fifth column
I always wondered vaguely about the origin of the term "fifth column," but never got around to looking it up 'til now. Turns out (according to the abovelinked Wikipedia article)...
Archive for Etymology
Three pirate lasses
It occurred to me recently to wonder about the derivation of the word "cutlass." Turns out it's from Middle French "coutel," meaning knife, which ultimately derives from Latin "culter," meaning...
baramin
Recently was reading some discussion or other of creationism and came across the word "baramin." Creationists use the word to refer to the "created kinds" of animals referred to in...
Salutations!
My name is Shmuel, and I'll be your guest blogger. I'd like to thank Jed for inviting me to come and play. I'm flattered, and excited, and terribly uncertain of...
“Polyamory is wrong!” T-shirt
Entertaining T-shirt from zazzle.com says: Polyamory is wrong! It is either Multiamory or Polyphilia but mixing Greek and Latin roots? Wrong!...
TASER
According to a variety of sources, the word "TASER" was coined as an acronym for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle." Apparently the Taser's inventor was a fan of the Tom...
foul play
It struck me the other day that "foul play" is an odd sort of euphemism for murder. "Play"? What kind of play? The Phrase Finder says Shakespeare probably coined the...
cold turkey
Twig asked me about the origin of the phrase "cold turkey." I didn't know, so I looked it up. No info at Quinion's World Wide Words, which is my most...
janitor
Everyone knows that "January" derives from the name of Janus, the Roman god of doors and beginnings and endings. But what I didn't know until a couple weeks ago is...
solstice
Somehow it hadn't occurred to me 'til just now to wonder about the etymology of the word "solstice." The first part is obviously "sol," sun. Turns out the second part...