Art & History, Language & Literature

What is a Malapropism?

You may not have had the term ‘malapropism’, but I am sure you know what a malapropism is when you hear it!  It is when you get one word mixed up for another and as a result change the meaning of a sentence completely.  

For example you might mean to say to your friend, “I’m bored, let’s go watch telly”, but what you actually say is, “I’m bored, let’s go eat telly”. 🙂 

What is a malapropism, and why does it have such a funny name?

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Science, Nature and Tech

Who on Earth Invented Traffic Lights?!

Every day we use hundreds of inventions without even thinking about it. In this series, we’ll be celebrating some of the most overlooked inventions, finding out what inspired their inventors and maybe even a few unexpected tales along the way.  Contributor Sally Anne asks… “Who on Earth invented… Traffic Lights?!”

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Home, Health & Style

What Makes a Family?

What does the word ‘family’ mean to you?  It can mean many things in our society. Some define family as a mother, a father and one or more children.  For others, there don’t need to be children in the home for there to be a family.  Where there are children, about three quarters of the parents will be married to each other.

In 2013 the Office of National Statistics, which is a government body which takes surveys on all manner of topics to help the government make policy (rules under which we all live), found that there were 18.2 million people living in this type of family.  Many more of us have families which have a different make-up.  For the purpose of the survey, a family is defined as people living in the same household.   

However, as many of you will know, there are other ways in which we describe our family.  There are children who have two parents of the same gender, there are children who have only one parent with whom they live, other children have guardians and live with aunts, uncles or grandparents. 

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Sports

Ailsa – Our ContiReporter at Women’s U17 EUROS – Day Two

 

 

Tuesday 26th of November

Today was match day! England v Italy.

The match was at Telford Stadium so we had a 50 mile journey from St. Georges Park to get there.

It was a rather cold day to be outside but it wasn’t shown by any of the excited school children that flooded the ground, ready to watch the game. Before the match began outside the stadium, Continental Tyres were running a Conti Fan Zone. A variety of football activities were being run for the energetic children.

I had a go at measuring the speed of my kick. On my first go I fluffed it and didn’t even hit the target (that’s why I play in goal!) but on my second  go I managed to get 29mph which was quite good.

I had to do a piece to camera about what went on before the match and interviewed two Birmingham City Ladies who were taking part in the activities.

 

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Me and my cameraman David positioned ourselves by the team dugouts, ready and waiting for kick off. When the game finally  kicked off it was a fast, exciting game.

Both teams were equal and no team was particularly dominant. The England captain, defender Leah Williamson  was a stand out player as she was clearly comfortable on the ball and lead the team with ease.

At half time it was 0-0. For the second half me and David retreated to the press box, due to the days coldness, where Simon and Dad had been watching the game and famous footballer spotting.

 

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I had to do some  reporting to the camera at half time about how I thought the match was going. The second half was just as gripping and as nail-biting as the first. Unfortunately England conceded an untimely goal off a deflection. England continued to battle throughout the second half and continuously tried to win themselves back a goal, they came staggeringly close to scoring again but unluckily when the final whistle blew, Italy won 1-0.

The score didn’t reflect the game, a draw would have connoted the game more suitably.  After the game, I got the chance to ask Lois Fidler a question at the after game press conference.

Following the press conference I then  got the opportunity to interview the current England Ladies Manager, Brent Hills, who was lovely and chatty,  I still can’t believe I got the chance to interview him.

I was also fortunate enough to be able to interview Alex Scott, England international, Dave Sampson, Bristol Academy Ladies Manager and four of the Under 17 girls, Leah Williamson, Keira Walsh, Chloe Kelly and Molly Rouse.

I was overwhelmed by the people I got the chance to talk to about the game. As the day came to a close it was time for us to go back to St. Georges Park after a long, jam-packed, thrilling day.

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Food and Recipes, Toys and Games

Offline Minecraft Activities

minecraft activities

What to do When Your Parent Says ‘No More Minecraft Today!’

You could wail, ‘That is UNFAIR! You are horrible to me, you are so MEAN!’… or you could talk to them about WHY they are banning Minecraft for the day. Is it perhaps because you’ve been playing for hours and hours, and they think that you should get off the computer/iPod/Playstation?
We are willing to bet that is the reason, not because they want to annoy you. We parents worry that you are online too much, that you are ruining your eyes, that you are going to turn into a big square person who looks just like Steve!
So instead of complaining, how about you and your parents have a look at these fab OFFLINE Minecraft activities that are all to do with Minecraft, so that both you and your parents are happy? (Remember our article about negotiation? That is what this is!)

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