Lentune Probus Ladies Club met on Wednesday 3rd April and enjoyed a talk by Dr Emma Jolly about the English language. In a talk full of fascinating facts and amusing anecdotes, Emma took us through Old English, which was Germanic in origin, Middle English, and finally words that are now disappearing and new words coming into our vocabulary.

English has the largest vocabulary and is the Lingua Franca in the world. French and Latin are incorporated in our language, with the help of King John, Chaucer and Dr Johnson and his dictionary. Emma told us about polysemic words which are used in crosswords e.g. mouse: a rodent, a computer gadget, an affectionate term for a wife, and a knob on stays! Words disappearing include O levels, slide rules, and newer words such as yuppie, cougars, twitter are also going. New words include Brexit, self-storage units, rizz (meaning charisma) and the newest words cis, grooming, gender neutral, trans, terf and situationship.

Members were very appreciative of our entertaining and professional speaker.

Lunch was much enjoyed after this talk and people chatted about words and language as well as catching up with friends.

Members can read a fuller account of the talk and an explanation of the intriguing title in website's secure Members Area. 

 Lentune Ladies Probus Club invites membership applications from ladies who would like to share our lively, fun, interesting meetings and social events. Contact Pauline Lightbody, Club Secretary on 01590 673277 for details.