Pylimitics

Consider the humble “humble.” “Humble” is a word that’s been part of English since about the 1200s, which is a pretty long time. And in those centuries, “humble” has meant some very different things compared to how we use it now. In a sense, it’s the opposite of “proud.”  That meaning is one of a… Continue reading

Up until about the 1970s, a movie that was a goofy, possibly slapstick comedy would be advertised as “zany” and “madcap.” Both of those words are less common in recent decades, but still around.  By coincidence, both words appeared in English around the 1500s, even though that century isn’t generally remembered as a golden era… Continue reading

I love it when a plan comes together People have been planning and scheming for a very long time, and for just as long there have been events, circumstances, and other people who have been thwarting those plans. “Thwart” is an extremely old word — one way to tell is that you find versions of… Continue reading

You hear — usually in competing media — about “tabloid journalism” and “the tabloids.” But doesn’t “tabloid” seem like a weird word for a kind of newspaper? It is — and it originally meant something very different. It all started back in 1880 in London. Henry Wellcome started a business with Silas Burroughs: Burroughs Wellcome… Continue reading

An omen is a sign or portent about some future happening. It might be a good omen or it might be a bad omen — the word “omen” is neutral. But if “omen” is neutral, why does “ominous,” which is simply something foretold by an omen, always have a negative connotation? Whatever the reason, this… Continue reading