Like “-mancy” or “-logy”, another English suffix that indicates something important about a set of words is “-aster”. That suffix is from Latin, and indicates “lower status” or “incompleteness”. In Latin it was used pejoratively. The English words that end in “-aster” have passed out of everyday usage, but a century or more ago they… Continue reading

If you happened to read the Daily Telegraph, back in June 1999, you might have run across this: “The Balkans conflict is at a watershed between a diplomatic settlement and the prospect of a ground war.” If you’re an English speaker from North America, you probably would have wondered, at least for a moment, what… Continue reading

Sometimes when a machine breaks, but real replacement parts aren’t available, you have to jury-rig a repair. This has nothing to do with trial juries, rigged or not. Originally this version of “jury” was a term sailors used for any makeshift repair they substituted for the original, usually in an emergency. You know, like when… Continue reading

Even if you’re feeling perfectly healthy, it might not take much to render you rigwelted. I mean, one simple case of the flu and you could be reduced to lying in bed. Rigwelted! (like I said the first time).  “Rigwelted” comes from the early 1800s, and originally meant lying helplessly on your back. But only… Continue reading

After a period of warm, dry weather, when it finally rains there’s often a very distinctive smell in the air. It’s a pleasant smell. It’s a smell with its very own word: “petrichor.” The fragrance is a little bit like wet dirt, but it doesn’t occur every time it rains — the preceding dry spell… Continue reading

When a dignitary of great fame but also unpredictable, unstable behavior visits a community unused to hosting such personages, local officials are often frightened and want to put forth the best possible appearance. You can see this sort of thing in North Korea, where you have to dress and act in specific ways when attending… Continue reading

In 1897, if you wanted a job in the new industry of dispensing soft drinks at a “soda fountain”, you might study a book. The book was the Modern Guide for Soda Dispensers by W. A. Bonham, and it had all sorts of useful information.  One important part of the book was recipes. Here’s an… Continue reading

It’s a somewhat puzzling state of affairs. There are quite a few characters and symbols we routinely use in addition to the regular alphabet; things like “@,” “#,” and even the common “*.” These commonly used symbols don’t have consistent names. But there are also many other characters and symbols that are only in use… Continue reading

Latin is probably a more orderly language than English in many ways. But it’s not a model of efficiency, where only one rule applies in any given situation, and for any object or action there’s only one word. Take the act (or lack of act, I suppose), “not talking” or “being quiet.” In Latin there’s… Continue reading

It’s Friday, which as it happens is a hebdomadal occurrence. Hebdomadal means anything that happens once every seven days. It’s a rather rare word, seeing as how most of the time when anyone wants to refer to something like that they simply say“weekly.” But the word did appear in a 2008 article in the Liverpool… Continue reading