Word: britishisms
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What if there was a way to raise a population's life expectancy and reduce its rates of crime, suicide, teenage pregnancy and mental illness, among other social problems? British epidemiologists Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett believe they have found one. In The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger, published in the U.S. on Dec. 22, they present data suggesting that almost every indicator of social health in wealthy societies is related to its level of economic equality. (See the data here). Comparing statistics between developed economies and within the U.S., Wilkinson and Pickett argue GDP and overall...
Many of our today's most popular carols date to this period. Christmas Carols Ancient and Modern published in London by British lawyer William B. Sandys in 1833, was the first to print "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen," "The First Noel" and "Hark! the Herald Angels Sing." "Joy to the World" first appeared in the Anglican Church hymnal Hymns Ancient and Modern in 1861. Composed by Isaac Watts, known as the "father of Englsh hymnody", the song actually wasn't written exclusively for singing at Christmastime. Charles Wesley's "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" was originally "Hark...
...Passengers may also be hesitant to book plane tickets as they wait for the train service to resume - mainly because of the spiraling costs. After the cancellation of Monday's Eurostar trains, prices for a one-way ticket from Paris to London on British Airways shot up from $353 to $772. (Prices were up on other airlines, too.) For that much money, people may just try to enjoy their white Christmas wherever they're stuck - even if it's on a train station floor...
...that caused the system breakdown and the response by Eurostar officials to the fiasco. For its part, Eurostar has also commissioned an independent panel to review "the problems it has experienced over recent days," according to a statement, although the company has thus far failed to heed calls by British Conservative politicians to fire CEO Richard Brown. Brown has apologized for the inconvenience the interrupted service has caused passengers, but says that sending more trains out to stall on the tracks beneath the channel simply isn't an option. Few clients were thanking him Monday for his caution. (Read: "European...
...significant impact on Eurostar's position in the longer term," says Joe Gill, an aviation industry analyst for the Dublin brokerage firm Bloxham. He notes that airlines aren't exactly popular with travelers these days either. Indeed, only days ago, a planned strike by cabin crew at British Airways threatened to leave up to 1 million passengers stranded during the entire holiday season - until a judge blocked the industrial action. "Had this been a terrible crash or something, it might be different. But once tempers cool, people will use whatever service is most convenient - and for Paris-London, that...