Wordorigins.org Newsletter
  • Home
  • About
Sign in Subscribe

stiff upper lip (paid)

  • Dave Wilton

Dave Wilton

27 Oct 2025 • 4 min read
Red, 1939, British motivational poster with a crown and the words “Keep Calm and Carry On”

This post is for paying subscribers only

Subscribe now

Already have an account? Sign in

Photo of a group of women on motorcycles with rainbow, pride flags

dyke

A dyke is a lesbian or a woman whose appearance is regarded as masculine, with the implication that she is a lesbian. The word was originally a slur and is still offensive in many contexts—particularly when used by cis-gendered, heterosexual men—although it has been reclaimed as a positive
27 Oct 2025 6 min read
A man in 17th-century dress on horseback pulling himself and his horse out of a swamp by his own hair

bootstrap / boot up

A self-made person is one who lifts or pulls oneself up by one’s bootstraps. The phrase is usually used unironically nowadays, despite the fact that the laws of physics make it impossible for one to actually lift oneself by one’s bootstraps. The phrase was originally ironic, recognizing that
27 Oct 2025 5 min read
B&W photo of WWII German tanks and armored vehicles

tweetzkrieg

I try and avoid posting about brand-new neologisms. They often disappear before they become established, and I don’t want this site to be a graveyard of failed words. (Maybe someone should start such a site, but this isn’t it.) In 2019, when I originally penned the entry for
24 Oct 2025 3 min read
Wordorigins.org Newsletter © 2025
  • Sign up
Powered by Ghost