hag The word hag, like the woman it represents, is old, tracing back to Old English, but hag does not appear to be a very common word until the sixteenth century, when it underwent an explosion of usage and popularity. And while today hag simply means an ugly old woman, the
Mecca Mecca is a place name, a toponym, that has acquired a figurative meaning over the years. Literally, it is a city in Saudi Arabia, the birthplace of the prophet Muhammad, to which devout Muslims are required to undertake a pilgrimage to at some point in their lives. Figuratively, it is
Judeo-Christian Judeo-Christian has two main meanings. The first refers to Jews who have converted to Christianity. The second, and today more common, meaning refers to the common ethical and cultural values of Judaism and Christianity. This second meaning originally grew out of desire for inclusivity, but the term Judeo-Christian is now
medbed [I’ve decided to attempt posting a “Words in the News” premium feature weekly. We’ll see how long I can keep that pace up—and much will depend on how many pay to subscribe to the premium features. I’m making this one free, but future ones will be
deplatform The verb deplatform is a relatively new one. Merriam-Webster defines it thusly: : to remove and ban (a registered user) from a mass communication medium (such as a social networking or blogging website) […] broadly : to prevent from having or providing a platform (see platform entry 1 sense 3) to communicate Merriam-Webster
Calvinball Calvinball is the name of a fictional sport coined by cartoonist Bill Watterston in his syndicated comic strip Calvin and Hobbes. In the strip, Calvinball is a sport where the participants make up the rules as they go along. But the word has not remained within the confines of the
fond The modern adjective fond refers to the quality of having affection, liking, or eagerness for someone or something. But this was not always so. In Middle English fonned could mean foolish or stupid. The verb fonnen meant to be foolish or misguided or to fool or make a fool of
meritocracy A meritocracy is lauded in some circles as the ideal society, where one is rewarded for one’s skill, intelligence, and abilities rather than, for instance, the circumstances of one’s birth. Yet it is worth knowing that the word meritocracy, was originally intended as a description of a dystopian
Ultima Thule / Thule The name Thule has a long history of referring to some distant place. It may be most familiar to English-speakers today as the name of place in Greenland. In 1910, Danish explorer Knud Rasmussen established a trading post with that name at the site the Inuit called Uummannaq (heart-shaped). Subsequently
suborn Suborn is a verb that is usually heard in the context of lying under oath, and indeed roughly half of the instances of the verb in the Corpus of Contemporary American English are in the phrase suborn perjury. The verb clearly means to induce someone to commit a crime, but
hogmanay Hogmanay is a Scots word for New Year’s Eve or for a gift given to someone, especially a child, at the new year. It is a borrowing from the French auguilanleu, which in turn is probably a variation on l’an neuf (the new year). It is first recorded
just do it Nike’s famous Just Do It advertising campaign was launched in 1988 and went on to become one of the most famous slogans of all time. But the inspiration for the slogan is somewhat morbid, rooted in the execution of an infamous spree killer. The campaign was the brainchild of
whole nine yards Few phrases have as many tales attached to their origin as does the whole nine yards, which has spawned a raft of popular etymologies, all of them wrong. The phrase doesn’t have one particular origin, nor does it represent one particular metaphor. Instead, it seems to have evolved from
