Pylimitics

“Agony” is, today, severe discomfort or acute pain. But it wasn’t always that way. Agony comes from Ancient Greek — an “agon” was just a contest. They had loads of contests. There were hundreds of “gymnasiums” where athletes and others would train and practice various skills, and there were constant competitions in everything from wrestling… Continue reading

It’s not really roasted turkey season, but who cares; it’s time to discuss “drumsticks”, or legs. They only look a little bit like drumsticks, of course, so why did that name arise?  It was because not all that long ago, it was quite impolite to say the word “leg” out loud, particularly at the dinner… Continue reading

The 19th Century was something of a golden age for English oratory; audiences would listen attentively to speeches that today would seem absurdly long. Not only that, they were accustomed to listening to sentence structures considerably more complex than we generally cope with now — arguably, more complex than many of us are able to… Continue reading

“Autology” is a word that was fairly rare even when it was in use back in the 1600s. It meant self-knowledge, or the study of oneself. Some years later there was also the form “autological” for referring to things having to do with autology. Since Freud didn’t happen across the word, it probably would have… Continue reading

If you’re shopping for clothes, one option might be something made of “gabardine.” The dictionary says it’s a “firm, tightly woven fabric of worsted, cotton, polyester, or other fiber, with a twill weave,” which unfortunately does absolutely nothing to ensure that I’d be able to look at a coat and say “oh, that’s made of… Continue reading