In the late 1800s, at the Rugby School in England (the school is specifically in Warwickshire, but on the other hand I haven’t the faintest idea where Warwickshire might be), students for some reason started to form new slang words by adding “-er” to the end of a root word. They created “ekker” for exercise 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

If you find yourself on a desert island without a boat, what you are is “stranded.” On the face of it, that seems like an unusual term to use for that situation; why not “trapped” or something? By the way, if your pirate crew got tired of always having to let you win at Scrabble Continue reading

The English word “flamboyant” is taken directly from French. That is, in French the word is the same, but the meaning differs. And the meaning in French has changed in interesting ways since the 1500s, and also since the 1800s, which is when it started to appear in English. The French word is probably older Continue reading

“English” (the word) comes from the Angles, a tribe who lived in those parts and by all reports were pretty belligerent. But they also contributed a great deal to the language, including the odd detail that the English towns “Norfolk” and “Suffolk” were named by the Angles, because they were where the “north folk” and Continue reading

Nowadays being “enthusiastic” is generally considered a good thing. It means you’re intensely interested in something (like a hobby), you enjoy it very much (like a piece of music), or you highly approve of it (like your favorite sports team). This hasn’t always been the case, though. “Enthusiasm” came from the Greek word “enthousiasmos,” which Continue reading

Sheets of paper were invented a long, long time before anybody thought of envelopes. In the early days — and by “early days” I mean a couple of millennia ago — when some important official wrote a document that might, for example, grant its holder a special privilege of some sort, they would keep it Continue reading

When you look at certain kinds of birds in the right light, their feathers can seem to change color in the light. In much the same way, silk and some other fabrics don’t always look quite the same as changing light hits them; you can see different colors and even patterns appear.  This is caused Continue reading

Word of the day: finagle To “finagle” is to “use dishonest or devious means to bring something about.” The word is still in use, and although many people believe it’s a regional expression common only to the northeast US, the Dictionary of American Regional English points out that the word is used throughout the US. Continue reading

“Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana.” (Groucho Marx) “We must, indeed, all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” (Benjamin Franklin) Those are examples of “antanaclasis,” which is repeating a word (or a phrase), and using it in a different sense the second time. The word comes from Latin, Continue reading