meme Most of us are familiar with memes, those images with varying text that propagate, often virally, through the internet, but where does the word meme come from? It may be surprising to many, but the word meme was coined by biologist and famed promoter of atheism Richard Dawkins in 1976.
smoot I usually don’t write up novelty words, but smoot has a neat ironic twist that is impossible to ignore. A smoot is a unit of linear measure equal to 1.7018 meters (5 feet, 7 inches). It is named after Oliver Reed Smoot, Jr. (b. 1940). The smoot grew
terror / terrorism / terrorist Terrorism is not simply a modern phenomenon; it’s existed since time immemorial. But it wasn’t until the French Revolution that it was given its name. Its root, terror, dates to the fifteenth century in English use. It is a borrowing from the Anglo-Norman terrour and the Latin terror,
English Translations of the Bible 23 November 2025 There is perhaps no book as influential in the development of the English language as the Christian Bible. But to understand how the Bible influenced our language (and our history) we need to understand what the “Bible” is and how the translations we read today came into
prorogation / prorogue Prorogation is an arcane parliamentary jargon term meaning the suspension of a session of parliament without formally dissolving it. Prorogation is a commonly used without much public notice in a pro forma manner in the few days leading up to a new session or just prior to parliament’s dissolution
jones The exact origin of jones, meaning an overwhelming yen or craving, is unknown. It obviously refers to the name Jones, but exactly how it arose and developed is uncertain, although its early use is primarily in American Black slang. The first known use of jones in this context is the
pedophile Words in the News is a weekly, paid-subscriber feature of Wordorigins.org. If you’d like to see more, please upgrade your subscription to a paid level. 17 November 2025 Journalist and podcaster Megyn Kelly became the subject of the news this past week when she repeated a claim on
rapture Most people, at least in the United States, are familiar with the word rapture as it relates to the apocalyptic Christian doctrine. But that’s a relatively recent development in theology, starting in the eighteenth century and only picking up steam in the nineteenth, and it is one that is
computer / compute Computer has a rather straightforward etymology, although its original meaning may be a bit surprising. The word was originally applied to people, not machines. And in the modern era before the advent of electronic computers, many of these human computers were women, as calculation was considered mundane and repetitive work,
club sandwich The club sandwich, or club house sandwich, as it is usually prepared today, consists of three slices of bread, between which is layered turkey (or sometimes chicken), ham or bacon, lettuce, tomato, and mayonnaise. It is typically served quartered and held together by cocktail sticks. But why club? How did
butler A butler is the chief servant in a household. The word comes to us from Anglo-Norman, the variety of French spoken in England following the Norman Conquest. The Anglo-Norman word was botiller, a cup-bearer or servant who served wine, recorded from the mid twelfth century. The word ultimately comes from
imp We all know that an imp is a small devil or demon, or somewhat more playfully, a mischievous child. But it was not always so. Would you believe that imp originally meant a shoot of a plant, a sapling? Imp is an old word, dating to Old English, and back
