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A curmudgeon is an ill-tempered person, usually used in reference to an old man. The origin of curmudgeon is not known for certain, although etymologist Anatoly Liberman provides a reasonable explanation. What we do know for certain is that the earliest known use of the word can be found in

It is commonly claimed, especially in Methodist circles, that the phrase agree to disagree was coined by John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. The claimants point to the Oxford English Dictionary (OED), where indeed a 1775 letter by Wesley that uses the phrase is the first citation. (Although it is

Today the phrase the right stuff is inextricably linked to test pilots and astronauts, thanks to Tom Wolfe’s 1979 book The Right Stuff and the 1983 Hollywood movie made from it about the early years of the U.S. space program. The right stuff is that ineffable quality that

D-Day is probably best known as a name for 6 June 1944, when Allied troops landed on the coast of German-occupied France during World War II. It was the largest seaborne invasion in history, with over 150,000 American, British, and Canadian troops landing in Normandy, including 23,000 airborne

The anacondas are a group of semiaquatic constrictor snakes native to South America. While the name can be applied to any of the species in the genus Eunectes, it is commonly used to specifically refer to the green anaconda, Eunectes murinus, the largest snake in the world by weight. (The

To pay through the nose is to pay too much for something, to be overcharged. The metaphor underlying the idiom is unknown, although there are some guesses that are supported by tenuous evidence. What we do know is that the earliest known record of the phrase is from 1662. It

A deep state is an entrenched, shadowy cabal of government bureaucrats and military officers who manipulate and control government policy to resist reform and measures that would reduce their power. In some political systems the deep state is a reality; in others it is more a paranoid conspiracy theory. The

Tweak is both a verb and a noun with a base meaning of pinch, twist, or pull. From this, it has developed a number of other senses. The word, in the form twick, can be traced back to Old English. (The Oxford English Dictionary says this is only “perhaps,” but

By strict definition, Fascism is an autocratic and ultranationalist political ideology, characterized by centralized authority focused on a dictatorial leader and militarism, use of force to suppress opposition, national or racial supremacy, and regimentation of society and the economy that subordinates the individual to the collective. It is most closely

Leeches are a type of parasitic worm that suck blood from larger animals. But the word also has an obsolescent meaning of physician or healer. These two meanings may be related—because physicians used to use leeches for bloodletting—or they may come from separate roots. If they are related,

Grit can refer to sand, ground grain, moral fortitude, or a Canadian political party. As a verb, it can refer to grinding or gnashing, especially of one’s teeth. The history of this rather small word takes us on a journey encompassing Beowulf, John Smith’s seventeenth-century travel narratives, Thomas