What’s Really In A Name? Ever wonder what your name (or your best friend’s name, your significant other’s name, your mom’s name) means? Here’s your chance to find out how well you know the Dictionary.com definition of words that are also people’s names. The game is simple. Read the dictionary definition and match it with the correct word/name. If the quiz doesn’t display, please try …
Some cocktails have sexy names - ahem, "Between the Sheets" anyone? - while others just sound cool - yeah, we're talking about you, Manhattan. And then there are some drinks with names that are just plain filthy. Between nasty and naughty, we take a look at some of the dirtiest cocktail names and the history behind each.
Batman lurks like a bat in the shadows. Spider-Man slings webs like a radioactive spider. Superman is a literal translation of Friedrich Nietszche’s term ubermensch. And Wonder Woman is … well, what does Wonder Woman’s name tell us about her? A lot, it turns out. When William Moulton Marston created Wonder Woman in the early 1940s, he envisioned her not only as Diana, an Amazon …
Every year, spellers from across the country and around the globe gather to take part in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee. If you’ve ever watched this event, maybe you’ve wondered: where does the bee in “spelling bee” come from?Bee is derived from the Old English bēn meaning “a prayer, a favor.” By the late eighteenth century, bee had become commonly associated with the British dialect form, …
The most popular sport in the world is one in which people chase after a ball and kick it with their feet (and give it an occasional head-butt). In most places where this sport is enjoyed it is referred to in a straightforward fashion: football.
The winter solstice lasts for just one moment. It occurs exactly when Earth’s axial tilt is farthest away from the sun. This usually happens around December 21 or 22 in the Northern Hemisphere or June 20 or 21 in the Southern Hemisphere. If you’re in the Northern Hemisphere, during the solstice the sun will be at its southernmost point in the sky. The higher in …
Yes, it’s true, there’s a wild story behind the god who lends his name to Tuesday: Tiu, also sometimes spelled Tiw. Tiu’s remarkable myth even involves women with beards (more on that in a bit). But, the past 1,000 years or so have not been kind to this Germanic divinity. Who is Tuesday named for? Tuesday comes from the Old English tīwesdæg, meaning “Tiu’s day.” Tiu …
