Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Loyalty to any one sports team is pretty hard to justify, because the players are always changing; the team could move to another city. You’re actually rooting for the clothes when you get right down to it.” Still, we persist in pouring our heart and soul into following our teams. So, in all this devotion, have you ever wondered where …
These funny-looking words may not be recognizable, but they were the ancestors of our modern-day umpire and newt. So, how did they evolve into their current forms? Because of the pesky letter n, the indefinite article a/an, and the fact that a bunch of English-speakers hundreds of years ago had hearing problems. The bouncing n and rebracketing Words like numpire and ewt underwent a process we’re playfully calling the …
Let’s be honest: It’s practically impossible to be a “good” speller in English. The way words are spelled in English just don’t match how they are pronounced. Why, English language, why? Well, we can start by blaming William Caxton and the printing press. Diving into the historical context Let’s begin at the beginning, though: England, 1476. Norman French presence was in decline as the Bubonic Plague …
The continued box office success of the Fast and the Furious franchise gives moviegoers and word-lovers something to cheer about. Beyond the stunning action sequences, though, audiences, including us, actually really enjoy the title itself. That probably has something to do with its alliteration, “a figure of speech in which a consonant sound at the beginning of a word is repeated” (in this case the sound of the letter …
You’ve probably heard these words floating around various celebrations, but do you know the difference? Kudos is a noun that means “praise, honor, or acclaim.” Kudo is the singular version of kudos, but kudos is also singular. Kudos comes from the Greek word kydos, which means praise or renown. Kudos are usually offered in response to an exceptional achievement. A Brief History of Kudos The …
In the US, the word boxing usually refers to two athletes stepping into a padded ring, each with the intention of knocking the other off their feet. But the day after Christmas brings up a new version of the word: Boxing Day The holiday is less familiar in the States, but it’s observed in the UK and Commonwealth nations on the first weekday after Christmas. It …
Hipsters have become simultaneous objects of ridicule and desire, associated with the new and in vogue, and also with an absurd form of consumerism. Why do we call them hipsters, and how did this word, born of jazz music in the early 1930s, make the transition to describe young men in skinny pants and classes on how to properly sharpen a pencil?
