Exonyms

Do you know what an exonym is? It's a word you use for certain people, that they don't use for themselves. For example, in English the country the Olympics are from is called "Greece". However, people in Greece don't use that word - they call their country "Ellada" or "Hellas". We call them that, but they don't call themselves that. "Japan" is another example - most people here call their country "Nihon", not "Japan".

It's interesting to find out the stories of why we started using these words. Have you ever wondered why "Japan" in English is different from "Nihon" in Japanese? How about why England is called "Igirisu" in Japanese? Why do both English and Japanese call one country "Spain" when they call themselves "España"? Language can sure be a mystery sometimes.

A Mild Cold

I had a mild cold this weekend. I wasn't stuck in bed, but I had to sneeze or blow my nose once every few minutes. It wasn't fun, but I've had worse colds before.

I tried something new to ease my symptoms: Ginger, garlic, orange peel and red pepper tea. It smelled terrible, but I think it made me feel a bit better. Plus, I got to use some of the huge bag of garlic I bought at Costco last year.

Who knew?

I had always believed that badminton was a very minor sport in the US - practiced mostly by high school kids not popular enough to be on the tennis team. Thus, I wasn't expecting to find any good places to play on my short vacation back in California. Oh, how little did I know!



This gigantic facility has more courts than I could count, and is staffed by the ex-coach of the Thai national badminton team, among other very big-name people. A sign out front said that this facility is where the US Olympic team trained, too. Who knew a badminton club this size would be just a short drive from my house?

We're back!

We have returned! Prepare yourselves for another fun year with OC English!

California was great. Here's a sample of what you can see there: