Every month, we take a look at a word in the headlines, in English, for your English. See more at The Word of the Month.
Definitions
Woke: (US Slang) variant of “awake”, meaning alert to issues, especially of racial and social justice
Ex: “I tip my Latina barista at least 10%, so you could say I’m pretty woke.”
Woke in the news
Conservative media: “The woke socialist agenda threatens the fabric of society.”
Liberal media: “Woke causes could be addressed at some point, but no rush.”
Black people: “Woke used to be our word.”
Woke or awake? A pop quiz
1. I drank 93 espressos. I’m [A]
2. A baby started crying at 4am. It [B] me up.
3. My goldfish reads Marx. He/she is [C].
Answers: A. awake B. woke C. woke
Don’t confuse WOKE with:
Wookie: Enormous furry creature from Star Wars. Ironically has very antiquated ideas on gay marriage.
Wok: Large asian pan, very progressive piece of cookware. #StayWok
Work: Capitalist endeavor that just can’t stop. Woke bosses should implement a 3-day work week. Listening, Gymglish?
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There are twelve months in a year. English words for months begin with a CAPITAL letter.
Click on the pictures or the text to hear the English words for months of the year.
Click on the pictures or the text to hear the English words for months of the year.
JANUARY
January is the first month of the year.
It is winter in the UK in January. The weather is cold.
The trees are bare. The sky is grey. Snow sometimes falls.
FEBRUARY
February is the second month of the year.
It is winter in the UK. The weather is cold and frosty.
The earth is bare. The ground is hard and frozen.
MARCH
March is the third month of the year.
In the UK, March marks the beginning of spring.
Plants begin to grow again. The weather is often cool and windy.
APRIL
April is the fourth month of the year. April is a spring month.
Trees sprout leaves. Buds open. Lambs and other baby animals are born.
In the UK, April can be a wet month. The sky is sometimes grey and cloudy.
MAY
May is the fifth month of the year.
In the UK, May is a spring month. The days grow longer.
The weather is warm and sunny. Flowers begin to blossom.
JUNE
June is the sixth month of the year.
In the UK, June marks the beginning of summer.
The days are long, and the weather is bright and sunny.
JULY
July is the seventh month of the year. July is a summer month.
The sun shines brightly most days. The weather is usually hot.
Most schools and colleges close for the summer break at the end of July.
AUGUST
August is the eighth month of the year. It is summer in the UK.
The days are long and the weather is hot and sunny.
British people often take a long holiday in August.
SEPTEMBER
September is the ninth month of the year. September marks the start of autumn. In September, the summer break ends and students go back to school and college.
Leaves turn brown and yellow, and fall from the trees.
OCTOBER
October is the tenth month of the year, and the second month of autumn.
People in North America have a different name for autumn. They call it fall.
October weather in the UK is usually good, though it can be wet and chilly.
NOVEMBER
November is the eleventh month of the year, and the last month of autumn. In the UK, the weather grows colder and trees begin to look bare.
Some animals get ready to sleep through winter, and migrating birds fly south.
DECEMBER
December is the twelfth month of the year.
In the UK, December marks the beginning of winter.
Winter is the coldest part of the year. Nights are long and days are short.
Back to top
May simultaneously felt like 2 years and 2 seconds. I don’t know how else to explain it. On one hand, the days went by so slowly and I wasted a lot of time. But on the other hand, I didn’t get to do much of what I wanted to do.
Generally, when I do wrap-ups, I try to keep an upbeat and positive mood. But this month, I just don’t have the energy for it. I’ll still try to filter it but this is just a quick disclaimer that this post may be more somber than usual. If you’re not in a place to hear about other people’s woes, you may want to skip this post.
Okay now that I’ve sufficiently warned you about my mood, let’s move on.
words on the blog
I posted 7 blog posts in May. I’m okay with the number but I’m not happy with the fact that I didn’t post any helpful posts. I have multiple ideas but I kept pushing them off because I did not have the energy and, before I knew it, the month is over.
My goal is to put up at least one blog post in the following categories every month: books, blogging, bullet journalling and Kdramas, but May saw me post only about books and Kdramas. So, I’m a little disappointed about that.
But it’s okay. My blog is currently a hobby and I need to put less pressure on myself about it. Sometimes, life and other priorities take over and it’s okay to not work on the blog as much.
The posts that I’m proud of this month are:
- 10 Queer Adult Romance Books That You Will Love
- Book Review: You’ve Reached Sam by Dustin Thao
- Tale of the Nine Tailed || Korean Drama Review
On the plus side, my blog has started to rank for multiple keywords on search engines! I am happy to see views coming in from search engines. It means I’m doing things right, SEO-wise.
My blog’s domain authority went up to 13! The fact that it went up to 13 in 3 months of blogging means a LOT. I’m making back all the credibility that I lost when I moved my blog. So I’m happy about the progress.
My newsletter has over 90 subscribers now which is HUGE. OMG?! It is surreal to think about 90 people receiving emails from me every month. Hopefully, I can live up to the expectations and provide good content.
As for the resource library, I was able to add only one freebie to it. While my goal has been to add only one a month, it feels weird when I don’t surpass my goals, you know? I may be toxic with my productivity but we will not talk about it today.
This month’s freebie was a set of Pinterest templates. I find using templates for Pinterest images so helpful because the colour scheme etc. is in place and I just have to replace text and images. So I’m sharing some templates to make it easier for y’all too.
If you haven’t already, sign up to my newsletter and get access to the resource library through the form below! My next newsletter edition goes out tomorrow.
words on books
I read 14 books in May! The number would have been more if I didn’t fall into a semi-slump in the last week or so. So the total number of books I’ve read this year so far is 69. That’s a lot, especially considering that I don’t have an annual reading goal to work towards.
While I read some great books in May, none of them were.. mentally stimulating? Except 2, all of them were romance books. There is nothing wrong with that but I like to read multiple genres so reading only one feels a little stale.
But also, I understand why I read mostly romance books. I did not have the energy to consider what other books to pick and I wanted quick escapism most of the time.
My best books of May were:
- Drag Me Up by R. M. Virtues. This Hades and Persephone retelling was everything. *chef’s kiss*
- One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston. I’m so glad I was able to get an ALC because this was so good. Read my review here.
- Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto. This book provided the best escapism for me. It was hilarious and wonderful. I do have a few tiny complaints about it but overall, it was great.
- What Are The Odds? by R. M. Virtues. This author’s books are FIRE. This estranged-best-friends-to-lovers book ticked all the boxes for me. And the steam, oof. *fans self*
- Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé. The only amazing read that was not a romance. I could not stop reading until I finished it.
words by other bloggers
While my blogging was not very satisfactory for me, reading other blogs made me content. I took out hours every weekend to just catch up on blogs and go blog-hopping and commenting. It is one of my favourite things to do.
Here are some amazing posts that you should check out as well:
- Kat redid her website and it looks AMAZING. Her first post back is a huge list of YA books about food.
- Avhlee posted about improving time management and includes facts I’ve not seen mentioned before.
- Lay explained how she picks what to read as a mood reader and it was interesting to see how a fellow mood reader decides.
- Marie shared her self-hosting experience with some advice.
words on life
In last month’s wrap-up, I said that I want to concentrate on putting out good content and keeping my mental health up. Funny how I barely managed those and don’t feel satisfied with either. I also barely drew anything for most of the month so I’m not satisfied with my art as well.
The second wave in India is still ongoing and it is hard. Our lockdown has not ended yet and it may get extended. I lost my only close cousin last week. My family is barely keeping up with daily activities. I have no idea how I’m working every day because it feels so pointless. I hear more and more sad news every day.
Keeping in mind all of that and more, whatever I did manage in May is more than enough, I think. Productivity and hitting goals are not possible when my mind is wandering every day and I’m barely able to concentrate on anything.
One way to notice my mental health slipping is my decrease in tolerance for texting and conversation. I barely want to talk to anyone right now. I have spurts of «good mood» where I text friends and I go off-grid for the rest of the time.
There was one good life thing in May which was a result of me rewarding myself in the beginning of the month. April wasn’t great and I just wanted to be happy and get myself something. So I got an iPad! Along with a cute pink flip cover. It reached me only last week and has been the only good thing in my days.
After setting it up, I immediately got Procreate and started playing with it. It is very different compared to Krita and is a whole new software to learn, but it will allow me to draw more often. I want to draw more and become better at digital art so having an iPad and Procreate will help.
Right now, I’m trying small and easy drawings so that I get used to the software and understand all of the tools available. I haven’t drawn anything worth posting on the blog. But I am posting my amateur work on my Instagram so you can follow me there to see more of my work.
Another good thing was me finally getting my first vaccine dose! I’ve been struggling to get a slot for the vaccine for weeks and finally got one for this morning. I got the shot just a few hours back, and I’m so relieved. Sure, I’m not fully vaccinated yet but at least the process is started.
I recognize that I’m very privileged to be able to even afford the vaccine dose which costs more than double the average daily wage in India. I won’t start on the mismanagement and corruption that has risen through the pandemic and vaccination. But I’d just like to say: if you’re able to, get vaccinated!!!
Now my only concern is having a bad allergic reaction because I’m very allergic to medicines in general (even the most common tablet prescribed for a cold). Keeping my fingers crossed!
I have zero goals for June. Hopefully, I’ll post some good blog posts and draw more often on the iPad. But it is all right if I don’t do that well.
One thing that did help in May was writing guest posts for other blogs. I wrote three guest posts, and I liked the quality of all of them. Weirdly, writing posts for other blogs was cathartic and took some pressure away. So I may do a couple more in June as well.
Let’s see! Hopefully, June is better than May.
be wordy with me?
How was your May? Did you have a good month or not-so-good month? Did you read any good books? Tell me in the comments!
In this blog series, we choose a Dutch word of the month. We may tie the word to current events, or just choose one as we see fit. If you have nominations for Word of the Month, please leave them in the comments, and we will consider them. But now, the Word of the Month of May: De Verademing.
Click here for previous Words of the Month
What does it mean?
Een verademing (Image by Eli DeFaria at Unsplash.com)
De verademing is a zelfstanding naamwoord (noun) of the werkwoord (verb) verademen. You would barely ever use the word verademen as a verb, but rather use the zelfstandig naamwoord verademing, or use the onvoltooid deelwoord verademend.
A verademing can be translated as a “regained breath”. The werkwoord verademen means “to breathe again”. Een verademing, then is a breath of fresh air, relief or respite. The beautiful thing of this word is that, no matter in what meaning it is used, the word adem (breath) is always in it. It clearly refers how a verademing comes after a time of pressure, when it was hard to “just breathe” and calm down. It introduces a time or moment in which you can inhale deeply, and think for a moment. The English translation “breath of fresh air” includes that part of the meaning too, but not the other translations.
And you can’t always use “breath of fresh air”, either. A sudden deadline extension is a relief, not a breath of fresh air. Yet, that is een verademing.
You can also use the onvoltooid deelwoord (present participle) verademend, so that you are not bound to use a noun. Again, English has equivalents like “to relief” and thus “relieving” for this. But if you want to use “breath of fresh air”, what verb gives you the same tone and meaning?
Let’s look at some examples to see how nicely it flows:
Na een aantal stressvolle weken is de deadline dan toch uitgesteld. Het is een verademing voor ons bedrijf.
(After a number of stressful weeks, the deadline was extended in the end. It is a relief for our company.)
Mijn nieuwe fiets fietst feel fijner dan mijn oude. Het is zo een verademing!
(My new bike is much nicer to ride than my old one. It is such a breath of fresh air!)
Een nieuwe baan kan erg verademend zijn.
(A new job can be quite relieving.)
Relevance to May
Image by Wai Siew at Unsplash.com
It is May, a month in the Netherlands in which finally, the temperatures are going up and the zon (sun) shines the way we know and love from zomer (summer). However, we are not yet in the punishing hitte (heat) of the zomer. As opposed to the blistering cold of the winter (winter) and early lente (spring), this nicer weer (weather) is quite a breath of fresh air – quite the verademing.
What do you think of the word verademing? Do you have a word like it in your language? Do you have nominations for other words of the month? Let me know in the comments below!
We do a lot of yoga around here. Minimal equipment; no gym membership required; it’s doable 24/7 and anywhere we happen to be; our kids can do it with us — what’s not to love? It’s the workout of choice for working parents, and working parents are something Gathre HQ has a lot of.
And working parents and yogis have something very important in common: a vital need for balance. Without balance, everything falls down. We don’t have time for tumbling over (and we’re sure you don’t either). Keeping ourselves strong and on solid ground is how we measure success.
Key to balance in both life and yoga is an intentional absence of multitasking. It’s a focus on focusing. This requires both physical and metaphorical stretching; breathing through the hard parts, and purposely easing (not forcing!) ourselves into more powerful versions of who we are.
When we do one thing at a time, giving that one thing our whole attention, we can more fully find satisfaction and joy in both the effort and the outcome. There’s beauty in balance: it’s called flow. And we can’t flow if we’re flailing.
So, let’s commit to finding balance through intentionally doing one thing at once. Let’s clear out the clutter in our work, bodies, and relationships and do fewer, more important, things with greater love. Let’s balance what must be done with the thoughtful, deliberate ways we choose to do it.
And then let’s rest, satisfied that elegant simplicity is always achieved by balancing beautiful basics.
Where the Names of the Months came from (text in English )
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December
Откуда произошли названия месяцев (Where the names of the months came from)
You know the names of the months but have you ever thought about their origin, about how they appeared in English?
Here is a story about how the months were called. Compare it with what you already know.
January was called after Janus, the two-faced Roman god. He was the god of beginnings and endings and was the protector of the Roman gates and doorways.
Once February was the last month of the year and came before January, but at about 450 B.C. it came the second month. Its name is derived from Februa, a Roman festival of purification.
March comes from the god of war – Mars. He was pictured in a chariot drawn by two horses.
The origin of word April is quite different. It comes from a Latin word which means “to open”. April is a spring month when nature comes to life again.
May was named after the goddess, Maia. She was the most famous of the seven daughters of Atlas.
It is undecided whether June gets its name from the goddess Juno, the beautiful wife of Jupiter, or from Junius, who was a proud man and head of a great Roman family.
July was named after Julius Caesar, who was born in this month.
August was named after the great nephew of Julius Caesar. His name was Octavius, but he changed it to Augustus.
September comes from ‘septem’, meaning ‘seven’. It is a reminder that it was seventh month when the year began in March.
October, November and December are Latin words for the eighth, ninth and tenth months of the year.
As the Roman year began in January, the Christians decided to begin their year at the same time. So the year 754 B.C. became for the Christians the year 1 A.D.
Лексический комментарий к тексту «Откуда произошли названия месяцев»
- Janus — Янус (у древних римлян бог дверей, входа- выхода, а также дорог и начинаний изображался с двумя лицами)
- B.C. — первые буквы слов Before Christ — до рождества Христова, то есть до нашей эры
- A.D. — первые буквы слов Anno Domini, означающие христианской эры, новой эры, нашей эры.
- purification – церк. обряд очищения
- Atlas — Атлас (в греческой мифологии Атлант — один из титанов, державший на голове и руках небесный свод)
- Juno — Юнона (в древнеримской мифологии жена Юпитера, покровительница брака и деторождения; аналог богини Геры в древнегреческом пантеоне)
- Julius Caesar — Юлий Цезарь (римский полководец)
- Augustus — (Октавиан) Август (римский император с 27 г. до н.э. по 14 г. н.э.)
It’s time for mothers, Memorial Day and our free May word search printable featuring the national days of May.
This spring printable is one of many word puzzles we have on the site.
It features several national days for the month that are hidden in the puzzle for you to search and find. Look for the words in any direction – even diagonally!
Use the puzzle to take a few minutes of free time for yourself, or give your kids a screen-free activity that they will love.
Keep reading to find out more about the May national days and get your free printable.
What to look for in the word search puzzle for the May national days
In addition to National Barbecue Month, May is also National Foster Care month and Motorcycle Awareness month.
Let’s see which other notable events are featured this month.
May is National Stroke Awareness Month, National Mental Health Awareness Month, and National Blood Pressure Education Month.
It’s also the month for Lyme Disease Awareness and Melanoma Awareness.
Look for some of these national days in the word find puzzle
The month is full of days that honor mothers, the outdoors, pets, food and fun activities. Can you find any of them in our puzzle?
Be sure to check out these national days this month – you may find them hidden in the puzzle:
- National Twilight Zone Day
- National Paranormal Day
- Public Radio Day
- Anti Bullying Day
- Cinco de Mayo
- National Clean Up Your Room Day
- Greek Pride Day
- National Garden Meditation Day
- National Twilight Zone Day
- National Water a Flower Day
- National Graduation Tassel Day
There are so many days to celebrate, from Boy’s Club Day to Mother’s Day!
National days in May for animal lovers
May is the month to honor our furry friends. There are many days devoted to pets.
If you love animals, there is National Rescue Dog Day and World Turtle Day. Perhaps one of these will find its way into our word find puzzle!
- National Start Seeing Monarchs Day
- National Mother Goose Day
- National Purebred Dog Day
- Save the Rhino Day
- National Frog Jumping Day
- National Sea Monkey Day
- National Rescue Dog Day
- World Bee Day
- National Dinosaur Day
Find out more about the national days of the year
If you are interested in this spring word search printable, you may want to find out more about all the national days of the year.
Be sure to check out our national day guide for more information about national days.
The guide gives information about all the pages on the site that have information about these special days.
You will get plenty of ideas for celebrating all the national days. There are over 2000 special days to honor each year!
And if you’d like to learn about what other special days that we celebrate in May this year, be sure to check out the list of national days in May.
There are over 200 days to celebrate this month!
Just for the foodies – a special food national day list for May
Each month of the year has so many food and drink days to celebrate and May is no exception. Memorial Day falls in May, and there are also so many other exciting national food days too!
We also have National Chocolate Parfait Day on May 1. Then we can eat and drink our way through the month to end with National Macaroon Day on May 31.
In between these days, we can celebrate many other food inspired days. How many of the national days in May listed below can you find in our custom word search puzzle?
- National Beverage Day
- National Coconut Cream Pie Day
- National Cosmopolitan Day
- National Have A Coke Day
- National Mint Julep Day
- National Butterscotch Brownie Day
- National Shrimp Day
- National Nutty Fudge Day
- National Buttermilk Biscuit Day
- National Lemonade Day
- National Mimosa Day
Some of these food holidays are featured in the May word search printable, but there are many others, as well.
Check out this list of the other food holidays in May. There is at least one food or drink day for every day of the month.
Each of these flavor filled days tempts us to indulge in our favorite foods or drinks.
For more word search printables of national days check out these pages
We have a free word search printable puzzle for each month of the year! Each one features national days of that month.
For the national day word search printables for the months other than May, check out these pages:
- January national days word find puzzle
- February national day word search printable
- Word search of March national days
- April national day word search printable
- May national day word search printable – this page!
- June national days word search puzzle
- July national day word search puzzle
- August national day word search printable
- September national day puzzle to search and find
- October national day printable word search puzzle
- Word search printable for November national days
- December national day word search printable
Free word search printables and word scrambles for the holidays
In addition to our monthly word search printables featuring the national days of the year, we also make holiday themed word search puzzles.
- Groundhog Day – word search puzzle
- Valentine’s Day – word search and word scramble
- Mardi Gras – word search and word scramble
- St. Patrick’s Day – word search and word scramble
- Father’s Day – word search and word scramble
- Independence Day – word search and word scramble
- Summer – word search and word scramble
- Labor Day – word search and word scramble
- Fall – word search and word scramble
- Halloween – word search and word scramble
- Thanksgiving – word search and word scramble
Check back often, we frequently add new word scrambles and word searches!
Get the May word search printable of national days
Please note: These word search printables take a long time to make. They are for personal use only.
If you are sharing this May word search printable (and thank you for that!), please link directly to this post and not to the actual puzzle image.
We appreciate your help in supporting the site. The free printable word searches may not be used for any retail purpose or for mass distribution.
You can either download the May printable of national days through the link below, or print it out in the project card at the bottom of the page.
Click here to download the May word search printable. The puzzle will print out on on a full sheet of paper in the portrait format.
Be sure choose portrait orientation and “fit to page” for the printable area on your printer settings. Printing this way will give you a full page printout.
If you prefer to download the May printable from the project card at the bottom of the page, scroll down and press “print”. It will print out the puzzle in a slightly smaller size.
May word search of national days answer key
Some free printable word searches are easy to solve and others leave you scratching your head looking for that one last word.
If you are having hard time solving this spring word search puzzle, you can click here for the answer key.
Share this free word search printable for the national days in May on Twitter
Want to share this spring word find with your friends and family on Twitter? Share it with this tweet:
It’s time to get the May word search printable. Head to Always The Holidays to get the spring printable and start searching. #printable #wordsearch #Maydays #nationaldays 📅🗓 Click To Tweet
Would you like a reminder of the May printable word find puzzle? Just pin it to one of your boards on Pinterest so that you can easily find it later.
Admin note: This post for the printable puzzle of national days in May first appeared on the blog in April of 2018.
We have updated the post to add all new images, and updated puzzle, and a video for you to enjoy.
Prep Time
5 minutes
Active Time
25 minutes
Total Time
30 minutes
Difficulty
Moderate
Estimated Cost
$1
Materials
- Heavy cardstock or glossy photo paper
Instructions
- Load your heavy cardstock or computer paper into your Deskjet printer.
- Choose portrait layout and if possible «fit to page» in your settings.
- Print the word puzzle and try to find the national days of May in it.
- The list of words on the bottom of the word search puzzle are found left to right, right to left, top to bottom, bottom to top, and diagonally in any direction.
- Search for the words, circle them and then cross them off the bottom list.
- See how quickly you can solve this May word search printable!
Notes
May may seem like a little simple name, but its origin is actually fairly complex and interesting. Sit back and read up on this little word’s … big history.
What does May mean?
The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, May, is defined as “the fifth month of the year, containing 31 days.” Got it. But where did this name come from?
The name for the month of May—along with the rest of the months of the year—comes from Latin. We can thank the Romans, from emperors to popes, for instituting the modern calendar.
Can you guess who is the man behind the name for July? See if you’re right!
May entered English in the 1050s. It developed from the Old English Maius, borrowed directly from the Latin Maius, short for Maius mēnsis, “Maia’s month.” But who is this Maia?
The Greek goddess Maia was one of the Pleiades, the companions of Artemis, goddess of the hunt. This Maia was the mother of Hermes, the messenger of the Gods. But the Romans had yet another goddess named Maia, who just happened to share a name with the Greek goddess.
The Greek goddess became conflated with the Roman Maia Majesta, a goddess of fertility and spring—appropriate for the growth and increase we see in the month of May.
Want to dig a little deeper? The Greek name Maia comes from a root meaning “mother, nurse, midwife.” The Roman Maia appears to be related to magnus, meaning “great” and source of such words as magnify.
May vs. may
That there is a month, May, and an auxiliary verb, may, is a small linguistic coincidence, not a meaningful overlap. The verb may came from the Old English mæg, ultimately related to a Germanic root meaning “to be able, to be strong, to have power.”
Fun fact: a native Old English name for the fifth month of the year was þrimilce. It literally meant “three milkings,” apparently because it was touted that the cows were so productive in ancient England that they could be milked three times per day.
More fun facts about May
When you think of May, you may think of flowers, spring, and great weather. But here are some more fun facts about the month of May.
- Taurus season ends and Gemini season begins in May—usually around May 21.
- May is one of seven months that have 31 days.
- The proverb April showers bring May flowers dates back to at least the 1500s!
- May 4 is a day Star Wars fans tend to celebrate. Click here to see why.
- Cinco de Mayo is May 5. However, Cinco de Mayo is not Mexican Independence Day. Learn more about that here.