One of Shakespeare’s famous passages is Hamlet’s concluding speech, which includes the phrase “aye, there’s the rub.” You can tell from the context that what Hamlet means by “the rub” is an obstacle or difficulty of some sort. But without the context — and in fact, without that particular famous passage — how would anybody… Continue reading

You might be served garlic butter in a restaurant. You might have a skin lotion containing shea butter. You might even get some candy made with cocoa butter. But you’d have quite a different experience if you entered surrebutter.  In fact, “surrebutter” doesn’t have anything to do with butter at all. And you’re not going… Continue reading

If you’re an artist, you might hold a “palette” in one hand while wielding your brush with the other. Your paintings could be described as representing a “palette” of colors. Then if you stop painting (and clean yourself up) you might go out to eat, hoping that something on the menu pleases your “palate.” Afterwards,… Continue reading

You measure how wide something is by assessing its width. When you check how long it is, you have its length. Then you measure how tall it is, and you get…height. But not “heighth.”  The “-th” ending comes from Old English. It’s also used in other Germanic languages as a way to change a verb… Continue reading

“He knew … that flight was impossible; that he was tied fast under the shadow of the axe; and that in spite of his utmost tergiversation and treachery in furtherance of the reigning terror, a word might bring it down upon him.” That’s from A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens, and it’s a rare… Continue reading

The incredible two-headed heffalump It’s not unusual for an English word to have quite a few unrelated meanings, or even turn out to be more than one word with the same sound. As you might think, this happens more often with words that have been around for centuries. It’s also more common with simpler one-… Continue reading

What we know as “tennis” is not the original game of tennis. The original tennis is probably derived from the French word “tenez,” which means “look out!” — probably because it’s a game in which somebody uses a racquet to hit a ball at you as hard as they can.  Tennis was played as early… Continue reading

It’s not a good look to be fawning over somebody. Fawning is “courting favor by an abject demeanor.” It can also mean to cringe, as if you’re sure you’re about to be beaten, or insulted, or otherwise ill-used by somebody that you can’t or won’t fight back against. In fiction, it’s usually the bad guy’s… Continue reading

Have you ever noticed that people who lack compassion are called “ruthless,” but the most caring, empathetic person in the world isn’t called “ruthful” or “ruth”? That’s a relatively recent development; up until the 1800s, “ruth” was a relatively common word, and sure enough, it meant the opposite of “ruthless.”  “Ruth” entered English long ago,… Continue reading

A bitter taste is unpleasant. It’s acrid and sharp, and the sharpness is the key to why it’s called “bitter.” That’s because “bitter” used to be the Old English word “biter,” a word that was just what it sounds like; something that bites. A bitter taste “bites” your tongue, so to speak.  Having begun with… Continue reading