Historical terms have a tendency to be "mobile" in terms of geographical space and historical time. The presentation of historical terms by means of a mobile dictionary enabling university students to access such terms by means of a smartphone, tablet or laptop adds to the dimension of mobility. The article describes the continuous change in meaning of historical concepts over time and space with reference to democracy and nationalism, which are known as substantive concepts. An analysis of the emergence and development of these concepts within different historical contexts indicates the extent to which static definitions are inadequate with regard to fostering historical understanding. A tendency to continuous change in the meaning of the above-mentioned terms has important implications for the compilation of a Language for Specific Purposes (LSP) dictionary of historical terms at university level, and for the consequences thereof for mobile LSP lexicography. The LSP dictionary called MobiLex has a pedagogical purpose and changes in the design and features of the dictionary to enhance teaching and learning of historical terms have pedagogical consequences regarding the learning of such terms. In an ever-changing environment, adaptions to mobile lexicography would be possible with the advancement of technology. Trends and development in technology offer the possibility of changing the face of lexicographical support in a mobile environment, motivated from a pedagogical theoretical point of view.

In 1963 the Archbishop of St Andrews and Edinburgh, Gordon Joseph Gray, asked for volunteers to staff a mission station in the Bauchi province in the north of Nigeria. By the end of 1969 the Bauchi experiment was deemed a success; however, the process of establishing the mission was littered with complications. Not only had this station been abandoned by the Society of African Missions since 1957, it was also firmly located in an Islam-dominated area where Catholic priests had to compete not only with Muslims but also with American Protestant missionaries and indigenous religions. To make matters worse, the years between 1963 and 1970 included two coups and a civil war during which religion became the focus of much of the violence. This article looks at the correspondence between Archbishop Gray and the volunteers in Bauchi in order to provide insight into how the missionaries experienced their task of establishing a Scottish Catholic presence an area others considered too hostile.

South African prisoner-of-war (POW) experience, a much neglected subject in World War Two texts, is analysed in this article in terms of the experience and use of humour. Experience of humour as a means of coping during captivity reflected captives' humour identity at the time of the war; however, when interviewed, this coping mechanism is adapted to facilitate dual perspective, one of the many strategies interviewees use to smooth the progress of the interview and help with recall of often painful memories. A search for aspects unique to South African POWs concludes that humour was a universal coping and morale boosting mechanism in the war as well as during interviews.

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