Terence Eden. He has a beard and is smiling.

Terence Eden’s Blog

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This blog is written in en-GB

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Meme showing a language select screen. The Union Jack represents "English (Traditional)" and the Stars and Stripes represents "English (Simplified)".

Someone left a comment on my blog recently asking if I'd mind making my language more inclusive. They didn't get some of the cultural references I'd used and suggested it would be easier if I used tropes which were more globally known. Here's the thing. No. All my blog posts start with a simple declaration: <!doctype html> <html lang=en-GB> There's a reason for that. It is more than the…

Do That After This

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A pet cat typing on a computer keyboard.

I was building some flatpack furniture the other day (my life is so glamorous) when I came across an interesting example of how not to write technical documentation. Drill a hole in part A and insert part B once you have ensured part C has been aligned after its connection to A. Most people can handle reading a whole sentence to figure out what's going on. But, after a tiring day of building,…

Trespass?

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Family trespassed from Domino’s pizza chain after claim of metal screw in pizza slice turns nasty.

Perhaps you are aware of the Mandela Effect - a psychological phenomenon where you are convinced you remember something which never actually happened. This, combined with the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon - where you suddenly start noticing something unusual - can cause extreme cognitive dissonance. What does the verb "to trespass" mean to you? I always thought it was the act of going somewhere p…

Book Review: The Prodigal Tongue - Lynne Murphy

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Book cover featuring an elongated tongue wearing a top-hat.

Who "owns" the English language? Do you cringe when you see "centre" spelled (or spelt) "center" (or vice-versa)? Which Americanisms do you think are super awesome? This book asks us a simple question: What if, instead of worrying about the “ruination” of English by young people, jargonistas, or Americans, we celebrated English for being robust enough to allow such growth and variety? Without e…