Learning any language is hard, but learning English can be especially challenging. Why? Because native speakers use the language in ways that textbooks could never describe. In particular, words that British people use cause many language students to scratch their heads.

    Here's an example: You overhear a Briton calling someone a “wazzock”. But what exactly is a wazzock? This word, in fact, means a foolish person, although there's nothing about it that would help you guess that. There are many strange terms like this in British English – the Oxford English Dictionary would be much smaller without these peculiar (古怪的) usages filling its pages.

    How can these odd words be explained? Part of the answer is the British sense of humor. Britons don't like to take things too seriously, and this is evident through many British words and phrases. For example, to “spend a penny” means to use the bathroom. It refers to the days when people had to pay a penny to use a public toilet.

    In an interview for the BBC's website, British linguist David Crystal suggested there may be historical reasons for the sheer number of odd words and phrases in British English. He thinks that they began in the late 16^th and early 17^th centuries. This was a great age for the theater, when Shakespeare and other writers worked hard to keep up with the demand for new plays. The theater's popularity also created an incentive (刺激) to invent new words.

    With this in mind, perhaps Shakespeare and his peers are to blame for unusual British words such as “codswallop” and “balderdash” – which both, ironically, mean “nonsense”.

    While these strange words may be confusing to non-native speakers, they certainly make studying English a lot more interesting.

    The online economy—from search to email to social media—is built in large part on the fact that consumers are willing to give away their data in exchange for products that are free and easy to use. The assumption behind this trade-off is that without giving up all that data, those products either couldn't be so good or would have to come at a cost.

    But a new working paper, released this week by Lesley Chiou of Occidental College and Catherine Tucker of MIT, suggests that the trade-off may not always be necessary. By studying the effects of privacy regulations in the EU, they attempted to measure whether the anonymization(匿名化) of search data hurts the quality of search results.

    Most search engines capture user data, including IP addresses and other data that can identify a user across multiple visits. This data allows them search companies to improve their algorithms(算法) and to personalize results for the user. At least, that's the idea. To determine whether storage of users' personal data improves search results, Chiou and Tucker looked at how search results from Bring and Yahoo differed before and after changes in the European Commission's rules on data retention(数据保存). In 2008 the Commission recommended that search engines reduce the period over which search engines kept user records. In response, Yahoo decided to strengthen its privacy policy by anonymizing user data after 90 days. In 2010 Microsoft changed its policy, and began deleting IP addresses associated with searches on Bring after six months and all data points intended to identify a user across visits after 18 months. In 2011 Yahoo changed its policy again, this time deciding to store personal data longer—for 18 months rather than 90 days—allowing the researchers yet another chance to measure how changes in data storage affected search results.

    The researchers then looked at data from UK residents' web history before and after the changes. To measure search quality, they looked at the number of repeated searches, a signal of dissatisfaction with search results. In all three cases, they found no statistically significant effect on search result quality following changes in data retention policy. In other words, the decision to anonymize the data didn't appear to impair the search experience. “Our results suggest that the costs of privacy may be lower than currently perceived,” the authors write, though they note that previous studies have come to different conclusions.

    Rainy days don't have to get you down, a happiness expert has reported.

    Paul Dolan, Professor of Behavioral Science at the London School of Economics, said that people only feel miserable in bad weather because they think about it too much. Studies have shown that people who live in warm, sunny climates are no happier than those in chilly, wet climates, he says. So the British talking about the weather may be making us gloomier（沮丧的） than the weather itself.

    He said: “A study was done that measured the happiness levels of people in California compared to the North West. “They expected that people in California would be happier because it is more sunny, but they found that levels of happiness were exactly the same. If it is sunny every day you get used to it and the sunshine doesn't make you any happier. Most of the time the weather doesn't influence our well-being at all. But when we think about it, and think that it does, that's when we get miserable.”

    In his new book, Happiness By Design, Dolan argues that we can think ourselves happy by taking our attention away from what makes us sad.

    “Most of our anxieties come from what might be,” he argues. “If you want to be happier, pay attention to the things that make you feel good.”

    He also claimed that a problem shared was not always a problem halved(减半). He believed that humans are actually very good at being able to get over tragedy(悲剧) and loss.

    Professor Dolan also admitted for the first time that he had a stammer（口吃）, which had made his early life miserable. He added it only got better when he learned not to pay attention to his speech problem.

    “Things are never as bad as you imagine them being,” he said.

    As a capital city full of art and history, London is an important political centre and a huge financial marketplace. Whatever you think about London, visiting as a tourist is very different from living there. Each part of London has its own character. Some parts are richer than others, or more industrial, or have better housing.

    Let's start with the centre, the “Square Mile”. This is the oldest part of London. In the past, it was where all financial business was done. Not many people live here, but 300,000 people work here every day.

    Moving west, we come to the West End. This busy shopping and entertainment district is bursting with things to do. Take a walk down Oxford Street, and you will see big department stores like Selfridges and Harrods. Rents here are very high; a one-bedroom apartment may cost around 1,000 pounds a week. Further away is West London. This area is more residential(住宅的)and very fashionable.

    The East End contains the Port of London, which historically is where many immigrants first arrived. Waves of French, Belgians, Jews, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis have all lived here. This makes the culture of this area very various. London won the bid to hold the Olympics in 2012, so many Londoners hope that housing, education and employment for many people in this area will improve.

    It is difficult to be general about London. The city is made up of a " collection of villages”, each area with its own character and community. Put them all together, and you have London, an international capital.

    Where to Drink

    Cafe San Bernardo

    Join table-tennis and pool-playing port. Cafe San Bernardo has been running since 1912.The Villa Crespo dive bar also offers up table football for￡4 an hour. Service is efficient; with last orders at 5 am. The daily happy hour between 6 pm and 9 pm includes 60 minutes playing your game of choice, plus a half-bottle of red wine and a corn pie, for￡9.

    Avenue Corrientes 5436, Villa Crespo, 54 11 4805 3956, cafesanbernardo.com

M Salumeria & Enoteca

    Trading only in wine with a story, sommelier(侍酒师)Mariana Torta chooses new ways on a daily basis, and keeps a list of around 250 labels. There's no wine menu—simply take your bottle from the shelf.

    Open 11:00 am-11:30 pm, El Salvador 5777, Palermo Hollywood, 54 11 4778 9016, on Facebook

    Negro Cueva de Cafe

    Coffee has found its place in Buenos Aires. While LAB: Tostadores, The Shelter and Coffee Town are famous new places, Negro Cueva de Cafe is one of the best downtown. It serves Ecuadorian, Colombian and Brazilian beans, and its attracting cakes include croissant.

    Open 9:30 am-7:00 pm, Suipacha 637, Microcentro, 54 11 4322 3000, negrocafe .com

    La Calle

    Head to the Niceto Vega address and you'll be faced with a pizza. Order the special wine, special candy, and prepare to sing until dawn with a high-energy young crowd.

    Open 8:00 pm-2:00 am, Niceto Vega 4942, Palermo Soho, 54 11 3914 1972, on Facebook

Visit Chicago Children's Museum

    In brief:

    This museum offers plenty of fun hands-on activities for kids. However, this is one of the few Chicago museums not "fun for the whole family" as adults and older kids will be bored to tears.

    Address: 700 East Grand Ave. (Navy Pier), Chicago

    Phone: 312- 527-1000

    Public transportation:

    CTA bus lines # 29 (State Street), #65 (Grand Avenue), and # 66 (Chicago Avenue) all serve Navy Pier.

    Parking fees:

    · Monday through Thursday: $ 20

    · Friday through Sunday: $ 24

    · Holidays: $ 24

    Opening hours:

    · Weekdays: 10 a. m.-5 p. m

    · Weekends: 10 a. m.-8 p. m

    Entrance fees:

    ·Adults: $12

    ·Children: $12

    ·Seniors (65+): $11

    ·Children (under 5): free

    Activities:

    Located at one of Chicago's top tourist attractions, Navy Pier, the museum offers three floors of activities for kids, including:

    ·Play It Safe—all about home safety

    ·Inventing Lab—provides parts and instructions for creating things

    ·Kids Town—a playroom recreating a Chicago neighborhood where kids can pretend to do things like shopping for groceries and driving a CTA bus

    ·Climbing Schooner—a three-floor climbing building

    ·My Museum—kids get to create various pieces of art that are "all about me"

    ·Skyline—kids learn about skyscrapers and design their own buildings

    ·Tree House Trails—a play area designed like a forest

    ·Waterways—water activities showing how pumps and dams work