I bet you didn’t know that if you have trouble determining your own ubication, you might not be in possession of a strong viatic urge.  “Ubication” and “viatic” are at least obscure and probably obsolete words, but they go together pretty well. “Viatic” means anything related to travel. “Viatic” has the same root as “via,” Continue reading

Old English isn’t so much an older version of English as a completely different language. It was much more completely Germanic than modern English is completely anything. Nobody knows quite how old it is, but it died out over a thousand years ago. Although it’s one of the main sources of modern English, it operates Continue reading

A “tinker” is (or was) an itinerant craftsman who would travel from village to village fixing metal utensils — pots, pans, kitchen knives, and the like. They were generally held in pretty low repute, and tended to be ready targets for derision.  The profession is obsolete nowadays (nobody mends metal utensils; we just buy new Continue reading

As everybody knows, a “blizzard” is a great big snow storm. What everybody may not know is that “blizzard” is a made-up word. In 1870 there was a great big snow storm in Estherville, Ohio, of all places. It was a late-season storm that happened on March 14. It was evidently quite an impressive storm, Continue reading

A “dialog” (also spelled “dialogue”, should you be playing Scrabble and need the extra points) is a conversation, generally between two people. It’s from Greek, and made up of “dia” (through) and “logos” (to speak). It was a single word even in Greek though: “dialogos.” It entered Latin “dialogus” and Old French “dialogue,” where it Continue reading

In February, 1900, the Evening Gazette in Reno, Nevada, explained the origin of the term “honkytonk:” “Every child of the range can tell what honkatonk means and where it came from. Away, away back in the very early days, so the story goes, a party of cow punchers rode out from camp at sundown in Continue reading

The Latin word “villa” moved into Italian, and more recently into English, unchanged. In Latin it meant a farmhouse or country house, and still does, even in English. But coming from outside the city isn’t always regarded as a good thing. Just as the middle of the US is sometimes called “flyover country,” good only Continue reading

English is a constantly changing mess of new words being borrowed and invented and existing words falling into disuse and obsolescence. With that going on for so long, it’s no wonder that some pretty good words have fallen out of use.  One word that hasn’t been seen in centuries, and might be a good candidate Continue reading

Just about everybody remembers the name “Albus Dumbledore;” Harry Potter’s headmaster in magic school. You’ll find his name in all of the Harry Potter books. But you’ll also find “dumbledore” in the dictionary.  Maybe J. K. Rowling chose the name “Dumbledore” because she thought the word deserved more notice. Back in 1799 John Robberds certainly Continue reading

“This is a lipogram – a book, paragraph or similar thing in writing that lacks a symbol, particularly (but not always) that symbol fifth in rank out of our 26 script-signs (found amidst ‘d’ and ‘f’), which stands for a sound such as that in ‘kiwi’. I won’t bring it up right now, to avoid Continue reading