Tag Archives: category-history
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What Is So Romantic About The Romance Languages?
The word romance is used in a variety of ways, especially as it relates to love. As you well know, a romance is a novel, movie, or fiction genre “in which characters fall in love or begin a romantic relationship,” and the word can also refer to a romantic character, a love affair, an attraction between two people, or a romantic sentiment, among many definitions. There’s just so …
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Meet Two Extinct Letters Of The Alphabet: “Thorn” And “Wynn”
The English alphabet, as you likely know, is made up of 26 letters. But it wasn’t always that way. How old is the alphabet? Before we get to the history of specific letters, let’s talk a bit about Old English. English was first written in the Anglo-Saxon futhorc runic alphabet, also known as Anglo-Saxon. The Angles and Saxons came from Germany and settled in Britain …
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Should We Use BCE Instead Of BC?
People in the Western world debate many things, from whether cheesecake is actually a cake to which airplane seat is the best—aisle or the window? What year it is generally does not fall into the category of debated facts. However, how to refer to said year and the past years from ancient history—BC and AD or BCE and CE—does. Both sets of abbreviations have history. One …
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What Does “Amen” Mean At The End Of A Prayer?
Weekends are when many Americans gather in their respective houses of worship and repeat the same word: amen. But, what does the word mean? And, why do people say it? The origins of amen Amen is commonly used after a prayer, creed, or other formal statement. It is spoken to express solemn ratification or agreement. It is used adverbially to mean “certainly,” “it is so,” …
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Where Did The Expression “Hair Of The Dog” Come From?
If you’ve woken up on New Year’s Day feeling as if you’d been hit by a truck, you may have sought a hangover remedy with an infamously odd name: the hair of the dog. Let’s take a look at where this name comes from. What does hair of the dog mean? A morning drink may be the last thing you want after a night of boozing, but that’s …
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What Is In The Oath Of Office?
Like clockwork, we hear the presidential oath of office every four years. Thirty-five words that basically give the incoming Chief Executive the keys to the proverbial car. And the nuclear launch codes. The National Museum of American History says that Article 2, Section 1 of the Constitution “requires that before presidents can assume their duties they must take the oath of office.” Once the incoming …
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Why Do We Say “Hello” And “Hi”?
We use hello several times a day to greet people or attract attention. But as prevalent as the word is, it is relatively new. Where does hello come from? While use of the term hello dates back earlier, it isn’t recorded with this exact spelling until the 1800s. Hello is considered a variant on a number of other similar words—like hallo, holla, and hollo—that were used to hail and …
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Why Do We Have “Red States” And “Blue States”?
If you’ve watched (or even tried to avoid) the news as a presidential election heats up, you’re probably well aware that political pundits like to use the color red to represent the Republican Party and blue for the Democratic Party. A “red state” votes Republican in presidential elections and Senate races, while a “blue state” leans Democratic. No matter which news program you favor, they …
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What In The World Is The “Hindenburg Omen”?
While it may sound like a sequel to The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, a Hindenburg Omen isn’t any fun. If you want to call attention to potential bad news, it’s hard to go wrong with the name Hindenburg. What was the Hindenburg? Paul von Hindenburg was a celebrated World War I general and a less celebrated president of Germany. The more infamous Hindenburg, however, is the dirigible named …
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“Democrat” vs. “Republican”: Where Did The Parties Get Their Names?
In the United States, the words Democrat and Republican are used to refer to members of the two major American political parties: the Democratic Party and the Republican Party. The general, lowercase senses of the English words democratic and republican actually have long, complex histories that go far beyond red and blue states or donkeys and elephants. Let’s take a closer look at where these …