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