Languages and gender identity

The past few years have seen an increase in discussion about gender identity, i.e. a person’s perception of the gender to which they belong, whether biological or psychological.  The concept of non-binary gender identity, or being genderqueer, is one of the concepts introduced in this discussion; it allows for the existence of a large range…

A cuckoo, a swallow… and spring

This idiom is used to say that because one good thing has happened, it is not, therefore, certain that a situation is going to improve. The initial saying, taken from one of Aesop’s fables, is “One swallow does not make a spring” (μία χελιδὼν ἔαρ οὐ ποιεῖ), with the swallow sometimes replaced by a cuckoo.…