many happy returns 8 April 2026 My practice when Facebook (yes, I’m still on Facebook; I’m old) reminds me of someone’s birthday is to send the message Many Happy Returns. I don’t remember when I first started doing it or why, but it was probably because I thought a
hot little hands 6 April 2026 The phrase hot little hands was brought to my mind by Languagehat, a denizen of this site and proprietor of his own excellent blog on language. The phrase is used today in the context of eagerly possessing or receiving something. But why hot? And why little? The
tidy 3 April 2026 Tidy is one of those words whose origin seems unfathomable, but when you learn it suddenly becomes patently obvious. Our modern word tidy comes from the Old English tid, meaning “time, hour season,” and that word is also the origin of our modern word tide and tidings.
terrific 1 April 2026 From its meaning alone you would never guess where terrific comes from, but if you look at the word, the origin is rather obvious. The form, or morphology, of the word gives it away. Terrific is from the Latin terrificus, meaning frightening, causing terror. Despite it coming
boondocks 30 March 2026 Boondocks is a relic of American colonialism. British English imported lots of words from its far-flung colonial possessions, but American colonial aspirations primarily produced words derived from Mexican Spanish or North American and Hawaiian indigenous languages. This one, however, is an exception, taking the word from Tagalog,
synergy 27 March 2026 Words come into and go out of fashion. Sometimes, a particular word will catch a wave of popularity and become overused to the point where it becomes essentially meaningless and nothing more than a buzzword used to show that the speaker is fashionable and up on the
speed 25 March 2026 Speed is a word with a rather straightforward etymology but one with several archaic meanings that may be surprising to some. It is from the Old English word sped, which, among other senses, carried the meaning of quickness, swiftness that we are familiar with today. In Old
sophisticated 23 March 2026 Sophisticated is an adjective, but the root of the word entered English as a verb meaning to adulterate a substance, that is to mix it with inferior substances. It is taken from the Medieval Latin sophisticare, which in turn comes from the Greek σοφιστής (sophistes), meaning one
Oregon 20 March 2026 About the origin of the name Oregon, little can be said with certainty. It is of Native American origin and was first applied in English as the name of a river, but that’s about it. The name first appears in a 1765 petition to English Privy
lam, on the 18 March 2026 To be on the lam means to be fleeing, especially from the law. Lam probably comes from an English dialectical verb meaning to thrash or to strike, and that verb may ultimately come from the Old Norse lemja, also meaning to beat or strike, but the connection
