Pylimitics

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