by Min Straussman For many of us, our parents’ siblings are a big part of our life—from providing love and support to, let’s be honest, spoiling us. National Aunts and Uncles Day on July 26 is a time to honor and show our appreciation for these family members (and not just because they let us do the stuff our parents wouldn’t). But, perhaps because they’re …
Few things travel across borders as easily as food recipes and ingredients. So perhaps it should come as no surprise that there are so many foods named from where they originally come from. Sometimes the name comes from a specific ingredient like a fruit or vegetable that’s grown in a place, like Sichuan peppers or Fuji apples, while other times the name comes from a …
Slowly but surely, travel is opening back up, and a lot of us are antsy to get on the road or hop on a plane. Before we do, though, we can take a minute to consider the names of all of the places we might want to visit and—a crucial question, for us at least—whether or not we even know how to pronounce them. After …
June is a great month. School’s out. The days are long. The weather’s warm. Perhaps the Anglo-Saxons—who spoke that linguistic ancestor of English known as Old English—were onto something when they collectively called June and July Liða. That’s pronounced like [ lee–thuh ], with the character ð having the voiced th-, like this. Liða itself may mean “calm” or “mild.” On its own, June was sometimes also referred to as Ærra-Liða, which is like …
May may seem like a little simple name, but its origin is actually fairly complex and interesting. Sit back and read up on this little word’s … big history. What does May mean? The fifth month of the Gregorian calendar, May, is defined as “the fifth month of the year, containing 31 days.” Got it. But where did this name come from? The name for …
What do hunting and sexual desires have in common? We could point to several things, but from a linguistic point of view, we’re referring to the archaic word venery, which means both hunting (from the Latin venor) and sexual desire (from Latin veneria, referring to Venus). Strangely, terms of venery is a collective noun that means a group of animals. And, many of these animal …
Nobody wants to come down with a case of the Mondays. But the second day of the week—and the first day of the traditional work week—doesn’t exactly have the best reputation. Monday isn’t named after an ancient, one-handed Norse god like Tuesday is, and it doesn’t take its name from a powerful god who fashioned the human race like Wednesday does. Monday does, however, reference …
Just about every elementary schooler learns the months of the year with an easy rhyme: “Thirty days has [or hath] September, April, June, and November. All the rest have 31, except February …” How exactly does it end? That depends on how you learned the poem, but one common version goes: “All the rest have 31 / But February’s 28 / The leap year, which comes once …
Let’s say you want to get the attention of a male clerk in the produce section of the grocery store. Would you say, “Excuse me, sire, but could you please explain the difference between a yam and a sweet potato?” (For the answer to that question, read this.) Addressing a stranger as “sire” might raise an eyebrow. But if you said it, you wouldn’t necessarily be …
How well do you know your wikis? Maybe you’ve heard about a site that releases classified material from whistle-blowers. Or maybe you’re looking for an up-to-date source of historical dates and biographical information. Do you turn to WikiLeaks? Do you search through Wikipedia? The confusion is all the more understandable given that these two sites even look alike. Well, wonder no more. We’re about to leak you …
This July 4th weekend, how about taking some time to consider the names of those items you are about to eat? Brace yourself for the short and disputed history of that American grilling favorite: the hot dog. Why do we call hot dogs, well, hot dogs? There are a few schools of thought on the origin of this favorite food. Some think that people commonly …