If you hear the word “hackney” today it’s nearly always in the context of some idea that’s tired or played out. A “hackneyed expression” is one that’s simply overused; a cliché. You can have a “hackneyed excuse” (your dog ate your homework AGAIN?), hackneyed speeches (“We offer our thoughts and prayers…”), and even people can… Continue reading

In many books — the old kind, actually printed in real ink on real paper — there’s a page near the end that tells you some things about the book itself. Sometimes it lists the typefaces used, occasionally the paper, and maybe even some of the people involved in creating the book, such as the… Continue reading

A “pet peeve” is an annoyance you notice all over the place, but doesn’t usually rise above “irritating”. And besides, there’s generally nothing you can really do about it. Many people have pet peeves about words, and how other people misuse them! Take, for example, “systematic” and “systemic.” You’ll often hear them used interchangeably —… Continue reading

The word “complete”, which means something having all of its parts or components, has been around in English since the 1300s. It comes from the Latin word “complere,” which means “full.” Back in the 1500s, “complete” had another meaning as well. When you used it in reference to a person, it meant highly accomplished, or… Continue reading

Chemical elements are named for all sorts of reasons. Americium was named because it was discovered in the United States — there’s also Europium, named because it was discovered in Europe. Gallium is named after France (Gaul). Hassium is named after the German state Hesse, where it was discovered. There are loads of other examples,… Continue reading

Calling a magician a “prestidigitator” is not unusual — in fact, depending on the stage persona of the magician in question, “prestidigitator” might even be part of their act. It means “quick fingers,” as in “the hand is quicker than the eye,” and it comes from French, where it was the nearly-identical “prestidigitateur.” I bet… Continue reading

Annnnd…here’s the next installment! You’ll remember the Acrasy List, and that will, I’m sure, bring to mind its contrapositive companion, the erstwhile Nice List. But just a bit of scrutiny shows that “nice” has not always been a suitable sobriquet to apply to anyone you hold in the slightest esteem. “Nice” arrived in English from… Continue reading

Nowadays we talk about Santa’s two lists; the Naughty and the Nice. But it hasn’t always been that way. It’s not easy to find the clues, but The Truth Is Out There. Let’s start with “naughty.” “Naughty” comes from naught — no, that’s not quite right; it didn’t really pop up out of nothing. What… Continue reading

During the 1600s in England, a great many negative words were coined by adding the prefix “mis-.” That is, if you acknowledged someone or something, but then discovered you’d made a mistake, in those days you’d say you “misacknowledged.” There was also “missadd” in 1657 for summing poorly, misalter in 1641 for making an error… Continue reading

In 1699 Abel Boyer published a dictionary with the unusual characteristic of a three-sentence title: The royal dictionary. In two parts. First, French and English. Secondly, English and French. In that dictionary you can find this entry: “Pill-garlick: a pitiful sneaking Fellow out of Countenance.” It wasn’t long before “pill-garlick” became the word “pilgarlic.” It… Continue reading