps were Republican political activists who bolted from the United States Republican Party by supporting Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland in the United States presidential election of 1884. Theyswitched parties because they rejected the financial corruption associated with Republican candidate James G. Blaine. In a close election, the Mugwumps supposedly made the difference in… Read More

The Impact of Leaders’ Language

  A new study by Jonathan R. Clark, assistant professor of management at The University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA), states that the language of leaders has a profound effect on the performance of their employees. Clark’s top-tier research, published in Organizational Dynamics, shows that how a company presents its vision and values is deeply… Read More

Politically correct English

As we progress in the 21st century, more and more everyday English terms are considered offensive. Although there are many categories in which words have been changed such as racial and ethnic groups, age, ilness and disabilities, and sexual preferences, among others, it is in gender that these changes are more noticeable: Gender is an… Read More

“Engrish” XI: translation mistakes from across the globe, from menus to billboards, and mispelling