Acrophobia

Acrophobia: fear of heights. There is nothing to fear, but fear itself.  And heights.  And public speaking.  And spiders… especially spiders. From Greek ἄκρον (height, summit, peak), and and φοβία (fear).

Acronym

Acronym: A word created from the first letters of other words.  For example: NASA – National Aeronautics and Space Administration. BOOK – Box Of Organized Knowledge CLASS – Come Late And Start Sleeping PHD – Please Hire.  Desperate. From Greek...

Acid

Acid: When an adjective, Acid means: sour, sharp or biting to the taste, having the taste of vinegar, as in acid fruits. When a noun, an Acid is a chemical substance that neutralizes alkalis From Latin acidus: sour, bitter, or tart.

What happens in the brain when you learn a foreign language?

This interesting article by Alison Mackey showed up in the Guardian.  Thought some of you might find it encouraging. Learning a foreign language can increase the size of your brain. This is what Swedish scientists discovered when they used brain scans to monitor what...

The Maple Tree

Quercus acerfolia: The oak with sharp leaves.  This particular tree, sometimes called the the maple-leaved oak, is native to the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas, in the United States. Quercus is the Latin word for “oak”.  You have seen the word before in the name of a...