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What comes to mind when you think about muscles? Maybe it’s bodybuilders or protein shakes. But if you study the etymology of the word, you’ll get a clue as to what ancient Romans thought flexing looked like. Let’s take a...
For millions of people around the world, the morning doesn’t officially start until they’ve had a cup of coffee. In the United States alone, coffee drinkers sip an average of 450 million cups each day. Cappuccinos are one of the...
Try to imagine the last time you had a conversation that didn’t involve a cliché. We often use these “trite phrases or expressions” without a second thought. But have you ever wondered about the etymology of clichés? Let’s spend some...
The cosmos that surrounds our planet is a vast playground of knowledge – for astronomers, for physicists, for theologians, and even for experienced linguists. Below you will find the word origins of some of the most mesmerizing celestial bodies found...
Read on to find out the fascinating and unexpected etymologies of ten of our country’s largest cities. Albuquerque: Named for its founder, Francisco Fernandez de la Cueva, Duke of Albuquerque, the original word is derived from the Latin albus, meaning...
Not only does every September bring with it New York Fashion Week, but the month often marks a transition in the way we dress. As the season changes and we tuck away our summer clothes in favor of fall wear,...
Is your company pushing the envelope to create disruptive innovations outside the box? Have you considered how scalable your department’s synergy really is? Can your sales reps proactively leverage their resources to snatch up the lowest-hanging fruit? And is that...
Many of the sports we play and watch today have fascinating etymological histories. Below you will find some of the freaky, funny, intuitive, and counterintuitive roots in the world of sport. The word “sport” itself has been around in the...
Legalese – the bone-dry and tortuous language of the law – can be as mystifying as it is ubiquitous. To help our readers parse some of the more common and curious legal terms, below are their Latin roots. a posteriori:...
Simon Critchley wrote an interesting commentary for the New York Times on Sunday, May 16, 2010, titled What is a Philosopher? He opens the article by stating the obvious—“There are as many definitions of philosophy as there are philosophers –...
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