livelong 21 January 2026 Livelong is not a common adjective. Its use, for the most part, is restricted to one expression, all the livelong day, although as late as the nineteenth century the livelong night was also common. In these expressions the word is simply an intensified version of the adjective
bootleg 19 January 2026 Bootleg marks a product that is either inferior or illicitly produced. But why bootleg and when did the term come into being? Literal use of bootleg to refer to the part of a boot that covers the lower leg dates to the sixteenth century. And it is
enthusiasm / enthuse 16 January 2026 The meanings of words change over time. Sometimes words become more specialized; the Old English deor was used to refer to any kind of wild beast, but by the end of the thirteenth century had started to be used specifically to refer to the creature we now
blitz / blitzkrieg 14 January 2026 Blitz is a clipping of Blitzkrieg, the German word meaning lightning war, which referred to the high-speed, offensive tactics made famous by the German army in the opening months of World War II. In English, blitz can refer to a sudden, violent military attack, especially one by
incel 12 January 2026 Incel is a portmanteau of involuntary celibate, referring to a person, usually a heterosexual man, who desires a sexual or romantic partner but is unable to find one. The term arose as a self-identifier and spawned a virtual subculture as those who could not find sexual partners
ergonomics 9 January 2026 Ergonomics is a combination of the Greek ἔργον (ergo, meaning work) + the English -nomics, taken from economics. It is the study of the interaction of people and their work environments, particularly in reference to efficiency and safety. The word was evidently coined in 1949 by a group
zero gravity / zero-g / microgravity 7 January 2026 Zero gravity, also called zero g or microgravity, is the state of weightlessness experienced in outer space (and, as we shall see, at the center of the earth). The term is much older than you might expect. It first appears back in February 1915 in the journal
scrapple 5 January 2026 Scrapple is a mush of pork scraps—hence the name—cornmeal, and sometimes buckwheat flour. It is typically fried and served as a breakfast meat. It can be found in the Mid-Atlantic United States, from South Jersey to North Carolina. The Pennsylvania German name for it is
voluntary / volunteer 2 January 2026 The adjective voluntary has a rather straightforward etymology. It comes from the Latin voluntarius, meaning willing, of one’s own choice, via the Old French voluntaire. The Latin noun voluntas means will or desire. The first English incarnation of the word is the noun volunte, meaning will
redskin / red man 31 December 2025 Redskin, a disparaging term for a Native American, is over two and a half centuries old. It is first recorded in a transcript and translation of a speech given by Chief Maringouin, of the Illinois people, on 26 August 1769. It was interpreted by a Frenchman from
neither confirm nor deny / Glomar response 29 December 2025 When a US government official neither confirms nor denies the existence of a classified program it is called a Glomar response or a Glomar denial. This label has its origins in one of the most fascinating incidents of the US-Soviet Cold War, but the wording neither confirm
