The Etymology of 15 Weird and Wonderful Olympic Words
Wow your friends during your Olympic watch party with these winning, weird, and wonderful Olympic words and their origins.
Wow your friends during your Olympic watch party with these winning, weird, and wonderful Olympic words and their origins.
While 'awesome' was going on its journey from bad to good, 'awful' was going in the opposite direction.
It's difficult enough to write a sentence that doesn't contain the popular vowel. (There are eight right there.)
The long tradition of bullying means a long list of words for bullies, many of which are lost in the mists of time. Though some words show traces of the wide-ranging history of bully—which originally was a tear of endearment—most of the following terms wo
The University of Toronto-based project aims to define every English word used between 600 CE and 1150.
We all could use a few new words for the diabolical. Fortunately, there are plenty of older words ready for a revival.
It pays to know your timber beasts from your savages.
Just as juicy as summer’s many berries, stone fruits, and melons are the far-flung, surprising, and often obscure origins of their names.
Gene Roddenberry taught the world that infinitives are ripe for splitting.
Finally!
Encyclopaedia Metallum is an online archive of heavy metal bands from around the world.
The vast history of English has more than a few options for describing the non-musical kind of funkiness.
1000 new words were added in this latest update.
We're really, truly, highly interested in helping you improve that lazy vocabulary.
The skin is the largest organ in the human body, covering a surface area of nearly 2 square meters. Skin covers a great deal of the English language, too, if we look to its many skin-related words, expressions, and idioms.
Though the terms are often used interchangeably, there is a difference between the two. And it's all in the shape of things.
These famous folks managed to convey a great deal of meaning through just one word.
Some people are sweet and innocent, believing in the truth and virtue of everyone they meet. Such easily hornswoggled folks are often described as naïve and gullible, but there are also many rare and forgotten words for the credulous.
Illuminate your otherwise-ordinary Bloomsday observances by citing from among Joyce’s apt yet archaic trove of word choices.
English conveniently offers a long list of nouns you can use to describe what kind of enjoyer you are: aficionado, enthusiast, buff, connoisseur, fanatic, fan, freak, nut. But they aren't all just interchangeable synonyms. Each carries connotations that y
In the U.S., pudding has a relatively small life, nutritionally and lexically. But when you look back at jolly old England, this seemingly one-dimensional word has lived a vibrant life in metaphors and idioms.
Some languages lack what we might consider the most fundamental words—yet somehow manage to get by without them.
Let's raise the curtain on 'barnstorming,' 'catastrophe,' and other terms that have their origins in the theater.
"You'd better slow down and use the right pronoun." -Weird Al