The lane near our house is covered in primroses - such a delicate yellow.

Earlier this week, I was discussing Anglo-Norman loan words with one of my students, particularly some of foodstuffs that were adopted following the Norman invasion. ‘Beef’ is one of those words, and it turned out he was making Beef Wellington after the lesson … pastry will be on its way!

Photo: some beef I cooked a few years ago.

I’ve lost count of the times we’ve listened to the ‘Harry Potter’ series in the car, but despite living only 15 mins away from the studios in Leavesden, this is the first time we’ve taken the boys. An influx of Harry Potter related words will now fill my page for the next week or so …

I love the etymology of the French word for ‘snowdrop’.

I expected to find that ‘goblin’ came from a Germanic origin, but likely not!

It’s interesting that our ‘Shrove’ is so different to other European languages. The majority reference fasting - either with a form of that word, or with a link to ‘fat’.

How are pancakes and placentas related?

I think I saw a crocus earlier today … a glimmer of spring.

Here comes the spring (perhaps!) …

‘Restaurant’ is such a ubiquitous word. Nearly every European language has a version that is similar in structure.

I took out my etymology dictionaries (my pile is growing: French, Swedish, German) to find its root …