執筆者 Modern English | 2014年04月03日 | Trivia
“I don’t like to show too much skin so I always swim in a one-piece suit.” In Japanese, a “one-piece” means a dress. In English, though, it often means a bathing suit. A bikini is made of two pieces, but a one-piece swimsuit is all one piece. English native speakers...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年03月27日 | Trivia
If your birthday is today, your zodiac is Aries, the ram. A ram is a male sheep. The female sheep is called a ewe (sounds like “you”). In some kinds of sheep, both rams and ewes have horns. In others, neither have horns. In yet others, only the rams have horns....
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年03月20日 | Trivia
In winter, the days are short and the nights are long. In summer, the days are long and the nights are short. In between, there is a day where the day and night are equal in length. This is called the spring equinox. This year’s equinox is today! (But it’s tomorrow on...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年03月13日 | Trivia
Tomorrow is Pi Day! Do you know why March 14 is called “Pi Day”? If you write it with numbers it looks like the mathematical constant pi, because pi starts with 3.14. Pi tells us the ratio of the circumference and diameter of a circle. It is an infinitely long number,...
執筆者 Modern English | 2014年03月06日 | Trivia
The name “March” is related to the Roman god of war, Mars. The planet Mars is also named after him. His symbols include the spear and sword, as well as the wolf. Those make sense for a god of war. But the woodpecker is another symbol for Mars. The woodpecker was...