Pylimitics

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  The profession is obsolete nowadays (nobody mends metal utensils; we just buy new… Continue reading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