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Naming House and Home: Word Origins

It’s raining heavily again in Atlanta, and the soothing sound of heavy drops hitting against the roof and windows brings to mind the language of house and home. Both the words “house” and “home” found their way into modern English from the Proto-Germanic. Khusan, for “house” was changed into hus with Old English, and stems […]

Days of the Week Word Origins & Etymologies

The English names for the days of the week have their roots in astrology and ancient cultures. The practice of naming days after heavenly bodies began – at least for the Western world – with the Greeks, and was then adopted by the Romans and Anglo-Saxons. For this reason, the names we are so familiar […]

Unusual Word Origins

You may be surprised to learn how many of the words we use have unusual origins. Having spent centuries in our lexicons, these words have lost their original significations and now take on colloquial meanings. To get back to our roots, let’s examine three common words. Sabotage The 20th-century French verb saboter, meaning to accidently […]

Making Sense of Sense

When we experience a sensation, we feel it; when something “makes sense” we get it; when we “get a sense” of something, we understand it; and when something is entirely senseless, it is stupid, out of touch with reality. The word “sense” has many practicable applications, and all seem to point to the idea that […]

On Defining: Do Good Fences Make Good Meanings?

Many a quarrel has ended with a search for the nearest dictionary. The answer to a question of connotation versus denotation, implied or explicit meaning, and historical, social, or academic understanding of a term finds an ending point with a simple glance over the established meaning of a word. From the Latin definire, whose root […]

Health Scare! 20 Phobias of the Health Care Debate

The current debate over health care has some people in a panic, and many of the concerns being voiced (such as the concern over granny-killing government death panels), are unfounded and irrational. Judging by the news coverage of recent town-hall meetings, we have become a nation of health care phobics. Because fear is old and […]

Etymology of Cocktails and Spirits

Here’s to Friday, and to making it on the Lexiophile’s list of the Top 100 Language Blogs of 2009! Thanks to everyone who voted. Since it’s customary to raise a glass and toast in celebration, here is a language lovers list of the origins of common cocktails and spirits: Cocktail Cocktail is an interesting word […]

The Language of Beer

Following up with our look at the origins of words related to food and spirits, here is a brief history of the language of beer: One of the world’s oldest and certainly most well-loved beverages has a history that dates back thousands of years BC. Spread through Europe by Germanic and Celtic tribes, beer’s basic […]

The Language of Wine

language of wine

Here is a little something to get the weekend started: a brief walk through the language of wine. The original nectar of the gods has a history – and therefore an etymology – that dates back to our ancient forbearers. Here you will find the sources of the popular names we use today for some […]

Banana, Rodeo, Thug and 15 Other Everyday Words That Weren’t Always English

Most people would agree that some languages have just the bon mot for a particular sentiment. The English language has adopted many of these perfect expressions and incorporated them into everyday speech and writing. Check out this list of words and a bit of the story behind how they made their way into English. à […]

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