HOW English changes: trace one word's journey across a 155 years

🐾 SOUTHPAW

From highly specific baseball terminology to a widely recognized, affectionate term for left-handed individuals

📌Original Baseball Meaning (1880s)

Left-handed pitcher. Derived from stadium orientation (home plate facing east, pitcher's left arm on the south side). Popularized by sportswriter Finley Peter Dunne

📌Expansion in Sports (1900s)

Boxing Left-handed or orthodox-stance-reversed boxer (leads with right hand, left hand is power hand)
General athletics Left-handed athletes in various sports

📌General Usage (20th Century)

Any left-handed person Expanded beyond sports entirely. Generally affectionate or neutral in tone (unlike older terms like "sinister" — a historical prejudice against left-handedness

This Baseball slang term took over the English language. An example of how a specialised word becomes mainstream.

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NEW PRICES for "S2S" & "PitchUp" 💷 To stay till April, 2026

Thank you so much for participating in our winter sale last week! So happy to welcome both renewing users and new members.

DISAMBIGUATION

• PitchUp - Business English for entrepreneurs and top managers. 90 min weekly workshops in small groups with Yulia
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💷 PRICES effective from January, 21

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DON'T Confuse a Polyglot for a Polygamist

Have you ever dated a polyglot? ;)

Trasnscript

— You are a polyglot. Yeah, yep. Wow, um, I did not know that was legal. So I am taking a candid approach* to dating. Trying something new. And to be totally upfront with you, I prefer one. One and done. But that's just me. And no judgment whatsoever, truly.

How many? Uh, six. Six?!

— Yeah.

— Oh my gosh. The number of conversations you have to have just to stay on top of it. That is wild! You know, I must say, I have never met someone with such a strong conjugal* desire.

— Oh, you mean conjugation*.

— Um, no. Not conjugation. Conjugal. Yeah. I know what words mean.

When did this start in your life?

— Oh, as a child.

— I'm sorry?

— Yeah, I had three at age six.

— Where were your parents?!

— Um, they taught me everything I know.

— I feel sick. I feel like you don't understand the gravitas of the situation*. I feel ill.

Could you tell me their names?

— Yeah, English, French, Italian, Spanish, German.

— Don't do that!

— What?

— Treat them as people! Please, okay? They have names. They have real names.

— Oh, and I also speak in tongues*.

— Oh. Okay. Euphemism*. I gotcha. No, I know what that means. La la la la. I get it. I get it.

📹reference sonyakatarina

*Glossary

🫧A candid approach - honest and direct

🫧Conjugal - related to marriage

🫧Conjugation - changing a verb form (walk → walked)

🫧The gravitas of the situation - how serious it is

🫧Speak in tongues - speak in unknown or religious languages

🫧Euphemism - a softer word for something unpleasant

WBU
❤️ I love polyglots
☺️ One and done

How to Get HNW Individuals to Follow You on LinkedIn in 4 Steps

Remember those ads : Gordon Ramsay teaching cooking, Bill Clinton - inclusive leadership?

All of them were released by “Masterclass,” a company delivering world class training from celebs, worth ~$3B at its peak.

“Masterclasses”’s founder Aaron Rasmussen has recently sent me a connect request on LinkedIn. This is not only pleasant but also helpful in building credibility in the so far one and only professional social media.

4 Steps to Take to Get the Same Result

1️⃣ Shortlist 100 HNW individuals in your field who truly inspire you. You want to see them in your network.

2️⃣ Read what they post about. Find the topics that you already have something to say on OR curious to dig deeper into.

3️⃣ Post your thoughts on the topics selected in step 2. Tag the individual who inspired you to write about it.

Too shy or lack ideas? Use 1 of the frames

🫧As … said, (agreement, you mark yourself as a public fan giving tribute)

🫧Unlike what … said, (disagreement, you position yourself as a knowledgeable equal ready for a debate)

🫧Thank you … for the inspiration to research this topic (willingness to learn, you acknowledge their thought leadership and claim a right for your own)

4️⃣ Reap the reward. Some of them will start knocking on your Linked In doors, starting a chain reaction of HNW networking

🍬🍼Send this to an aspiring networker you know^^