anachronym 15 April 2026 No, that’s not a typo for acronym. An anachronym is a term whose original meaning has become anachronistic but which continues to be used for a more current application. Examples of anachronyms include dialing a phone, footage (originally referring to the length of movie film), cc
French toast 13 April 2026 French toast is a dish, typically served at breakfast or brunch, of slices of bread soaked in beaten eggs and then fried. It is usually served with syrup. Why it is French is a bit of mystery. The earliest use of the present-day form of the
intifada 10 April 2026 The word intifada enters English from the Arabic انتفاضة, meaning uprising or revolt. In Arabic, it has widespread use referring to any number of insurrections or civil resistance movements across the Arab world. In English, however, it is usually found in the context of Palestinian insurrections against
many happy returns 8 April 2026 My practice when Facebook (yes, I’m still on Facebook; I’m old) reminds me of someone’s birthday is to send the message Many Happy Returns. I don’t remember when I first started doing it or why, but it was probably because I thought a
hot little hands 6 April 2026 The phrase hot little hands was brought to my mind by Languagehat, a denizen of this site and proprietor of his own excellent blog on language. The phrase is used today in the context of eagerly possessing or receiving something. But why hot? And why little? The
tidy 3 April 2026 Tidy is one of those words whose origin seems unfathomable, but when you learn it suddenly becomes patently obvious. Our modern word tidy comes from the Old English tid, meaning “time, hour season,” and that word is also the origin of our modern word tide and tidings.
terrific 1 April 2026 From its meaning alone you would never guess where terrific comes from, but if you look at the word, the origin is rather obvious. The form, or morphology, of the word gives it away. Terrific is from the Latin terrificus, meaning frightening, causing terror. Despite it coming
boondocks 30 March 2026 Boondocks is a relic of American colonialism. British English imported lots of words from its far-flung colonial possessions, but American colonial aspirations primarily produced words derived from Mexican Spanish or North American and Hawaiian indigenous languages. This one, however, is an exception, taking the word from
synergy 27 March 2026 Words come into and go out of fashion. Sometimes, a particular word will catch a wave of popularity and become overused to the point where it becomes essentially meaningless and nothing more than a buzzword used to show that the speaker is fashionable and up on the
speed 25 March 2026 Speed is a word with a rather straightforward etymology but one with several archaic meanings that may be surprising to some. It is from the Old English word sped, which, among other senses, carried the meaning of quickness, swiftness that we are familiar with today. In Old
