Trendspotter
The Expat Files: Norwegian takes off
Five years ago, the time was right for a new airline in Scandinavia. Norwegian Air Shuttle seized the opportunity by the scruff of the neck – and since then, some neat marketing ploys have helped it become Scandinavia’s largest low-cost airline.
The Expat Files: Feeling the love in Tokyo
No one does shopping like the Japanese.
In fact, the shops here are more like retail temples than mere buildings containing merchandise. Some of the world’s biggest names in architecture (Renzo Piano, Toyo Ito, Herzog and de Meuron) have teamed up with the biggest names in luxury brands (Hermes, To...
The Expat Files: Can SMO help you grow?
It’s clear that the marketing game has changed a lot over the last few years. Not just how your organization communicates, but where. Custom media such as e-newsletters, magazines and microsites are now common practice, and many businesses, especially in the U.S., have already taken the next step: f...
Is your event going to be blogable?
The blogging trend is not only changing the way companies communicate with customers – it’s also seen the rise of a host of new words. While working on our new blog, we’ve come across a spate of words that could soon be hitting boardrooms across the world.
Summertime blues
These words have all worked their way into the language over the last year or so. If you don’t know what they mean, don't worry. Nobody knew what they meant in 2004.
Our favorite langauge sites
Try these links to websites that offer valuable, web-based language tools:
Standardized spoken English
- dream or nightmare?
A very concise history of the English language - Part I
The history of the English language is long and involved. Here are some of the more interesting moments in its evolution.
Is it English or American?
English is not just English. The language has evolved in so many different directions and in so many different places, that there are actually native-English speakers around the world who cannot understand each other when they meet!
Is it Xmas yet?
The origin of the word Christmas - the mass of Christ - is not too difficult to figure out. But what about some of the other English words we hear and use every year around the holiday season?
By the time you've finished reading this article, you'll know why 'tis the season for turning the wheel, ...
Global business – global language
As business goes global, language has to follow. The word ‘offshoring’ has already made it into the Oxford dictionary and according to AskOxford.com, there are others that might follow.
Watch closely as I magically turn a noun into a verb...
It's an American phenomenon that's been evolving quietly. With the word 'picturize' recently added to the Oxford English Dictionary, is this ridiculous noun-turned-verb trend here to stay?
New words made up just for your phone
The mobile phone. How did we ever cope without it?
English – which 10 words are the most important?
Though the exact number of languages may never be precisely determined, best estimates say that there are nearly 7000 languages and dialects spoken. Amazingly, 96% of them are spoken by a mere 4% of the planet's population. And half of the world's languages are spoken in only eight countries: Papua ...