In ancient Rome they used the word “vilis” to mean worthless or cheap. In the mid 1200s the word, which had become part of Old French, entered English (Middle English at the time) as “vile.” In English it came to mean worse than just lack of economic value; it acquired a moral aspect and tended… Continue reading

If you mention a “surprise” without a lot of other context, most people take it with a generally positive implication. They might think of a gift, a party, or something else that appears unexpectedly. But the main point is that nowadays a surprise is often a good thing. Surprisingly enough, this was not always the… Continue reading

Most people in the modern world see a lot of fenders every single day. Cars, after all, have four of them, and bikes often have one or two. But even assuming that the average American sees approximately 2,500 different cars every day, which would add up to 10,000 fenders, that’s not all the fenders you… Continue reading

“Daughters, brothers, sisters, kith and kin,” wrote George Byron in 1824. “Kith and kin” is an expression that’s still in occasional use, although it’s in decline. And it’s been around for centuries. It’s pretty common knowledge that “kin” means family, but what about “kith”?  “Kith” comes from Old English, and back then it meant “knowledge.” Not… Continue reading

The Washington Times was opining about the US managing to finally get out of Iraq, back in 2006, when it printed “That’s why we should have used some bellweather event like the signing of the Iraqi constitution, or the parliamentary elections as our moment to declare victory and exit stage left.” Whenever US national elections… Continue reading

If you were in the wrong place for watching a full moon or an eclipse it could be due to “obnubilation.” The sky can be obnubilated any time, of course, not just when there’s an eclipse. Skies have been potentially obnubilated since the late 1500s when the word “obnubilate” appeared in English. It’s derived from… Continue reading

A “pachyderm” is an elephant. Quite a large sort of animal in most people’s opinions. And although elephants don’t, strictly speaking, have toes, the term “pachydactyl” means a type of animal (often a bird) that has large toes or talons. An ostrich, for example. Or the Road Runner from the cartoons. Another group of animals… Continue reading

Nautical affairs have contributed a huge number of words to English over the centuries. If you define “nautical affairs” broadly enough, that would include ships, sailors’ jargon, and even books and stories set in seagoing contexts.  Patrick O’Brian wrote historical novels set on 18th century British naval ships, so his works certainly qualify. The books… Continue reading

At the Olympics (at least the winter version), some events begin at the peak of a mountain. All Olympic events are so competitive an athlete needs to deliver a peak performance in order to win a medal. A few of the athletes — and some of the fans — have a hairline featuring a widow’s… Continue reading

Hoods have been part of people’s wardrobes for a very long time. Long enough for some interesting etymology to show up. One interesting bit is “liripipe” — which is sometimes written as “liripoop”, although nobody seems to know why. If you wore a hood back in medieval England, you might have attached an ornamental dangly… Continue reading