Category Archives: etymology

Ten weird flower etymologies

Posted on May 6, 2013 by

  With Mother’s Day right around the corner and spring finally pushing up the daisies, many of us are thinking about pockets full of posies this week. That’s why I headed over to the Online Etymology Dictionary and found ten … Continue reading →

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Okay! OK! O.K.! Ok?

Posted on January 29, 2013 by

You are, no doubt, familiar with OK. These two strung-together letters have made one of the world’s most commonly used words. Today we’re going to learn the origin of this universal term for all right, sure, and fine and which … Continue reading →

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Erbs and herbs

Posted on January 4, 2013 by

British people call those green things you keep in your spice rack herbs, pronouncing the H. Here in America, We call ‘em erbs, without the H sound. Is one way more correct than the other? Well, no. Different pronunciations happen … Continue reading →

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Teetotaler

Posted on January 3, 2013 by

“Veteran drudge” of The Baltimore Sun newspaper, John E. McIntyre, recently blogged a list of slang words for being drunk: schnockered shellacked snozzled soused Lots of S words, apparently. But what about slang for the opposite end of the imbibing spectrum? … Continue reading →

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What decimate really means

Posted on December 21, 2012 by

If you are reading this from your underground doomsday bunker, I thank you for taking the time from your end-of-the-world preparations to read my humble blog. Yes, today is the day some people decided the ancient Mayans predicted would be … Continue reading →

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