Pylimitics

Everybody has seen maps that use contour lines to show, for example, areas of barometric pressure, temperature, or elevation. That type of illustration is called an “isogram,” from the Greek words “isos” (equal) and “gram” (something written). By the way, the “gram” that’s a weight is from the Latin word “gramma” (a small weight).  There’s… Continue reading

Nowadays if someone is called a “gentleman,, it mostly means they they’re polite. You’d think, since the word “gentle” is part of “gentleman,” that such a fellow would be particularly unlikely to rap you over the head with his walking-stick, or challenge you to a duel of swordplay. But the meaning of “gentle” has changed… Continue reading

If you read “Born With the Dead” by Robert Silverberg, you’ll run across this remarkable passage: “They spoke in fragments and ellipses, in periphrastics and aposiopesis, in a style abundant in chiasmus, metonymy, meiosis, oxymoron, and zeugma; their dazzling rhetorical techniques left him baffled and uncomfortable, which beyond much doubt was their intention.” Each one… Continue reading

Occasionally everyone has a night when they can’t seem to get to sleep. They toss and turn and can’t settle in. They’re “restive.” Or, wait, is that “restless”?  “Restive” has an interesting history, at least for a word (the Tower of London’s history is probably more interesting, but as a cultural landmark, it wouldn’t be… Continue reading

You know, obviously, what “danger” means. But I’ll bet you don’t know what it used to mean!  As you might expect, “danger” is a pretty old word. It entered English in the 1200s, or possibly earlier, and came from Latin. The Latin word it comes from is “dominus,” which means master or lord. The original… Continue reading