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What is a Loop? It is a maneuver thanks to which you close a curve (that is if you are flying a plane). It is applied in other contexts as well.  In the one presented in this sci-fi thrilller the term Loop is applied to Time traveling but with a twist. It is the year 2044 in Kansas in a U.S. that has entered a deep social and economic depression. As a result, crime has widespread and many young people dream of becoming criminals themselves to have a priviledged life. Joe Simmons (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) is enjoying that kind of life already for he is a hired killer who works for crimelords of the future. It happens that in 2074 time travel is discovered but the use of that technology is also strictly forbidden and also if you have enemies to get rid off there is no way to "dispose" of the bodies because of some kind of advanced tracking technology. In order to solve  that problem, crime bosses use their own time travel machines to send their victims thirty years into the

The X in X-mas is not the same X the X-men have. The X-men are called like that because they have an eXtra power, or powers. The X in X-mas means Christ because originally this word came fromthe Old Greek and the initial letter for Christ (Saviour) was none other than an X or a letter with a similar sound. Thus the custom of using it as a short for Christmas in writing stems from this fact. BTW, X-mas is pronounced the same way as Christmas. Nevertheless, if separated the word Christ is pronounced differently (with a long i) whereas when we say Christmas we use a short i.  This happens because the word Christmas comes from the Old English expression Cristes maesse which meant something like Mass of Christ and that word Cristes was said with a short i. The pronunciation was retained even as it changed meaning since it is no longer a mass but a festival of sorts and that is what it means precisely: the annual festivity that celebrates Jesus Christ's birth.  Other possible na

Well, both are correct to start with, but one is more frequently used than the other and that is Merry Christmas . The question is then:  "why do people prefer to say Merry instead of Happy if both are synonyms?" One reason is to avoid redundancy since most people wish a "happy Christmas" and also a "happy New Year" together due to the proximity of both holidays. Instead of saying "happy" twice it sounds more elegant to use merry and then happy.  Another reason is Collocation which is a term used to explain this constant use of some words with others, e.g. We get tired. Instead of We get tired  we could say We become tired but it's not common. Collocation explains why we say Do homework and not Make homework. Why do we say a high mountain but not a tall mountain ? Well, collocation explains that.  Because of Collocation words are wise but not smart . So if most people say  Merry Christmas, Collocation is responsible for that.    Perh

                                                   "I told you not to turn left. Now we are in some place called Ecuador! "     T he REYES MAGOS, as we know them in Spanish, are not called Magician Kings in English. In fact, they are said to be only "wise men". The idea that they were kings came later because the Gospel of Matthew is the only one out of the four that mentions them. He does not say they were kings, or magicians, their names, or even if they were three exactly. We only know they came from the east, that they brought presents for Jesus (Gold, Incense ad Myrrh) and that they were men of science (astronomers perhaps since they were guided by a star).  So calling them WISE MEN  or The MAGI is appropriate. The word Magi may be misleading though, since one may think they had powers of their own, but no.  They were men of science who practiced "magic" according to the common men of that time  who did not understand the science of the Wise Men

ESCENARIO is not SCENERY. ESCENARIO is STAGE which is in this context, a platform set at a higher level than the floor so it can be seen by an audience and that is used for artistic performances mainly.  Then, what does SCENERY mean? A Scenery is usually defined as the group of characteristics of some place in particular, usually nature-related, rural. e.g. The scenery that can be seen from that hill has changed through they years: in the past there were many trees but now there are only bushes. SCENERY is then LANDSCAPE which is also related to VIEW or VISTA (the word VISTA is also used in English only not that often).  Curiously, the word SCENARIO exists in English but with a completely different meaning. SCENARIO means a sequence of events, one that can be easily foretold. It is used especially when planning what actions to take when you are going to undertake some endeavour so any of the possible situations and outcomes to be analyzed. The expression "The Worst Case

In Spanish we say EL FIN DE LOS DIAS o EL DIA DEL JUICIO FINAL to indicate the end of the world as we know it. In English the first is THE END OF DAYS and the other is JUDGMENT DAY. In Spanish there is another word to indicate the same and that is APOCALIPSIS which is APOCALYPSE in English. By the way, the last book in the Bible is usually called Apocalipsis in Spanish but in English is known as Revelations. Besides the ones mentioned above, there are no many more words in Spanish to describe that "special" day. Nevertheless, in English there is another: DOOMSDAY. There is no real equivalent of this word in Spanish and that is why is translated as EL DIA DEL JUICIO FINAL just like Judgment Day. A more faithful translation would be Día de la Perdición, but that is perhaps too literal.  RAGNAROK is mentioned also. Actually, that word is taken from the old Norse mythology and should be understood as the Twilight of the Gods. Since the English culture takes heavily from t

This one is not difficult because it is just as when we say the Aztecs or the Incas. In other words, we can safely say The Mayas if we refer to the people who once were part of this Mesoamerican civilization or their descendants. The word Maya can also function as an adjective and thus we can use this word in terms such as: The Maya Cities or the Maya period. Curiously enough, if we refer to all the Mayas then we can use the term The Maya, and it also serves as the name for the entire civilization. That use is not mandatory and if you find more comfortable to say The Mayas, do it and leave the other to the scientists. The term Mayan also exists but it is preferred when talking about the cultural aspects of this civilization such as their languages, traditions, architecture and so on. Last but not least if we want to say CALENDARIO MAYA then we say MAYAN CALENDAR. As stated before to use MAYAN or MAYA (when working as adjectives) is really optional and should not be considered a