Rugby is a game that evolved more than 200 years ago as an offshoot from the newly formed Football Association, which governed Association Football (or “soccer”).
There are three different rugby “codes” (union, league, and sevens), and it is a sport that is played across the world. But your first encounter with rugby might be a little perplexing, and the rules can be arcane even to keen fans.
Some terms have made their way from the rugby pitch into mainstream language; for example, “There was a massive scrum outside the electrical store on Black Friday.” In case you want to watch a game with some understanding, we’ve put together a list of rugby terms to help.
Aspect ratio is the ratio between the width and height of an image or display expressed as two numbers separated by a colon (e.g., “4:3” for an image where the width is four units and the height is three).
Aspect ratio exampleWhen watching some long-running series on a streaming service, you can see when they changed from the old television aspect ratio of 4:3 to the more common “widescreen” standard of 16:9.
Perhaps because the sea has played such an important part in the birthplace of the English language, there are many words, phrases, and idioms in common use that trace their origin to sailing.
Whenever you “give way,” “jump ship,” or tell someone to “pipe down,” you are reflecting this rich history of sailing terms in English.
Fencing terms relating to the sport (not constructing barriers to encircle your property) are perhaps more common than you might think. As a sport, fencing dates back centuries to the time when swordfighting skills were a literal matter of life and death.
Although fencing is an Olympic sport (on its own and as part of the modern pentathlon), it still remains a fairly niche activity; with an estimated two million participants worldwide, it is dwarfed by estimates for soccer (265 million) and cricket (300 million).
Fencing terms examplesSadie was on her guard going into the meeting, knowing that it might be tough. [From the fencing term “en garde,” meaning to be ready for the bout to begin.]
It was a fantastic riposte to the journalist’s remark, and the questioning soon moved on to other topics. [From the fencing term “riposte,” which is an immediate response to an attack.]
Usually, you will try to make sure that the sentences you write are coherent and that they make sense. However, there is one niche area where the opposite is true, and that is the world of sentences that make no sense.
Nonsense sentences are usually created for a bit of fun or mental exercise, and sometimes to demonstrate a point of grammar.
Why not have a go at writing your own, or you can ask QuillBot’s AI Chat to write some for you.
Sentences that make no sense examplesThe polka-dot giraffe somersaulted gleefully through a cloud of jellybeans.
Whispering pancakes decided to join the choir of giggling umbrellas.
A velvet moonbeam tickled the toes of a dancing broccoli forest.
Love them or hate them, AI action figures have been quite the rage lately. If you’re unfamiliar with them, they are a virtual representation of what you would look like as an action figure toy. The image presents the figure in a box with a clear plastic front, and the figure has a number of accessories to go with the job they do.
You can write your own prompt to enter into the input section of an AI image generator, or you can use QuillBot’s AI Chat to write it for you. This article has some tips and tricks for writing prompts to get the best possible results.
Code-switching is a feature of language that describes how people can switch between different languages or dialects depending on the context of the language interaction.
Some linguists take a slightly narrow view of code-switching and see it as only concerning a switch in language within, say, a single sentence, while others distinguish this as “translanguaging.”
Code-switching in casual conversation exampleImagine two Czech students talking in the corridor of their international school. One of them might say, “Zítra se musím setkat se svým vedoucím ohledně mé extended essay,” (I have to see my supervisor about my extended essay tomorrow”) or “Jak palivo uvolňuje energii, kvalita energie se snižuje v důsledku heat transfer do okolí,” (“As a fuel source releases energy, the quality of the energy decreases due to heat transfer to the surroundings”).
In this example, the student uses the English phrases “extended essay” and “heat transfer” in an otherwise Czech sentence because the vocabulary used is specific to the educational context.
A wider view of code-switching is that we adopt dialects or languages to fit in with our interlocutors, adopting more formal or informal dialects according to the context.
Code-switching in literature exampleIn Donna Leon’s novels featuring her detective character Guido Brunetti, he frequently switches between Italian and Veneziano (the Venetian dialect) where appropriate, recognizing the advantages of conversing in a dialect more familiar to the person being spoken to:
“He switched to the softer, more inflected language of the Veneto. ‘Excuse me, signora, but perhaps you could help us?’”—Friends in High Places, Donna Leon
It doesn’t matter how you measure it, soccer (or football outside the US) is the most popular sport on the planet by a long margin. With three and a half billion fans, it’s a good one billion ahead of the next most popular sport (cricket, seeing as you asked) and three billion more than the most popular US sport of baseball.
The men’s Champions League final is the most-watched annual sporting event in the world with roughly 450 million viewers.
However, if you’re not familiar with the game, the terminology and rules of soccer can be confusing. This guide aims to clear the confusion and guide you through the maze of terms and rules.
If you want quick answers, you can always ask QuillBot’s AI chat to tell you.
A novel’s title may look like a small detail, but it can have a huge influence on how the story is received. This is even more important for new writers, who need something that will stand out among countless other titles.
There’s no single formula for naming your novel, though there are a few useful principles that can help guide the choice.
If finding the right title feels overwhelming, you can use a tool such as QuillBot’s novel title generator. If you give the tool a little information about your work, it will generate a list of suggestions that you can refine or adapt.
Tips for creating a novel title
Although there are no strict rules, most writers follow a similar process. Some discover the perfect title only after finishing the manuscript, while others know it before they start writing.
Even classic novels went through changes before publication. For example:
1984 by George Orwell began life as The Last Man in Europe
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald had several working titles, including On the Road to West Egg
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was originally called First Impressions
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell had working titles such as Bugles Sang True
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee was once Go Set a Watchman
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck started out as Something That Happened
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was first called Prometheus Unchained
The greatest strength of a portable document file (PDF) document is also its greatest weakness. Its strength is that no matter what device or operating system you have, the document will look the same, because its elements are fixed in place.
This, however, also means that it is very difficult to alter the PDF once it has been finished. Made a typo? Too bad, you can’t change it. Want to suggest changes to the author? Sorry, it’s finalized.
But there is hope. A PDF editor like the QuillBot online PDF editor can save the day. With the PDF editor, you can highlight, add text boxes, insert images, or draw on the PDF.
