Word Origins
Some of our English words have very unique and surprising origins. Find out where some of your favorite words came from.
The Meanings Behind These (In)Famous Potion Ingredients
16 Spanish-Derived Words That Highlight Hispanic Cultures
Adios, Adieu, and Cheerio: Why Do We Say “Goodbye?”
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What Do ™ , ® , and © Mean? Decoding Trademark Symbols
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What Makes “Passover” A Day Not To Overlook?
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“Bidet” vs. “Toilet”: Time To Flush Out The Differences
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Where Did The Name “Spring” Come From?
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Bet You Can’t Guess Where The Word “Glamour” Comes From
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Where Does The Name “Saturday” Come From?
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Where Did The Expression “Hair Of The Dog” Come From?
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Where Does “Sunday” Get Its Name From?
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Where Does The Word “Dracula” Come From?
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What Is The Origin Of The Name “Monday”?
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Why Do We Say “Hello” and “Hi”?
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The Origin Of The Phrase “Thirty Days Hath September”
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Adios, Adieu, and Cheerio: Why Do We Say “Goodbye?”
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“Ketchup” And Other Words From Mandarin And Cantonese
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What Is “GOP” Short For?
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English Words That Came From Hindi And Urdu
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What’s The Secret History Of The Term “Pundit”?
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The Frabjous Words Invented By Lewis Carroll
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Words Coined In Each Decade Of The Last 100 Years
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Where Did The Phrase “The Dog Ate My Homework” Come From?
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Why Is The Language Of The Sioux In Danger?
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What Are The Differences Between “Nerds,” “Geeks,” And “Dorks”?
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What Did The Word “Nice” Use To Mean?
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Where Does The Phrase “Cut The Mustard” Come From?
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Did You Know How This Word Was Formed?
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Words You Didn’t Know Came From Los Angeles
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Words You Didn’t Know Came From Chicago
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These Plain Words Have Very Odd Origin Stories
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The Oldest Abbreviations In English
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Before X Was X: The Dark Horse Story of the 24th Letter
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Who Is Wednesday Named For?
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Why Is Thursday Named For A Comic Book Character?
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Which Words Did English Take From Other Languages?
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What’s The Origin Of The F-word?
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Is Friday Named After A Goddess With A Chariot Pulled By Cats?
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English Words From The Pharaohs
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Are New Idioms Ever Created?
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Foxy, Catty, Fishy: Traits for Animals or Humans?
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The Original Memes (Before Memes)
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The Origin Stories Behind Gaga And Other Musicians’ Names
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What Is Louisiana Creole And How Was It Created?
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Why Does A Cow Become Beef?
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The Racist History of “Eenie, Meenie, Miney, Moe”
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These Might Be The Strangest Names In Sports
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Why Do We Call It A “Wife Beater” Shirt?
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What Do “Numpire” and “Ewt” Have in Common?
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Who’s to Blame for Weird English Spellings?
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Does Boxing Day Have Anything To Do With Boxing?
