Learn about the origins of the terms "protagonist" and "antagonist"—and discover who prevails, historically speaking.
An Etymological Rivalry: “Protagonist” and “Antagonist”—and Who Came First?
Author: Jess Zafarris
Jess Zafarris is the author of Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids. She is also an award-winning innovator of digital content and marketing solutions and a prolific online and print journalist, having served as the Executive Director of Marketing & Communications for Gotham Ghostwriters. Before that, she served as Digital Content Director and Content Strategist for Writer’s Digest and Script, and she still occasionally writes for WD. Her nine years of experience in digital and print content direction and marketing include such roles as editor-in-chief of HOW magazine and online content director of HOW and PRINT magazine, as well as writing for the The Hot Sheet, the Denver Business Journal, ABC News, and the Memphis Commercial Appeal. She has a bachelors in English Literature (with minors in Arabic and Anthropology) from DePaul University and a masters in Journalism & Mass Communications from the University of Colorado Boulder. She spends much of her spare time researching curious word histories and writing about them at UselessEtymology.com. Follow her at @jesszafarris or @uselessety on Twitter, or on Instagram at @uselessetymology.
The Etymology of “Periwinkle”
Since the 1500s, the word "periwinkle" has been used as the name of two distinctive items: an edible sea snail and a broadleaf evergreen plant—or, in its adjective form, the color of said evergreen plant. Both have different but converging etymologies.
The Etymology of “Squid”
"Squid" is thought to be a sailors' variant of "squirt," referring to the ink ejected by the cephalopods. Commonly used as the name of the fried culinary dish, "calamari" is also the name of a specific genus of squid and comes from the Latin calamarius, literally "pertaining to a pen."
The Loneliest Words: What Are Unpaired Words?
An unpaired word is a word that doesn't exist in common use without a prefix or a suffix, or has no natural opposite, like "debunk," "reckless" and "unscathed."
Once Upon a Word: A New Word-Origin Kids Book from the Creator of Useless Etymology
I wrote a book about etymology! It's called ONCE UPON A WORD: A WORD-ORIGIN DICTIONARY FOR KIDS.
4 Etymology Facts for Jane Austen’s Birthday
December 16 is Jane Austen's birthday, so today we'll explore a few intriguing etymology facts related to her and her wonderful works. The word prejudice first meant "contempt" more broadly, rather than today's sense of a specific bias. It comes from the Medieval Latin prejudicium, "injustice." Our current meaning connects more to the older Latin… Continue reading 4 Etymology Facts for Jane Austen’s Birthday
The Etymology of “Pizzazz”
While some sources including etymonline.com say that "pizzazz" (or "pizazz") first appeared in print in a March 1937 issue of Harper's Bazaar, it actually appears earlier in a 1913 issue of The Main Sheet, a largely humorous publication by the Indoor Yacht Club, albeit with a different usage than we see today. It is true… Continue reading The Etymology of “Pizzazz”
The Etymoooology of “Peculiar”
"Peculiar" comes from the Latin peculium, literally "property in cattle," a meaning that lingers in "peculiar to," meaning "belonging solely to." Its "odd" sense arose after the term evolved to mean "distinguished, special," describing a person or thing of great wealth or renown. Peculium was used to describe property in general, for cattle were considered the… Continue reading The Etymoooology of “Peculiar”
The Origins of the Phrase “Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps”
The phrase "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" originated shortly before the turn of the 20th century. It's attributed to a late-1800s physics schoolbook that contained the example question "Why can not a man lift himself by pulling up on his bootstraps?" So when it became a colloquial phrase referring to socioeconomic advancement shortly thereafter, it… Continue reading The Origins of the Phrase “Pull Yourself Up By Your Bootstraps”
