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• Feature Articles
• Language Interference
• New Word of the Month
• MED CD
• Language Awareness
• Language Study
• Study Skills
• Focus on Phrasal Verbs
• British and American Culture
• Top Tips for the CD-ROM
• Metaphor
• Top Tips for Business English
• Games
• Corpora Tips
• MED Web Watch
• Book Review
• MED Profile
• Your Questions Answered

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MED Magazine


Feature Articles

Title Topic Author
MED CD-ROM: The Ideal Self-study Tool
Learner training and vocabulary, pronunciation, language skills work outside the classroom
MED CD-ROM as self-study tool Pete Sharma
Word Sketches: The Modern Lexicographer's Tool
Learn how they were created and used for the Macmillan English Dictionary
Word Sketches Adam Kilgarriff and Michael Rundell
Christmas is Coming!
Read about Christmas traditions and words you often hear
Christmas traditions and vocabulary Elizabeth Potter

My Life-Long Love of the English Language Business
Ken Wilson reflects on English Language Teaching

ELT Ken Wilson
Languages at War
Loan words in times of conflict
loan words Diane Nicholls
Cutting a Long Word Short
Creating new words in English
word formation Diane Nicholls
What's in a Word?
Professor Michael Hoey considers the consequences of changes in lexicography
changes in lexicography and dictionary writing Prof. Michael Hoey
Housing Vocabulary in American and British English British and American English Susan Stempleski
A Tough Nut to Crack
Figures of speech and the language learner

figures of speech and the language learner Diane Nicholls
Getting around in American and British English British and American English; vocabulary of transport Susan Stempleski
Shopping in American and British
English

British and American English;
clothing and shopping terms
Susan Stempleski
Food and Cooking in American
and British English
British and American English;
food and cooking terms
Susan Stempleski
Talking Nonsense: old-fashioned
terms for nonsense in English

old-fashioned words
for nonsense
Diane Nicholls
Trends in English Language
Teaching Today

ELT trends Adrian Underhill
Crib notes, copying
and dictionary use

self-teaching and cheating Lindsay Clandfield
A wish beyond words
Richard Cauldwell calls for a novel
way of teaching listening skills
speech and listening skills Richard Cauldwell
Issues in Business English teaching Business English teaching Rosemary Richey
The intercultural dimension of
Business English
intercultural awareness in Business English Rosemary Richey
Classroom management for
Business English

classroom management
in Business English
Rosemary Richey
Learner Independence in
Business English

learner styles and
learner independence
in Business English
Rosemary Richey
Not funny but useful
Function words in action
function word like in speech Richard Cauldwell
We all know what new means,
but what about nov-?

The importance of word elements
word elements Michael Vaughan-Rees
Know your rights – and your lefts meaning and origin of
the words right
and left
Jonathan Marks
How professional do you want to be? professionalism in
English Language Teaching
Philip Kerr and
Lindsay Clandfield
Understanding phrasal verbs:
is there a system?

metaphor and phrasal verbs;
common particles
Michael Rundell
Phrasaled out? Don't worry!
Help is at hand

common misunderstandings
about phrasal verbs
Jonathan Marks
Phrasal verbs international phrasal verbs and phrasal
vocabulary in other languages
Jonathan Marks
The truth revealed: phrasal verbs
in writing and speech
phrasal verbs in writing and
speech
Jonathan Marks
Spreading the word:
where does it all come from?
how the meanings of phrasal verbs
and other phrasal vocabulary develop
Jonathan Marks
Wildly irregular or no longer insuperable?
Tips for teaching phrasal verbs

teaching phrasal verbs Jonathan Marks
Lifting the silverware
An exploration of English
football jargon
football terms Susan Jellis
Football games football terms Mairi MacDonald
Football vocabulary and
dictionary skills practice

football vocabulary Caroline Krantz
Using bilingual dictionaries
in the classroom
bilingual dictionaries in
the classroom;
dictionary activities
Gwyneth Fox and
Elizabeth Potter
How do you go about writing a bilingual dictionary? writing a bilingual dictionary Sinda Lopez
Pea-green boats on a wine-dark sea:
Spinning the colour wheel of English

colours in English Susan Jellis
Introducing the new edition of the Macmillan English Dictionary
The second edition of MED Michael Rundell

From corpora to confidence

Considering a corpus-driven research project Michael Rundell & Sylviane Granger
‘Deck the halls with boughs of holly . . . ’tis the season to be jolly Making sense of Christmas vocabulary Susan Jellis
Rhyme time The role of rhyme in the creation of new words and phrases Susan Jellis

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Language Interference Series Consultant Diane Nicholls

Title Topic Author
Learner English and its Uses
Why do Inspector Clouseau and Ali G sound funny?
learner English Diane Nicholls
Watt is a Homonym?
Find out by reading about troublesome words
homonymy in English and across languages Diane Nicholls
Friend or Foe?
Decide by finding out more about false friends and the language learner
false friends and
the language learner
Diane Nicholls
False Friends and the Varieties of English
Are England and America really divided by the same language?
false friends and language varieties Diane Nicholls
Borrower Beware!
False friends and English loan words
false friends and
loan words
Diane Nicholls
English Loan Words in Japanese
The pitfalls of loan words and false friends in Japanese
English loan words
in Japanese
Diane Nicholls
Three Words to Watch out for:
actual, eventual and important
actual, eventual, important Diane Nicholls
False Friends between German and English
How to avoid the traps of deceptive similarities
German and English false friends Diane Nicholls
False Friends between French and English
Parlez-vous Franglais?
French and English false friends Diane Nicholls
Spanish and English False Friends
Cognates, false friends and unreliable friends
Spanish and English false friends Diane Nicholls
Beyond False Friends
Language interference outside word meaning
language interference outside word meaning Diane Nicholls
Stringing Words Together
Language interference at sentence level
language interference at sentence level Diane Nicholls

Korean English
English loan words in the Korean language

Korean English Jeffrey Miller
'We put the top on the job'
False friends between Dutch and English
Dutch and English false friends Kevin Cook and
Daniel Gibb
Hungarian or Hunglish?
Borrowings and false friends
between Hungarian and English
Hungarian and
English borrowings and false friends
Adrian Tennant and
Ágnes Tennant
Borrowings and false friends between Russian and English Russian and
English borrowings and false friends
Diane Nicholls
False friends between Italian and English Italian and English false friends Diane Nicholls
Borrowings and false friends between Polish
and English
Polish and
English borrowings and false friends
Adrian Tennant
It's 10% Greek to me
Borrowings and false friends
between Greek and English
Greek and English
borrowings and
false friends
Luke Prodromou
Making friends with Polish
True friends, false friends,
unreliable friends and
friends in disguise
Polish and English
borrowings and
false friends
Jonathan Marks
Maltese - an unusual formula a brief history of Maltese;
English-Maltese false friends;
the impact of English on Maltese
Professor Joseph M. Brincat
Romanian and English –
a mediated partnership

English loan words in Romanian Mihaela H. Precup
Different families, not distant cousins: comparing
Thai and English

borrowings between Thai and English John Anyan
Halo Bos!
English borrowings in Indonesian
borrowings between Indonesian and English Ivana Amerl
Arabic and English:
Four hundred ways of
describing a camel
borrowings between Arabic and English;
the origins of Arabic
Jeremy Bale
From a trickle to a flood:
English words in German
English vocabulary in German Jonathan Marks
The new Finglish:
from sex shops to big business
English vocabulary in Finnish Kate Moore and Sirkku Latomaa
‘Show some leg!’
English interference in Swedish
borrowings between Swedish and English Mall Stålhammar
Lost in Translation:
From Arabic to English and back again
Common problems translating between English and Arabic Hanan Bennoudi
From robots to soap operas 100 years of Czech-English borrowings Jarmila Fictumova
The land of coffee and carnival Reflections on Brazilian Portuguese and English Sara Walker

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New Word of the Month Series Author Kerry Maxwell

Title Topic
'I know how to spell banana, but I don't know when to stop!' banana problem
Emotional repair through reading bibliotherapy
Are you having trouble finding the perfect Christmas gift? re-gift
Mailbomb, virus, worm, Trojan horse, nastygram and mockingbird
Find out what these words have in common
computing and Internet
On women and new words women
The language of the web Internet
Food for thought food
New words caught in the web of politics politics
Read about new idiomatic phrases idioms
Compounds and blends
'Two meanings packed into one word'
compounds and blends
Neologisms from American English American English
New words for the autumn autumn
New ways of expressing age age
Festive food and drink alternatives food and drink
New words describing 21st-century ailments illnesses and conditions
Are you still looking for your Valentine?

Valentine's Day
Extreme sports of the noughties extreme sports
New blends in entertainment entertainment, reality TV
The language of the European Union Europe
Proper nouns and new words proper nouns
New words in sport sport (football, tennis)
The language of shopping online online business and retail
Popular blends and affixes blends, prefixes and suffixes
New words in journalism
and the media

journalism, media
New words of the year
A review of 2004 in
twelve words
new words in 2004
What is ELF?
Old and new abbreviations
in English Language Teaching
abbreviations in ELT
LetsGt2gtha on Valentine's Day!
The vocabulary of text messaging
text messages
New words in fashion fashion and clothing
New phrasal verbs phrasal verbs
Words made in Hollywood film and new words
New words in Australian English Australian English
Hinglish words in English Hinglish neologisms
New abbreviations and acronyms abbreviations and acronyms
Euphemisms – examples
of lexical camouflage

euphemisms (rendition)
Go flirtberrying and become a LAT:
love and neologisms in the noughties
love and new words
From metrosexual to metrosessuale:
the global influence of English in
the creation of neologisms
English neologisms in Dutch, Italian,
Polish, Russian and Serbian
A new word is born:
how are new words formed?
formation of new words
A new word is born:
how do new words
make it into dictionaries?
inclusion of new words
in general and ELT
dictionaries
Football and sports neologisms football and other sports (galactico)
New words on vacation:
holidays with a difference
holidays and travel (babymoon)
Baby talk: New words and parenthood parenthood (babyccino)
New words of the year
A review of 2006 in twelve words
new words in 2006
Spending can seriously damage your wealth New words and finance
Making the Grade New words in MED2
Just good friends of the earth New words and the environment
A review of 2007 in 12 words  
Supersizing the lexicon New words and (un)healthy eating
Poking, pimping and twittering New words and online identity

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MED CD

Title Topic Author

Beyond the Definition

Weblinks and MED Mairi MacDonald

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Language Study

Title Topic Author
Register
Saying the right thing at the right time
register and domain Ron Martinez
Text types
Narratives and descriptions

text types: narratives and descriptions

Cindy Leaney

Text types
Reviews and discursive texts
text types:
reviews and
discursive texts
Cindy Leaney
Pronunciation
sounds, stress and word linking
pronunciation Michael Vaughan-Rees
Collocation
Fixed combinations:
idioms and phrasal verbs
collocation:
fixed combinations
Luke Prodromou
Collocation
less fixed combinations
and functional expressions
collocation:
less fixed combinations
and functional expressions
Luke Prodromou
Word formation
word families,
prefixes and suffixes
word formation:
prefixes and suffixes

Elizabeth Potter
Word formation
compounds and
acronyms
word formation:
compounds and
acronyms
Elizabeth Potter
Metaphor metaphorical language Elizabeth Potter

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Language Awareness

Title Topic Author
Pragmatics
The key to avoiding slips
pragmatics Dr Joanna Channell
Business English
Writing a business letter
business letters Howard Middle
Business English
How to write a CV
curriculum vitae Howard Middle
Business English
Writing emails
email Howard Middle
Sensitivity
Learn about words that may cause offence
words causing offence Susan Stempleski
Academic English
Writing an essay: How to begin
essay-writing
(how to begin)
Averil Coxhead
Academic English
Writing an essay: Finding and referencing sources
essay-writing
(references)
Averil Coxhead
Academic English
Writing an essay: Structure and vocabulary
essay-writing
(structure and vocabulary)
Averil Coxhead
Academic English
Writing an essay: Editing your writing and seeking feedback
essay-writing
(editing and seeking feedback)
Averil Coxhead
Word Formation
Common processes of word formation in English
word formation Dr Rosamund Moon
British and American English
Differences in semantics and pronunciation
British and American English
(semantics and pronunciation)
Dr Don R. McCreary
British and American English
Differences in spelling and grammar
British and American English
(spelling and grammar)
Dr Don R. McCreary
Spoken discourse
discourse markers oh, well
and like
discourse markers
oh, well and like
Michael Hoey
Spoken discourse
discourse markers er/erm
and OK
discourse markers
er/erm and OK
Michael Hoey
Writing and pronouncing numbers numbers:
spelling and pronunciation
 
Computer words computer words:
new words and meanings
Dr Ingrid Meyer
Computer words computer words
and online communication
Dr Ingrid Meyer
Metaphor metaphor in English and other languages
Dr Rosamund Moon
Understanding idioms Idioms Professor Frank Boers
Discourse How language is used to construct meaningful text Scott Thornbury

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Study Skills

Title Topic Author
Composition skills
Guide and tools for
becoming a better writer
Types of composition
composition skills,
types of composition
Dr June Hassall
Punctuation
Capital letters and
punctuation in English
capital letters and punctuation Michael Vince and Dr June Hassall
Revision and examination skills
Revising for an exam
Types of exam questions
exam revision and skills Dr June Hassall

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Focus on Phrasal Verbs

Title Topic Author
Metaphor and phrasal verbs
metaphor and phrasal verbs
Dr Rosamund Moon
The syntactic behaviour of
phrasal verbs

grammar of phrasal verbs Elizabeth Potter
Register and phrasal verbs register Bryan Fletcher
Pronunciation and phrasal verbs stress pattern of phrasal verbs Adrian Underhill
Learners and phrasal verbs learner errors and phrasal verbs Dr Sylvie De Cock
How new phrasal verbs develop new phrasal verbs Kerry Maxwell

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British and American Culture Series Author Paz Blanco Castro
text translated by Sinda Lopez

Title Topic
English around the world culture and language quiz
Where does the English
language come from?

brief history of English
Cities and famous
landmarks

UK and US cities
History and celebrations brief history of UK and US,
popular celebrations
Education in the UK and US summary of primary, secondary
and tertiary education in the
UK and US
Getting around in Great Britain transport in the UK
The birthplace of sport sports in the UK
Entertainment and shopping in London entertainment and shopping
Email and Text Messages Technology and communication

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Top Tips for the CD-ROM

Title Topic Author
Create your own activities with SmartSearch SmartSearch
(conditionals)
Mairi MacDonald
Use SoundSearch to explore pronunciation and spelling SoundSearch
(pronunciation and spelling)
Jane Bottomley
Using TextSearch and WordSearch to practise vocabulary relating to Christmas TextSearch and WordSearch
(topic vocabulary)
Mairi MacDonald
Use SoundSearch to learn about homophones SoundSearch
(homophones)
Jane Bottomley
Create vocabulary extension activities with SmartSearch SmartSearch
(vocabulary extension)
Mairi MacDonald
Spelling practice with SoundSearch SoundSearch
(spelling)
Jane Bottomley
Using SmartSearch to correct learner errors SmartSearch
(learner errors)
Mairi MacDonald
Using the CD-ROM as a thesaurus with SmartSearch SmartSearch
(thesaurus)
Mairi MacDonald
Using SoundSearch for intensive listening practice SoundSearch
(listening)
Jane Bottomley
Using the CD-ROMs for teaching collocations SmartSearch, WordSearch and TextSearch
(collocation)
Mairi MacDonald
Using the CD-ROMs to explore British and American false friends usage notes
(British and American false friends)
Mairi MacDonald
House and furniture vocabulary activities wordlists and activities
(topic vocabulary)
Mairi MacDonald
Using Smartsearch to examine register
and domain
register and domain Mairi MacDonald
Vocabulary building with word families (adjectives)
word families Mairi MacDonald
Exploring vocabulary relating to illness
and health

SmartSearch
(pronunciation and
vocabulary extension)
Mairi MacDonald
Making sense of spoken language SmartSearch
(spoken language)
Mairi MacDonald
Celebrating with the CD-ROMs SmartSearch and activities
(vocabulary extension and consolidation)
Mairi MacDonald
SoundSearch for pronunciation practice SoundSearch and pronunciation practice Mairi MacDonald
Phrasal verbs practice
using the CD-ROMs

WordSearch and
SmartSearch
(phrasal verbs)
Mairi MacDonald
MED CD and functional
language

SmartSearch
(etymological and
cultural information)
Mairi MacDonald
MED CD and
functional language

SmartSearch
(functional language)
Mairi MacDonald

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Metaphor Series Author Diane Nicholls

Title Topic
What we talk about when we talk about love love
What we talk about when we talk about money money
What we talk about when we talk about
illness

illness
What we talk about when we talk about
success and failure

success and failure
What we talk about when we talk about
words and language

words and language
What we talk about when we talk about
anger

anger
What we talk about when we talk about
friendship

friendship
What we talk about when we talk about
honesty and dishonesty

honesty and dishonesty

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Top Tips for Business English Series Author Rosemary Richey

Title Topic
Teaching meeting skills
Meeting Essentials 1
language and skills for meetings
Teaching meeting skills
Meeting Essentials 2
language and skills for meetings
(in a banking context)
Teaching presentation skills
Presentation Essentials 1
language and skills for presentations
(in the context of the hotel business)
Teaching presentation skills
Presentation Essentials 2
language and skills for presentations
(in the context of engineering)
Teaching negotiations skills
Negotiations Basics
language and skills for negotiations
Teaching socializing skills
Basic socializing
language and skills for socializing

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Games

Title Topic
Common words with multiple meanings
Crossword

words with multiple meanings
Sporting vocabulary basketball, football
and tennis
Sporting vocabulary American football,
basketball and golf
MED crossword  

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Corpora Tips

Title Topic Author
The Web as corpus:
using media sites to present
new or unfamiliar words

using the Web as corpus;
presenting new or unfamiliar words
Mairi MacDonald
The bigger picture:
exploring words
with WebCorp
WebCorp Mairi MacDonald
Digging deeper with WebCorp:
collocation tools
WebCorp and collocation Mairi MacDonald
Simple searching with Web Concordancer Web Concordancer Mairi MacDonald
More than simple searching:
getting more with the BNC
British National Corpus (BNC) Mairi MacDonald
Spoken language and the BNC British National Corpus (BNC) Mairi MacDonald
Where to go if you would like
to find out more

Word sketching Adam Kilgarriff
Googling for idiomatic language
Search engines as corpora tools
search engines Mairi MacDonald

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MED Web Watch Series Author Mairi MacDonald

Website  
World Wide Words
www.worldwidewords.org
 

Dictionaroake -
the singing dictionary
www.dictionaraoke.org

 
Pseudodictionary
www.pseudodictionary.com

Collect Britain
English accents and dialects
www.collectbritain.co.uk/collections/dialects

 
QI
www.qi.com
 
Language Log
www.languagelog.com
 
WordCount
www.wordcount.org
Double-Tongued Dictionary
http://www.doubletongued.org/
 
American Rhetoric
http://www.americanrhetoric.com
 

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Books reviewed Series Author Elizabeth Potter

Dictionary of Contemporary Slang  
Faux Pas: A No-Nonsense Guide to Words and Phrases from Other Languages
The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left
Word Origins
Gallimaufry
Wobbly Bits and Other Euphemisms

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MED Profile

Title Topic Author
The piracy challenge of our age:
CD-ROM copy protection

copy protection Hans Pedersen
Interview with Michael Rundell    
Visual Thinking:
The key to illustrating dictionaries
Illustrating dictionaries Martin Shovel

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Your Questions Answered

Title Author
press on meaning 'hurry' Gwyneth Fox
the definition of wander Gwyneth Fox
becoming a lexicographer Gwyneth Fox
the meaning of horsey Gwyneth Fox
diet as adjective Gwyneth Fox
learner error Hilary Nesi
expressions with nose Elizabeth Potter
looking-glass scenario Elizabeth Potter
To correct or not to correct? Elizabeth Potter
the meaning of brainchild Elizabeth Potter
they as a generic pronoun Elizabeth Potter
counting nouns Elizabeth Potter
right or wrong Elizabeth Potter
one word or two Elizabeth Potter
-ness Elizabeth Potter
hear vs listen Elizabeth Potter
pronouncing fractions Elizabeth Potter
profit, gain and benefit Elizabeth Potter
is or are? Elizabeth Potter
thrown in Elizabeth Potter
until Elizabeth Potter
Singular or plural Elizabeth Potter
anxious Elizabeth Potter
Affect or effect? Elizabeth Potter
Pronunciation Elizabeth Potter
Miss / Ms / Mrs or Mr? Elizabeth Potter
Changing channels Elizabeth Potter


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