cartouche / cartridge 4 November 2026 To English speakers, cartouches are perhaps best known for their role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, but it is simply the French word for a roll of paper used as a container or a round of ammunition—originally a paper roll containing gunpowder and shot—that is, to
opera 2 November 2026 An opera is a musical drama consisting, usually, of vocal pieces accompanied by an orchestra. In classic opera, the script is entirely sung. This sense of the word is borrowed from Italian, where its use dates to 1639. The Italian word descends from the Latin opera, which
provenance 30 October 2026 This site deals in the provenance of words and phrases, but that word is more frequently used in the world of art and antiquities, where it refers to an artifact’s origin and history, and more particularly to the record and evidence of that origin and history.
zany 28 October 2026 The English adjective zany comes from a stock character in Italian commedia dell’arte named Zanni. The character is portrayed as a male servant of rustic background who is cynical, crafty, and fond of mimicry and practical jokes. The name is a hypocoristic, Venetian dialect form of
platypus 26 October 2026 The platypus, or duck-billed platypus, (Ornithorhynchus anatinus) is perhaps the oddest mammal. It is a semiaquatic monotreme (i.e., it lays eggs). It has a leathery bill that resembles that of a duck and uses electrolocation to find its prey (larvae, worms, shrimp, crayfish, and the
tweezers 23 October 2026 Tweezers are a pair small pincers, often used for plucking hairs or picking up small objects. The form tweezers, invariably spelled with an ‹s›, is a variation on an older, now obsolete noun tweeze, sometimes rendered as pair of tweezes. That word, in turn, is a variation
piccalilli 21 October 2026 Piccalilli is a pickle consisting of chopped vegetables, mustard, and spices. In early use it was also commonly referred to as Indian pickle. The origin is uncertain. The picca- is probably a variation on pickle, and the -lilli is likely either a variation on chili or simply
tommyrot 19 October 2026 Tommyrot is a Briticism, a noun and interjection meaning nonsense or balderdash. It’s now rather dated. The origin is unknown, but we can make some reasonable speculation about it. It’s first recorded in an article in London’s Sporting Times of 17 July 1880: So
rob Peter to pay Paul 16 October 2026 To rob Peter to pay Paul is a proverbial phrase used to mean to right one wrong by committing another or to pay off one debt by incurring another. A modern example might be using one credit card to pay off another. The use of the names
hissy / hissy fit 14 October 2026 A hissy or hissy fit is a slang term for a tantrum or angry outburst. As an adjective, it means angry or in a bad temper. The origin is somewhat uncertain, with two leading contenders for the underlying metaphor. It could be from hysterical, or it could
