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

In England (at least), someone who designs crossword puzzles is called a “crossword setter.” There was one crossword setter — you can find his work in the Guardian newspaper online — who goes by two names. His given name is “Donald Putnam”, and he created puzzles called quiptic crosswords. According to the newspaper, that’s “a Continue reading

It’s flabbergasting how you can be metagrobolized by “flummox,” flummoxed by “metagrobolize,” and you can be both flummoxed and metagrobolized by “flabbergast.”  “Flabbergast” first appeared in the 1700s. Today it means astonished or very, very surprised, but back when it was a new word (probably created by combining“flap” and “aghast”), it also meant terrified. The Continue reading

In 1919 the US adopted the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, banning the manufacture and sale of alcohol. It was generally known as “Prohibition.” In 1933, after reviewing the mostly disastrous results (enormous growth in organized crime, for one), the whole thing was repealed. But it left some traces behind in language. The most widely Continue reading

Words take on new meanings all the time. One of them is terrific. No, I mean one of them is “terrific.” It comes from the Latin word “terrificus,” which means frightening. But of course nowadays if you say something is terrific, you mean it’s marvelous and not frightening at all. Something like, I don’t know, Continue reading

Mind your P’s and Q’s is an old saying meaning “be on your best behavior” or “mind your manners.” It’s still used today, here and there. It’s the sort of thing a grandma might say to her grandchild. But calling it an “old saying” is an understatement, it turns out that it’s much older than Continue reading

A portmanteau word is coined by combining two or more words into one. “Brunch,” for example, is made up from “breakfast” and “lunch.” Portmanteau words seem to be getting more common; “cyborg,” “edutainment,” and, for that matter, “internet” are all well known and recent. But the practice of combining existing words into new ones has Continue reading

“The exception proves the rule” is repeated often enough that most people have probably heard it. On the face of it, it seems to mean that finding an exception to a rule provides proof that the rule is correct. Or maybe that the rule is in effect. Or something. Maybe it doesn’t make any sense Continue reading

US states all have nicknames. It’s not clear why a state needs a nickname, and some of them, like New Mexico’s (“the land of enchantment”) sound like the product of a marketing meeting in the state capital. Many of the nicknames come from some aspect of the history of the state — or even the Continue reading