wassail Wassail and wassailing are associated with Yuletide revels and overindulgence, although many people are a bit fuzzy on what the words mean. That’s somewhat understandable as the words have a variety of meanings. Wassail started out as a simple greeting, became a drinking toast, then became the drink and
Newsletter Jack Frost (I’m reposting some older, seasonal articles on the feed’s off days. This article was first published on Wordorigins.org on 21 December 2021.) Jack Frost is a personification of cold weather or of winter more generally. The etymology is quite straightforward, the personal name Jack + frost. The name
carol / carrel / corral Why do we call them Christmas carols? The word carol was introduced into English by the Normans and comes from the Old French carole. It shares a root with words like chorus and choir. But in what may be surprising to most, the first English carols were not just songs;
ytterbium Ytterbium is a chemical element with atomic number 70 and the symbol Yb. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal that is yellow or golden in color. It has a few specialized uses: its radioactive isotopes are used as sources of gamma rays and in atomic clocks; it is
Newsletter Kris Kringle (I’m reposting some older, seasonal articles. This article was first published on Wordorigins.org on 3 December 2021.) Kris Kringle is another name for Santa Claus. The name is a variation on the German Christkind, or Christkindl (Christ-child), a traditional gift-bringer at Christmas-time in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, and elsewhere.
eggnog Whence comes the name for the drink we know as eggnog? The egg is easy enough—it is made with eggs, but the nog is a stumper for most casual observers of the language. In an older entry, the Oxford English Dictionary dates eggnog to 1825, but the term has
juke / jukebox A jukebox is a coin operated machine that plays selected musical recordings. The box part of the word is understood easily enough, but where does juke come from? Juke is actually two distinct words in English. The one that forms jukebox is recorded from the first half of the twentieth
anticipatory obedience Anticipatory obedience is exactly what one would think, actions taken to obey what one perceives to be the wishes of a superior before being commanded to do so. The phrase is a relatively common in political science literature in reference to subjects’ compliance with the will of a totalitarian regime,
xenon Xenon is a chemical element with atomic number 54 and the symbol Xe. At standard temperature and pressure it is a dense, colorless, odorless, noble gas. It is used in flash and arc lamps and as a general anesthetic. The name is a transliteration of the Greek ξένον, a neuter
gremlin A gremlin is a mythical creature of the upper air who causes damage to airplanes. The term starts appearing in Royal Air Force slang during the interwar years. There are claims that gremlin was in use during the First World War, but while this claim is plausible, and perhaps even
Book Review: The F-Word I have a review of Jesse Sheidlower's excellent The F-Word (fourth edition) over on the Strong Language blog. Get for that profane person in your life this holiday season.
crash blossom A crash blossom is a poorly worded headline that can be read in more than one way. In most of the common examples one of the readings is humorous. (Non-humorous crash blossoms aren’t usually selected as examples, presumably because they’re not exciting enough.) An example of a crash
Newsletter Black Friday / Cyber Monday (I’m reposting some older, seasonal articles on the feed’s off days. This article was first published on Wordorigins.org on 21 November 2023.) In the United States, the Friday after Thanksgiving is known as Black Friday. The day is the traditional start of the holiday shopping season and
