Since we’re stuck inside and all of the parades have been canceled, I have an alternative for you this fine St. Paddy’s Day: a parade of Irish words and their origins! Some you’ve met, some you may not have, but all are worthy of a toast. "Ireland" (or "Irish") itself is originally from the Old… Continue reading 10 Irish Words and Their Origins for St. Patrick’s Day
"Discombobulate" was one in a series of words invented in the early to mid-1800s as part of a fad popular among educated high-society types who made up faux words by compiling Latin prefixes, suffixes, roots and other non-Latin components into silly-sounding combinations. Discombobulate itself is used to mean "confused" or "disoriented" now, but originally meant… Continue reading The Etomeelo… Atomolo… Etymolololo… Etymology of “Discombobulate”
My book, Once Upon a Word: A Word-Origin Dictionary for Kids (Rockridge Press, Feb. 25, 2020), is dedicated to a woman named Nanette Quinn. You can read the dedication below. Let me tell you a bit about Nanette Quinn. When I was in high school, I took French with Nanette Quinn, whom we called Madame… Continue reading On the Importance of Looking Up Words
Learn about the origins of the terms "protagonist" and "antagonist"—and discover who prevails, historically speaking.
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.
"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."
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."
I wrote a book about etymology! It's called ONCE UPON A WORD: A WORD-ORIGIN DICTIONARY FOR KIDS.
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
