Friday Five- Five popular expressions and the meanings behind them

People say the funniest things. Just today, a friend was feeling out of sorts, I read someone the riot act and drove home in a real pea-souper! I love our language, and how people use it, and I've had some fun this week listening to the various strange-sounding phrases and expressions used around me, as well as paying attention to the ones I use automatically. How many of these do you use?

Friday Five: My Five Favourite Words

The pen is mightier than the sword, so it's said, and I completely agree. I love words. I love the sound and feel of them, and I love their power to paint pictures and stir emotions. I've collected a few over the years (as you do) but there are some that are more than strings of letters to me- they are emotive, rich and almost a physical version of onomatopoeia.

We all use words daily (unless you've taken a vow of silence, obviously) and writers obsess over them more than most (and probably more than is healthy) but have you ever stopped to consider their beauty? Even without going into the fascinating details of their origins, derivations and uses, words have a joy to them, a life of their own, that I'd like to invite you to share.

So, without further ado, here are my top five: